Member Article

Unique solutions to everyday business problems

Let’s face it, running a business isn’t easy and you might find that you experience the same problems day in, day out. From cashflow issues to piles of confusing paperwork and safety concerns, you may have lots on your plate. Things can get especially complicated if you’re in charge of remote workers.

Inspired by the plight of entrepreneurs, below are some top tips that could help to make your life that little bit easier.

The Customer is King

These days, customers expect only the very highest levels of service. Put simply, if they’re not impressed by their dealings with you, they will take their business elsewhere. There are probably lots of companies snapping at your heels to get their money.

Punctuality is key in this regard. In order to keep your customers on side, you’ll need to make sure your personnel keep their appointments. Consumers hate being left waiting. Of course, you can’t help it if your workers get stuck in heavy traffic, suffer vehicle breakdowns or get held up finishing other jobs. However, you do have control over how you respond to this.

Effective communication is crucial here. You need to know about potential delays immediately, and this information should be relayed to your customers ASAP. This will help to prevent those awkward phone calls from disgruntled customers.

It’s also a good idea to measure customer satisfaction. This can help you to identify problems you didn’t even know you had!

Swamped in paperwork?

If you find yourself swimming in paperwork, you’re not alone. Offices across the country are positively awash with documents of all kinds. Keeping on top of this can be stressful and time consuming. It may be a cliché, but time is indeed money. All those hours that you and your staff spend wading through paperwork is costing you cold, hard cash.

The good news is, you don’t have to carry on like this. To boost your efficiency, simply ditch the documents in favour of suitable software. Easy.

Cash Flow Woes

Even if you’re bringing in good contracts and you and your personnel are busy, you can still suffer cash flow problems. After all, one of the biggest difficulties facing small to medium-sized companies in the UK is late payments – and these can put a spanner in the works of any organisation.

To help keep money flowing through your business, there are a number of things you can do. For example, the immediate billing of customers is a must. Also, be careful when you draw up your payment terms. If you’re owed a lot of money and are struggling to retrieve it, it may be wise to bring in debt recovery specialists. This means you’ll have more time to carry on with your other tasks.

Safety First

Maintaining the highest possible safety standards at all times can be hard, but it’s vital that you do precisely this. When lapses occur, the consequences can be disastrous for all those involved. Given that your workers are out in the field, this might be a particular worry for you.

However, by making sure all of your personnel undergo thorough safety training, conducting detailed risk analyses and devising stringent working procedures, you should be able to minimise any dangers. There is plenty of advice available from organisations such as the Health and Safety Executive. If you’re ever in doubt, turn to the experts.

Managing conflict

Dealing with conflict among personnel can be hard for any manager. That said, by following certain basic principles, you can make your life more straightforward. For example, try to nip any issues in the bud. This can stop situations from escalating and save you a lot of trouble in the long run. Also, good communication and clarity of job roles can help to prevent problems from arising in the first place.

Keep an eye out for any bullying and harassment too. It’s your responsibility to make sure this doesn’t occur in the workplace or when your employees are out in the field. In addition, by always listening to your staff, you can help to diffuse tensions.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by MyMobileWorkers .