It’s more important than ever to be efficient and save money in business. There’s doom and gloom talk around every corner – recession, downturn, slow property market, inflation, etc. so you begin looking at solutions and where you might be wasting time and or money – manufacturing, delivery, client servicing, etc.
If your business delivers its service or products to your clients, does that mean they’re driving all over the place and wasting time and petrol? If you can organise the destinations so they’re in the same area on the same days or if you can keep a track of them via a GPS so you can contact them if they are close to a new job that’s an efficiency that can improve your bottom line.
When you sit down with a new client, one of your questions might be to ask about their goals? Often, the answer is probably about business growth – acquiring assets, attracting new talent, or funding investments. Many goals in business growth boil down to performance and profit.
Focussing on efficiencies will bring improved performance, a better financial situation and business growth. However within an SME, implementing efficiencies can sometimes mean making some tough decisions and it is never easy! Here’s an example.
Suppose you have an internal bookkeeper who’s been with you for some time, working 25 hours a week. Over the last 10 years the efficiencies within the bookkeeping sector have improved greatly, mainly around how things get processed, so the basic work. This is thanks to new technologies and systems, but funnily enough it’s still taking your bookkeeper 25 hours a week? Not only that, because they work ‘in the business’, they often get pulled into other tasks that are not specifically bookkeeping related. It’s often at short notice which means they get pulled from a task that requires focussed attention. Then when they go back to the task, they’ll often have to start at the beginning – much like when you’re trying to count something and you get interrupted, the only solution can be to start again. At the end of the day, they’re not doing the 25 hours’ worth of work you originally hired them to do. That same job is probably only about 10-15 hours a week in a lot of cases if completed efficiently, with the use and knowledge of current technologies and techniques.
What are some of those techniques you ask? Working remotely where they are not disturbed and employing specialist bookkeepers who have access to support and training is part of the answer. Being part of a big team of specialists means there are others to learn from, so rather than spending two hours trying to work something out, there is a team, often with many years of experience to draw on. That’s efficiency!
Other reasons to outsource the bookkeeping function is to free up your internal resources to focus on their strengths. Maybe it’s more sales, maybe making the office and team more efficient, or maybe it's reducing overhead costs by not having a part-timer taking up space in the office.
Growth and attracting new customers is also a by-product of being more efficient across your whole operation. When your sales team are professional and knowledgeable are then backed up by your operations, who run smoothly and deliver efficiently followed by accurate and timely billing, clients know they are dealing with a professional organisation that delivers what they say. This attracts more customers and on and on. This can future-proof your business and make it more valuable, so even in these difficult times there are lots of things you can do to grow your business.
