How to keep your head above the water when your small business begins to grow
As well as focusing on making the business a success, you can also find yourself acting as credit control, IT support and HR manager in the space of one working day. And then when the business does begin to take off, it can become very overwhelming. This is when solid organisation skills need to be applied in order to make sure that operations run smoothly, and all balls are kept in the air. Here are a few tips to help you stay in control.
- Responsibilities – When a business begins to get busier, it’s time to delegate. There’s no way you can do it all. Make sure that you have good people working for your business with the right skill sets, knowledge and an understanding of what the business is looking to achieve. Make sure your team has clearly defined responsibilities so that the important duties are managed and dealt with.
- Routine – You don’t need to sweat the small stuff if you make sure that you establish good routines early on. From backups of your IT systems to stay on top of credit control, a good organisation will allow you to stay in control. It means if things do go wrong, resolving them is easier if the groundwork has been done.
- Compliance – all businesses need to take compliance seriously and it’s not something that can be half-baked. Make sure that all records are completed fully – from PAT testing, to Right to Work checks and rechecks, cyber software updates, annual leave records and, of course, the big one for any modern business - data compliance; delete any customers that no longer want to be on your records (or encrypt this data if you can’t – for legal reasons – remove it.) Make sure you have full documentation of customer communications and make sure that contact details are correct. It’s worth investing in a good CRM system – there's plenty of off-the-shelf packages, or you can get
bespoke system built that will grow with your business. - Finance – It’s fair to say that all businesses set out to make money and a sale isn’t a sale until the money is in the bank. Make sure that due diligence is being applied with your finances; if you are extending credit – think about on what terms. Do your homework on your customers – do they have a good financial health rating and good payment behaviour? Make sure you have clear terms and conditions set out and make sure these are available to customers. Keep on top of invoices and move quickly to recover any that are past due (an invoice becomes less likely to be recovered the later it is.) Poor
cashflow is the number one killer for small businesses. Keep yours moving. - Communication – regular meetings with your key staff keep everyone in the loop and will give you an overview of the crucial areas – productivity, finance, compliance. It’s a way to keep your team
focussed , review sector trends, offer support where some teams may need it more and spot any potential issues before they become more troublesome. Talking is key.
Business is exciting, especially when it begins to take off and you begin to see the merits of your hard work. Staying in control will help sustain the upward curve of success.
What our customers say
The team at identeco have been a pleasure to deal with and have gone above and beyond to deal with our bespoke needs. They have enabled us to improve our business strategy and make us feel more comfortable in the businesses we are trading with. I would not hesitate to recommend their services to any business that require such piece of mind when trading in the B2B market space. We look forward to being a valued client for many years to come
Bobby Russell
Managing Director at Contact FinanceWe have used identeco's service for several months and found it to be excellent value for money.
Sean Hemmings
Credit ReformBrilliant product and team. This is our second year using the product and it has been very useful. The identeco system itself is user friendly, with large levels of easily readable and useful information. The supporting team are friendly and knowledgeable.
Kevin Billingham
CFS Representative Senior at FedEx Express UK LimitedI've used identeco several times now and it's provided me, as a freelance Social Media Manager, with a huge amount of reassurance when considering taking on new clients. I've been able to check their financial status and I can be pre-warned if they don't have a favorable payment history!
Laura
Social Media Manager at Virtually SavvySuch excellent value for money. I use the portal everyday for checking out business stability. Marketing lists have enabled me to reach my audience and increase business growth
Sonya
Managing Director at Adore Your OutdoorsThe interface is really easy to use and the information available on companies performance helps us decide to extend credit and on what terms. The mail data available is an added bonus and the annual cost is amazing. Customer support is real people. and I cannot recommend a credit check and business support package that is better value
Guy Sinclair
Managing Director at Modus Agencyidenteco is a great platform for any business. It provides a great service and at a great price. We were slow to start but now use the service at least once a day. The team even set up a free training session to ensure we get the best from the software.
Andy
Managing Director at Hayward MillerVery good
EU Radici Ltd
Fantastic Product. For the price, I had a slight reservation as to how helpful this was going to be. I should NOT have been worried - 5 Stars and an Excellent Product!
RJ
Ops Director at Richard Jefferies LimitedGreat product, great service - Easy to use tool that helped our marketing campaign. The data was good quality and very useful. Customer service was really quick and efficient whenever I had a question, which makes the whole thing even better!
Ceri Rogers
Managing Director at NS Events Group LtdService is good, and the turnaround for traces is fast. Highly recommend.
Rebecca
Legal Clerk at Ward HadawayI have used the service on a few occasions to check out businesses details and have been impressed by their service and how thorough the details are. With one particular company highlighted to me that it was not safe to do business with them - so it made me think twice about engaging them. Their customer service is excellent too and all the staff are extremely helpful if you get stuck.
Sadie Skipworth
Social Media Manager at Sadie Skipworth Social MediaExcellent, friendly service with fast turnaround of the results. Just what I was looking for!
Alison Miller
Senior Research Executive at Scott Porter ResearchBeing able to obtain information in one place saves time, and the fee charged on an annual basis is cost effective.
Mike
Managing Director at Debt Solve UKThe portal has become an intrinsic part of our account opening process; giving us the ability to understand credit terms for our customers and set them accordingly. For the price, it's become invaluable to our business.
Oliver
Sales Director at CJUK
