When starting up a business, there are many things that you will need to think about, from your business plan, to your budget, and how you plan on everything working out to your own advantage. Having said that, it tends to be a lot less intense at the beginning because you’re just starting out, so you will have a lot of time on your hands to fine tune little details that need your extra attention. This is why so many people work from home, because they can. There is no need to waste any more valuable money than you have to, and the responsibilities that you have right now are all manageable and can be done from the comfort of your own home, assuming you have the internet of course.
Once you start to make a name for yourself and sales begin to increase, this is the moment you can start thinking about expanding that little bit more. Just because you’re having a taste of success doesn’t mean that you can just relax and let the good times roll. This only means that you need to step up your game so that you are able to keep outdoing yourself. For example, if people don’t know the name of your business, then how big are their chances of typing in a few words and seeing your site on the first page as an option? – Exactly, and this is at least fifty percent of how sales are made. A consumer types in what they want, and then the search engine brings up a list of all of the businesses that provide that. The only problem is, if you don’t have SEO tools at the right time early on, then your website is going to be lost somewhere on the twentieth page, and we all know nobody scrolls that far along. So make sure that you rank high in the search engine so that people are able to find you, even when they don’t know that they’re looking for you.
Once you start taking on more, you will soon realise that you may not be able to do everything by yourself anymore. Of course, the pride tells you that you can, but realistically you know that it will all get too much for you trying to manage each and every area of your business by yourself. And that’s when the idea of employees come in. Sometimes it can be hard for an owner to accept they need help, because they’ve worked so hard to get to where they are today – all by themselves, and so the idea of now needing some helping hands feels like cheating. It’s normal to feel this way, but know that you’re not cheating at all. Your business is wanting to expand, and in order to do that, you will need to be open to making a few changes, like hiring employees.
Remember that you have full control over who you choose to work for you, and who you say no to, so never feel as though the decision is out of your hands, because it’s entirely the opposite. It all boils down to what you want. It’s very important that you take your time when choosing your employees, because the last thing you want to happen is to give everyone a job, only to realise half of those people are incapable, or rude, or an awful team player. So take as much time as you need, and if something doesn’t quite feel right, then trust what your gut is telling you, because nine times out of ten it was for a very good reason.
One of the most important things is to never underestimate the impact your employees have over your business. Here’s why.
Your brand
Your brand is something that you create very early on, but a lot of people forget that all the best brands are the ones that evolve, and that means allowing them to change over time to fit the current trend, just like how fashion is constantly changing. Your employees are all a big part of that because customers will often see your staff a lot more now that you have a proper team on your hands. It all comes down to the little things like how they act and what they wear. You may not have a uniform for your employees, but it’s always a good idea to have some form of a dress code so that everyone is on the same page. So think about the effect these decisions have on your overall brand and appearance.
Your communication
Now that you have a team, you’re able to take more of a back seat in certain areas as you’re no longer needed as much, allowing you to focus your time on more beneficial things. Because of this, when it comes down to your customer service, your employees will be dealing with most of the interactions while you oversee the bigger picture. This means that when a customer has an enquiry and they reach out, be it via telephone, email, or even direct messaging through social media, it will be your employees that converse with everyone, and everything they say will reflect you and your business, so it’s crucial you give them some basic training so the language that is used is all very similar and in order. There may even be key phrases that you’ll want them to include as your trademark.
Now that you have a couple of examples, you can understand just how much of an impact your employees really have over your business. So this is why it’s so important that you take your time to choose the right people for the job. You want to have such a good team in front of you that they end up as family sooner or later. Your employees should have your back through thick and thin, and always give their very best to ensure that your business is going to be a successful one because everyone is playing their necessary role.
