There are some jobs that you just know that you can do better than anyone else on your staff. You know the process the best, you’ve been doing it the longest. You’re the most familiar with the client, vendor, whomever. That’s great, but be careful not to claim too many areas as your own personal domain. Having your fingers in too many pies, and holding things too close can actually be detrimental to your business.
How often are you able to take a week or even a day off? If, and when, you do get away are you actually able to enjoy the entire time undisturbed or do you still have to field calls from the office? In a few previous posts we’ve discussed the importance of minimizing stress and truly getting away. Everyone needs a chance to recharge and refresh. If you’re still working, even when you’re not at work, you’re missing out on that opportunity. Eventually the strain will catch up with you in one way or another.
Your talents and skills are closely tied to your competitive advantage and the success of your small business. Being able to share these gifts with others and cross train them to fill in for you can create an even larger advantage. Each person has the ability to bring something unique to the job at hand. No, they may not do exactly the way that you would but they may add a nuance that you hadn’t thought of. Plus, having someone else who is capable of handling each of your jobs frees you up to get away and actually relax and enjoy your time off.
As your business continues to grow, you may have more work than one person can comfortably handle on any given day. Having two or more employees who can jump in and help out can keep you on deadline and keep your customers happy without burning out employees. Often the largest concern with cross-training employees is a lack of oversight. How will one person know what the other person did so that we avoid duplication of effort and more? This is where technology can be very useful. Review our post on back office technologies that allow you to share information and easily coordinate efforts across projects.
When you are more relaxed and confident that you and your staff can handle whatever comes your way, you’ll feel more free to take chances with other new initiatives. Don’t let your own hubris hold you back. Your business deserves the opportunity to reach its full potential but it won’t get there if you are bogged down with the daily grind of day to day operations.
Stockpile | Small Business Inventory System
Another thing holding your business back could be inventory management issues. When it comes to managing inventory, nobody does it better than Stockpile small business inventory system. We make it easy to add, delete and transfer inventory within a single location, or across multiple locations. Our free small business inventory system works on any mobile device so you can access critical data anytime from anywhere. Running reports with Stockpile is easy as well. Whatever your inventory management needs entail, Stockpile has you covered. But don’t take our word for it, try Stockpile today!
