There are approximately an infinite number of quotes about how anything worth having in the world, and particularly in business, is ever easy. If you want something, you have to be prepared to suffer for it, or at least you’d think so if you spent any amount of time browsing the business-focused areas of the media. And the surprising thing in all of this is that it isn’t true.
Now, let’s be clear, this isn’t to say that “get rich quick” ideas are ever valid. They aren’t. But in business, you can certainly make things run smoother without trading off some pain points. In many ways, the last few decades have seen us introduce a lot of complications that aren’t always necessary. The following tips can make a difference to how smoothly your business runs, with the bonus benefit that they won’t upset anyone, yourself included.
Always Make It As Easy As Possible For People To Give You Money
So this one sounds materialistic, but the point of a business is to take money for providing products or services, so it’s also common sense. Simply put, it means removing unnecessary steps at checkout: if people want to sign up to your newsletter, they can do it elsewhere.
It’s also a good idea to have as many payment methods as possible, such as A2A payments and PayPal. Make paying painless, and people will pay.
Remove The Friction From Communication
There are now so many ways to contact people that business cards are beginning to look cramped. And there is some benefit to having multiple paths of communication, at least where customers are concerned. But internally there is a lot to be said for having fewer and better ways to talk to one another.
It’s surprising how often someone finds themselves saying: “Did you get my email? Oh, you already pinged me on Slack? Let’s hop on a call!”. Have an agreed way of communicating within the business – and maybe one other within the department. This reduces cases of talking past one another.
Automate The Repetitive Stuff
There’s an argument to be made that there is too much automation in business. Frankly, that’s an argument that will find a very receptive audience, and for good reason.
Important, nuanced things should not be automated; this rarely saves the time it is intended to and can be harmful. However, elements like data entry and collating figures from spreadsheets can, and should, be automated. That leaves your intelligent workers free to use their brains where they’re most impactful.
Eliminate Decision Fatigue
One of the more ever-present problems in business – and in life, increasingly – is the horror of too many decisions. It seems like it would be a good thing to have an abundance of choice, but too many options can make things more stressful.
Options like allowing remote working and flexible schedules are worthwhile, but for regular processes within the business, like letter-writing and document creation, have set templates that simply need to be edited rather than created from scratch. Even just five minutes saved can reduce the brain fog caused by trying to make a “right” decision when there really is no such thing.
Thanks for stopping by!
Magda
xoxo