How To Apply Corporate Business Process Improvement Methods To Your Small Business
Growing a business is about more than attracting new clients: It’s also about fostering an environment of productivity to meet both short and long term goals. That's where business process improvement comes in. Large corporations have long used business process improvement methodologies to analyze and refine workflows to maximize productivity. Small businesses looking to grow at scale should consider a few of the key aspects of corporate business process improvement to save time while creating a consistent customer experience.
Whether you're a solopreneur or leading a team, the journey toward streamlined operations starts with a well-structured plan.
What is business process improvement?
Business process improvement is the method by which businesses grow at scale by boosting efficiency. It involves carefully analyzing your current workflows, and then creating more efficient systems designed to encourage productivity. Simplify tasks. And better organize systems to provide a consistently excellent customer experience.
If you’re looking to streamline operations to simplify your workday and better meet your clients’ needs, here are a few tips for building a solid business process improvement plan.
Create a business development plan
A business development plan is a roadmap for growth, zooming out from daily tasks to focus on the big picture. It's about strategizing to attract new customers, exploring new markets, and expanding your offerings. It's the proactive approach to ensure your business thrives and prospers in the long run. Ideally, you’ll update your business development plan each quarter with a specific focus on the following areas:
Sales & Revenue Forecast:
Project your sales and revenue for the upcoming quarter to set achievable financial goals and allocate resources accordingly.
Operational Improvements:
In the service industry, efficiency is key. Identify areas where you can enhance your service delivery, optimize resource management, and fine-tune your overall operations.
Client experience:
Happy customers lead to a thriving business. Develop strategies to elevate the customer experience, actively seek client feedback, and cultivate long-term relationships.
Automate client onboarding and offboarding
After you’ve made a plan, it’s time to start simplifying operations. Adopting tools to automate client onboarding and offboarding is a great way to both free up time and make sure nothing falls through the cracks. Client onboarding generally involves tasks like sending contracts, a comprehensive welcome package, and gathering data. Client offboarding, on the other hand, is the process by which clients can cancel services or renew their contracts.
Both of these processes can be fully automated with the help of productivity tools like Zapier. For example, if a new client signs up for your services using a web portal, an automation tool can automatically generate a contract, email the client, and save their data into your client relationship management database.
Foster a productive environment
Whether you’re a solopreneur or a team leader, creating a productive environment is one of the most important ways to improve your processes. To create a culture of productivity, start by defining specific, actionable goals for your business and set deadlines for meeting them. Then, break these big goals into smaller, manageable steps that you can track. If you’re looking for tips on how to set goals and achieve them, download our free Project Planning Guide to create plans and meet your business goals.
Keep improving systems
Creating a killer business process improvement plan isn’t a one-and-done prospect. Continuously monitoring your systems is the best way to make sure you’re on the path to business growth. However, it can also be time-consuming to constantly evaluate your systems to make sure you’re operating at maximum efficiency.
Our Done For You (DFY) Systems service takes the guesswork out of business process improvement. We’ll analyze your operations, create a comprehensive map of your processes, and then find the perfect tools to automate your tasks. Then we’ll customize your tools and provide you with a step-by-step guide to maintaining them. This service will boost your productivity and simplify your work day.
Business process improvement is an ongoing journey, not a one-time fix. By regularly evaluating your systems, embracing automation, and fostering a productive environment, you can unlock new levels of efficiency and growth. Remember, you don't have to navigate this journey alone. Our Done For You (DFY) Systems and Systems for Solo CEOs course can provide the expert guidance and support you need to optimize your workflows and achieve your business goals. Let's work smarter, not harder, to build a more profitable and sustainable future for your business.
Improve your strategy to grow your business. Here’s how Day to Day Assist can help you create a solid plan for business growth.