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Many people are choosing to start their own businesses and there are more ways than ever to thrive — even during challenging times.
However, even once a new business has been established, it is important to continually invest in it. This does not simply mean financial investment, but investing in the quality of the service, the wellbeing of staff, and the simplicity of the processes.
The six tips below will help you to invest in your business in more than just the immediate financial form. With the approach below, the investments you make in your business can help ensure that it is not only financially successful, but also a positive and sustainable place of work.
TIP 1: Train Your Personnel
A key investment in your business is to ensure that your staff are trained, skilled, and safe in the workplace. There may be specific training to undertake that is the most relevant to their role or your industry. Choose this carefully and then build the training into your routine and systems when recruiting.
Even if you only have a small staff — or a team of just you! — it is still highly beneficial to ensure that everyone has the necessary skills they need. This can be a large financial investment or more budget-friendly.
Identify which are important skills in your workplace and then select training for staff that would best support these. A trained staff member could be a large initial investment, but over time they would help you to save time and win more work.
Key training might include first aid, accounting, SEO, social media marketing, and more.
TIP 2: Create A Positive Work Culture
One of the best investments an entrepreneur can make in their business is to foster a positive workplace culture. If their business is a positive, supportive place to work then their staff retention will be higher and the quality of applicants they attract and retain will also be stronger over time.
It is also important to note that positive workplaces that feel supportive and collaborative are also a crucial part of employees’ overall wellbeing. Good jobs and workplaces rate consistently highly in importance on surveys about quality of life and happiness.
You can help create a positive workplace culture by encouraging respect, kindness, and collaboration at work — and also by rewarding and appreciating team members. A competitive or highly pressurised environment is usually counterproductive.
You can also specifically aim to support your employees’ mental health, and combat the rising number of mental health issues exacerbated by stressful workplace conditions.
TIP 3: Offer Perks
Offering perks and rewards to customers and staff alike can be a great way to invest in your business overall. It inspires customer (and staff) loyalty, can lead to more sales, and adds a bit of positivity and excitement!
Consider what are popular products or services and consider how you could make them even more successful by adding a loyalty element, for example.
TIP 4: Review & Audit Regularly
A great investment you can make in your business is to review and audit regularly. Identify small issues early on before they have the opportunity to become a major problem. You will help to avoid serious disruption this way, and always feel more in control.
You can hire a professional auditor to offer an objective perspective on your whole business, undertake your own regular reviews in-house, or perhaps best of all — use a combination of the two.
Reviews and audits are an investment because they continually improve your business processes and can also help you to spot and avoid costly mistakes.
TIP 5: Get Certified
Does your industry have certification or accreditation that is highly recognisable or respected?
Consider whether this could be helpful training and a ‘stamp of approval’ for your business. Certification can be a great way to immediately communicate your compliance to the customer, as well as keeping you up to date on the best industry practices.
TIP 6: Have An Online Presence
An online presence — even a very simple one that only contains up to date contact details, for example — is more important than ever. Being present and visible to potential clients and customers is a strong investment you can make in your business.
An online presence isn’t only important now. It is likely to become ever-more important in the future. Start small and manageable — don’t feel like it has to be overcomplicated — and hire a professional if needed.
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