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The Times Real Estate

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When the economy gets tough, North Brisbane Accountant Christina told her clients to spend up on cutting back.  Invest in lean systems.  Aim for automation to reduce staffing costs.  Invest in virtual working environments to slash rents.  The key to surviving less income is to ensure you have low overheads to match.

Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be as challenging as you think. Your business might be on the path to success by taking these actions: 

Downsize Your Premises

The digital age has been wonderful for small businesses. Rather than leasing an expensive office for your team, everyone can work from the comfort of their own homes. They can simply use tech to connect every day. If you haven’t yet explored remote working options or the prospect of downsizing your premises, now might be the right time. 

You can enjoy a virtual office with a professional receptionist, mail-forwarding services, and a professional address. Yet, you don’t have all the same overheads as you would if you had a physical office space. 

Set Goals

You can’t always enjoy new operational efficiencies in your business if you aren’t sure what your failures are or the improvements you want to make. As a result, setting goals should be one of your first actions. 

Identify your business's biggest inefficiencies, why they are inefficient, and possible solutions. Then, create steps you can take to implement one of those solutions. 

Outsource Tasks

Many business tasks are time-consuming and necessary. Yet, they don’t require someone who is overly skilled. As a result, you don’t necessarily need someone working in your business to take care of them. 

In the spirit of enjoying greater business efficiency and streamlining your operations, consider outsourcing your more time-intensive tasks. For example, data entry might be something you can hand over to a trusted virtual assistant. 

Invest in Automation

Technology has advanced at a rapid rate. Tasks that used to be performed by humans are now taken care of by machines in a process known as automation. Whether you work in manufacturing, healthcare, transport, agriculture, or even construction, you’re bound to find software, a machine, or a program that can automate tasks and free up your time.

However, automation is about more than time savings. It can also result in significant money savings. For example, an Australian Asian grocery retailer who deployed automated cash handling devices in its stores said the tech prevented the need for manual labor from staff and avoided cash discrepancies. 

Ask for Feedback and Advice

Being in charge of a business doesn’t always mean you understand the daily operations inside and out. However, your frontline staff will. If you know your business isn’t as efficient as it could be, ask your employees for their feedback and advice.

They might have ideas for how they could do their own jobs faster and more efficiently. They might also have feedback about current policies and procedures they don’t believe are allowing for the most efficiency. 

Measure Your Performance

You don’t always know how efficient or inefficient your business is until you measure it. Implement key performance indicators to track important metrics like customer satisfaction and turnaround time. This information can prove invaluable for understanding where you need to make changes and where your business is thriving. 

Most business owners strive for wholly efficient and streamlined businesses for the best profitability and productivity. If you’re struggling to know where to begin, take some of the actions above. Something as simple as downsizing your premises or investing in automation may be all it takes to notice significant changes.