Many people today dream of starting their own business. It is thought that around 72% of millennials would consider starting their own business, instead of working as an employee. Of these people, most just assume that any company that they might run will be a good one.
No one wants to run a poor business that can’t meet expectations, or that lets their customers and clients down. We want our business to be reliable. We want to run successful companies with loyal customers. Businesses that are consistent and that can be trusted.
However, this is often harder than you might think. Running a business is easy. Running a reliable business can be much more difficult, especially in those early days, when everything is a learning curve. Let’s take a look at 4 of the things that you can do to ensure your business is reliable and continues to be so as it grows.
Hire Reliable Staff
In the early days, you might have a small team. But, whether you hire one person, or a hundred, if you want to offer a reliable service, your team needs to be filled with competent people. Employ staff that let you down, that don’t pull their weight or turn up to shifts, and that don’t put extra effort in when it is needed, and your business will never work at it is best. You will be forced to let other people down in turn.
So, take your time with recruitment. Don’t just hire people quickly and without thought. Hire people who are committed to your business, and eager to work. Then, keep an eye on things. If staff members start to let you down regularly, or without good reason, speak to them quickly.
Look After Your Equipment and Machinery
The same goes for your company machinery. If you need to purchase equipment but don’t have the necessary funds, you can opt for equipment financing options. Find suppliers that offer condition monitoring equipment to minimize any downtime that you could face if anything key to your business were to become broken or damaged.
Make sure your staff are well trained to use anything, and that they know how to clean and maintain any equipment that your businesses use. Then, schedule regular maintenance and services to keep things in good working order.
Practice Good Communication
As much as we would like to, no one is 100% reliable all of the time. We protect our businesses, take out time with sourcing equipment and hiring staff, and put processes in place to ensure as much reliability as possible, but things go wrong.
When this happens, the most essential thing that you can do is offer honest communication. If you can’t hit a deadline or delivery date, be honest about why. Keep lines of communication open, be honest about what has happened and offer regular updates.
Take Your Time
We often start to let people down when we try to take on more than we should in business. When we stretch ourselves too thinly or when we try to grow our business too quickly. Set realistic business goals, take your time to grow and try not to make promises that you won’t be able to keep.
