How Streamlined Operations Can Make or Break a Small Business
Hosted by Ruth Ann Janson and Beth Bender
Ruth Ann Janson
Hi, everybody. I'm Ruth Ann Janson, and this is Beth Bender, and we are back for another episode of TopBranch.
Beth Bender
We are.
Ruth Ann Janson
We are talking about today the exciting topic of keeping your business operations streamlined, and how that is something that can really make or break your business. And we know... We have learned many of these lessons the hard way.
Beth Bender
[laughs] Yes.
Ruth Ann Janson
[laughs]
Beth Bender
We also are a service business. [laughs]
Ruth Ann Janson
Yes. Small service business that needs to have streamlined operations to be successful. The three bullets that we are gonna talk about under this, we like to make these short and sweet, are your processes, your product, and your people.
Beth Bender
We're going to do all that in 10 minutes?
Ruth Ann Janson
We are going to... We are.
Beth Bender
[laughs]
Key Business Processes
Ruth Ann Janson
We are going to crush this in 10 minutes. So with regard to processes, I think the key to this is really identifying which area of your company requires processes. Some things do not require a process, but most things that are important in terms of cost cutting and revenue generating require to kind of have that process identified and buttoned up. We've come up with a few that most designers need to be thinking about in their business, which are client onboarding, design, obviously, and selection process, that kind of looks a little bit different for every designer... your procurement, and then how you're managing your... the administrative side of your business.
Beth Bender
I think also, I mean, in that same vein in terms of kind of how you build this out, it might not be your skill set. You know, you might look at all of these things and go, "I'm really good at X, Y, Z, but building out those processes is not what is my, you know, my s-
Ruth Ann Janson
Forte
Beth Bender
... my forte, my strength."
Ruth Ann Janson
Yeah.
Beth Bender
And I can just say from personal experience, you know, I have... I've got some good skills, but building out those processes is definitely not my forte. And so, you know, running a service business and looking at, okay, that is a key man or key woman role. That is not something that somebody can come in that doesn't have a really good understanding of how business operates and how to look at business holistically and big picture. They're not going to be able to come in and really help you with that.
Ruth Ann Janson
Yeah.
Beth Bender
So, I would encourage you, if it's not your skill set, to make sure that you're putting the right key man or key woman in place. We were fortunate enough to be able to bring in, Ruth Ann to The Dove Agency as a partner with us, but you need to really take that selection seriously.
Ruth Ann Janson
That's a great point, and I think one thing we didn't think about talking about here, but as a business owner, if you don't feel like that's one of your strengths, definitely look at, you know, outsourcing that in terms of hiring a consultant. You know, there's a whole bunch of people out there that are very qualified and really understand the design process and would be glad to help.
Beth Bender
Great fractional CFO-type person.
Software & Technology Recommendations for Small Businesses
Ruth Ann Janson
Yeah. Exactly. In terms of after these processes are identified, documented, and you kind of feel buttoned up that you know what you're doing and you're, you know, how to get from point A to point B, what about the products that are supporting these? One of the things that we thought about when we were developing our product, IDnest, is how to actually reduce the number of products that are necessary to support your key processes. That was a lot of Ps, a lot of alliteration. [laughs]
Beth Bender
[laughs]
Ruth Ann Janson
But we look at our designers, and most of them, like on average, have seven, eight, even upwards of 10 products that they're using to support their business.
Beth Bender
It's exhausting.
Ruth Ann Janson
That's a lot. It's expensive. You know, it's a lot to keep up with in terms of the users, and permissions, and all of these pieces. So what we would recommend is can you get that down to maybe three or four key pieces of software to really help drive these processes, keep your costs down, keep it more simple, keep things as combined as possible? Maybe one piece of software could actually support two or three of your processes.
Beth Bender
Right. And I think a lot of the people who start to collect software, I'm a techie.
Ruth Ann Janson
[laughs]
Beth Bender
I love it. I actually would've done really well if I'd gone and got my degree in, I don't know, computer engineering or something-
Ruth Ann Janson
Yes
Beth Bender
Because, I kind of geek out on it. But, as you start to collect all this technology, what ends up happening is a lot of this technology is repetitive. And so you're finding technology and you're like, "Well, this little piece of this technology is easier than this little piece of this technology, so I'll go use this part of this one, and this part of this one," instead of saying, "You know what? I'm gonna get this down to two or three key pieces of technology, and then with those, I'm actually gonna go take the time to learn them, and I'm actually gonna take the time to train my people on them." And, if you don't love kind of digging in in that learning process, sometimes it's not instant. And so don't just go collect more technology-
Ruth Ann Janson
[laughs]
Beth Bender
... to be able to-
Ruth Ann Janson
To solve your problems
Beth Bender
... to solve your problems.
Ruth Ann Janson
Yeah.
Beth Bender
Instead, look at what you've got and say, "Does this piece actually achieve it, even though, you know what, I might have to dig in and learn it."
Ruth Ann Janson
Right. And I think the other side of that coin is don't stick with something too long that's not working.
Beth Bender
Exactly.
Ruth Ann Janson
Because we have a lot of clients that are... They have the software that they're sort of wedded to, and they're doing all these workarounds.
Beth Bender
Yeah.
Ruth Ann Janson
They're not really using reports. There's a whole bunch of things that they're doing, and at the end of the day I'm like, "Why are you even paying for this?" [laughs]
Beth Bender
Yeah. [laughs]
Ruth Ann Janson
You're doing all these things outside of the system.
Beth Bender
It's a lot of effort.
Ruth Ann Janson
Right. So just be discerning. You know, be mindful of how you're using these products. Try to be as efficient as possible.
Beth Bender
Yeah.
Team Management, Checks & Balances & “You Get What You Inspect”
Ruth Ann Janson
So we've talked about processes, product, and the last thing is the people, which can be a challenge, as we all know, running small businesses. I think that once these, the product and processes are defined, it's coming up with taking a look at your team, or maybe outside of your team if somebody you're gonna have to hire or a third-party provider. What are these tasks underneath the processes that actually need to get accomplished? What are the best skill sets? Who are the individuals that are most interested in performing these tasks?
Beth Bender
Yeah.
Ruth Ann Janson
And I think kind of underlying that as well is what are some checks and balances on these people that are performing these processes, and making sure that those are woven in as well, because that's equally as important as getting the task done, making sure that the work is being checked, quality control, etc, along the way.
Beth Bender
And any piece of technology that is being implemented to refine or streamline your processes, there should be just kind of intrinsic in that piece of technology checks and balances.
Ruth Ann Janson
Correct.
Beth Bender
You know, any of these good platforms out there, they have checks and balances. They have administrative portals. They have the side of the system where the administrator or the owner can see things that the other employees can't. And, it's really on the owner of the company to be digging into this and to be digging into these reports and-
Ruth Ann Janson
Or have a person that you trust-
Beth Bender
Have a person to do it.
Ruth Ann Janson
Yeah.
Beth Bender
Exactly, because if you're not actually looking at that information, then you're really putting a lot of trust in these employees and, it's not a bad thing to trust your employees, but you need to-
Ruth Ann Janson
Don't get what you expect, get what you inspect.
Beth Bender
Exactly.
Ruth Ann Janson
Take the time to do the work. Maybe it's once a month. Roll your sleeves up. Figure out, that's one of your processes. What are the areas of my company that I need to double check?
Beth Bender
Mm-hmm.
Ruth Ann Janson
It's not just always looking at the high, like, your top-line numbers, but there's other areas of your company that you need to make sure that you as the owner understand, are fully, you know, knowledgeable about all of these areas. Even if somebody else has been sort of running that for you during the month, don't be afraid to get in there and kind of check and make sure things are running as you think they are.
Beth Bender
Yeah. I like... You say that all the time, Ruth Ann.
Ruth Ann Janson
[laughs]
Beth Bender
I mean, I will say that s- [laughs] she says that w-Probably once a week
Ruth Ann Janson
Yes
Beth Bender
You get what you inspect, you know, and that's very true.
Ruth Ann Janson
Yeah.
Beth Bender
It's a great quote. Take that to heart everybody and, and let that run through your head.
Ruth Ann Janson
You know what? I had a different quote, but I think we're just gonna go with that.
Beth Bender
Absolutely.
Ruth Ann Janson
And I have absolutely no idea where this came from other than my son's lower school headmaster, if you will, at the time he was in fourth grade. But that was his big quote is, "You don't get what you expect, you get what you inspect." And he was talking about kids' homework, but I think it applies in a lot of areas of life as we've seen. [laughs]
Beth Bender
Right. It's great. Well, it's been fun.
Ruth Ann Janson
Yep. We'll see you next time.
Beth Bender
Bye.
Ruth Ann Janson
Bye guys.