When you stop to consider the amount of responsibilities required to run a small business the conclusions can be overwhelming. It turns out the only thing ‘small’ in a small business is the number of people. That means fewer people wearing many different hats handling a larger set of tasks. Diversity is a requirement, not an option. As a company who has waded their way through most of the difficult issues faced by a small business in the creative industry, we have a few tips on the process of simplification.
1. Take advantage of hosted applications
Regardless of what type of small business you run, there is a web-based application out there targeted at your company. Creatives who rely on tracking billable time, freelancers who need help invoicing, or IT companies requiring issue tracking — there are online services that will make running your business go much smoother. The beauty of using Software-as-a-Service is that the applications and your data are not physically located in your office. You are not responsible for upgrades or data backups, because someone is doing that for you.
2. Outsource the irrelevance
Often times the ‘requirements’ of a small business owner are not relevant to the business. Marketing, IT, and Email are all examples of critical business components that should be outsourced. There is nothing worse than having to redirect your resources to an IT crisis when you should be focusing on your business instead.
3. Redefine your space
A small business can become so enveloped in the day-to-day worfklow that a few years will go by before anyone realizes the office is growing in on itself. Stacks of papers accumulate in the corners, the closets become full of discarded boxes and instruction manuals, and desks are no longer recognizable underneath the long-term residue of business life. Take a day to reorganize. Move the desks around and clear the clutter. Rent a cheap storage unit and put all of your unused stuff in it. You’ll end up with a fresh new office and a rebooted attitude. A new start for an established business can work wonders.
Could you possible give some examples of companies that do this “business hosting”?
haha just realised you’re a company that does this… never mind. You should point it out! I came here from design float, I had no idea.
Here are some IT resources:
Rackspace Hosted Exchange
Hostway website hosting
Google Email
Hosted subversion for version control
i find most hosted apps for smbs a setback. point 3 is silly. god
Big Bird always said not to knock it till you’ve tried it. You would be surprised at how much of an effect the work environment has on a business. Why do you think people hate cubicles so much?
Dilbert anyone? http://radio.weblogs.com/0109790/myImages/dilbert_LifeSuck3000.gif
i agree – web based tools are a boon; As a media business owner i’ve been using Deskaway for project management; its light, easy, hassle free and neat. I couple that with using Google apps to host my email and i use zoho for invoicing – so its a neat package. Ultimately everything gets intgraed into DA which is now increasingly becoming a Project Management + PROCESS MANAGEMENT tool. There’s so many other light tools which firms can us – i found the above 3 the best and easiest in terms of interface so i opted for them (considering price as well) — but there’s loads. We just moved to a new office. Redefining your space is necessary.