Transitioning to the digital age is a bit overwhelming for me. Any advice on modernizing my business and dealing with the frustration of feeling ‘behind the times’?
Embrace a gradual digital transition by prioritizing key aspects. Start by identifying specific areas needing improvement and focus on digital solutions for those. Seek guidance from digital experts or consultants to create a step-by-step modernization plan aligned with your business goals. Embrace learning opportunities through online courses or workshops to understand digital tools better. Don’t rush; take incremental steps and celebrate milestones.
I’m a small business process consultant who helps businesses identify areas in their businesses that are outdated and/or redundant and streamline them using readily available business tools.
What I have learnt is that each business is different in their needs, wants, and goals. But by ensuring that your back office works seamlessly, you free up your time to work towards achieving your goals.
Some quick win areas you could look at are
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What tasks do you repetitively complete on a regular basis. These types of tasks can usually be automated.
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Bottlenecks in your processes - what’s stopping you from achieving something, and how can you overcome these. For instance, your marketing strategy may not be optimised, so perhaps a marketing tool that automates your marketing process may be a huge benefit to you.
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Are you still capturing data manually in a notebook or in a Word file or Excel… Doing it this way often leads to inaccuracies, errors, or missed opportunities.
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What oversight do you have of your business? Can you immediately solve a situation that arises in your business, or do you first need to find all your notes to make a decision? A centralised data capture tool, such as a CRM, may be just what you need.
Hope that’s of some help.
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Contact the competition, or who you aspire to copy. Ask them for tips and advice. You will be shocked how many entrepreneurs are willing to mentor and help. Because you are not a threat (yet). Just ask.
What kind of business do you have? How many SKU? E-commerce can be daunting at first but the same principles apply at your physical business, you just need to put another filter on! Good luck.