A business is always defined by a complex set of systems that afford the profitable or breakeven continuance of said organization. It might be sustainable, it might not. Some corporations keep ‘infinite growth’ as a mantra they sing to their shareholders, while others are more concerned with limited growth and sustainable practicality.
There are many ways of running a business. From learning how the top fortune 500 CEOs practice and applying that to your firm, to simply trying to run the most humble and self-sustaining small store you can. All of these businesses, however, are not only concerned with making strides everyday. Sometimes, maintenance is the highest priority.
A business entity is by itself something that does not run on its own. It might be likened to a ship steering straight or in either direction, rather than a calm yacht on the waters. This is why large corporations can and do fade into relevance after neglecting to change with the times. This is why you have companies like Kodak oddly (but not too oddly) changing their photography focus to pursue blockchain currency.
The small woes every business leader should attend to are vast and numerous. To defend against them, it’s best to keep total, wide-spanning solutions for success. This allows you the time to find solutions that work blanketly, rather than wasting time on individual, tiny issues that occur. Here are a few suggestions for doing just that:
Branding Relevance
Marketing is a fickle beast. What might work one year might be offensive in the next year. Attitudes might change. For example, decades ago an advertisement campaign that stated ‘don’t be a girl, play with these action figures!’ might be seen as a way to appeal to young boys. Now, it would seem like a strange and unnecessary slight against young girls who might actually quite enjoy playing with that action figure. This is a natural societal response, and it benefits you to tailor your marketing in this way.
A slip of a small marketing blunder can also spread like wildfire in the modern day. The reactivity and humour-generating culture of social media platforms like Twitter can quickly mock and belittle your curated efforts if they come across a little strange. We recollect Kendall Jenner’s large blunder last year, in which she starred in a Pepsi advertisement.
During a time of political chaos and country-wide protests, the advertisement depicted Kendall handing a can of Pepsi to a member of the riot police, and this act precipitated a collective party and smoothing of hostilities. This was rightfully mocked. Maybe a little harshly and vindictively, but that is the strength of online and sometimes anonymous commenting culture.
This is why your marketing team not only needs to be creatively driven and positively influenced, but they need a strong, clear, consistent, updated eye on what drives modern consumerism, the attitudes of humor and appeals that surround it. This way you can avoid the pitfalls of a blunder. If conducted well, the online ‘share culture’ might work in your favor, and net you free exposure.
Equipment
The equipment you use defines your business. If you weren’t in possession of this, your staff would drive to work every morning to sit at a desk for eight hours and twiddle their thumbs. Your manufacturing team would play darts in the break room all day. This might not be the most positive situation.
But of course you have equipment. You have likely a huge and expansive IT network with cloud base functionalities and VoIP communication packages. You keep the office well ventilated with large fans and wall turbines. You may even have a manufacturing line that you rely on. However, these things are not permanent. They require maintenance. They need your continual attention, otherwise things might break at a critical moment in the life of your firm. A manufacturer’s warranty might be good for replacement, but that takes time, time you could be spent working.
This is why it’s important to invest in packages that allow for continual maintenance of your tools. You might invest in a full department assigned to this. IT maintenance is not too uncommon a group of employees to see in a business setting, despite the fact that systems are more reliable and compatible than ever. Companies such as Tubetech offer custom cleaning solutions for highly specialized equipment such as ethylene furnaces, fired heaters, and many other critical components of heat exchange. Services like this are perfect for when you must comply with state regulations to keep everything above board, especially stringent visits such as the IRIS inspection. So, these maintenance efforts are not only important to keep your equipment running well, but they also contribute directly to the safety of your staff (the top priority,) and keep you legally operational.
The best part here is that often, minimal effort applied frequently is enough to keep maintenance well taken care of. Wash your dishes each night, and the pile will never build.
Staff Growth
Staff are also a fickle bunch. Sure, they can be loyal, and will hopefully invest all of themselves into the life of your firm. They are interested in sustaining their job security, and will put effort in to achieve that. However, they are not their out of the kindness of their hearts. If they are, frankly that’s a little strange, or they are related to you in some way. If a better offer comes up, they are likely and reasonably encouraged to take it. So, be the better offer.
This does not mean paying over the odds to retain staff. It means keeping feedback acted upon, the route upwards possible through hiring internally, and to reward competent employees. It means celebrating positive work done well, and compounding that through increased responsibility or yes, a higher salary. It means sustaining positive praise for when it really matters, rather than cheapening it through shallow and universal celebration of your staff. It means knowing when to discipline, rather than being the ‘buddy-buddy’ boss at all times. The respect you gain from this will grow, but that also means wielding it responsibility, and earning it in a renewed sense day after day.
If you can do these things (which often compound and exponentially grow in benefit,) you can call yourself an excellent boss, and the morale of your team will be continually sustained.
There are many small and large woes every business must attend to. With these three blanket yet direct solutions, you can be sure the most insidious have little chance of interrupting your plans.
