4 tips to make your business work without you

If there is one thing women know how to do its to work. We work at home, in the office and mostly for everyone. When it comes to business, we tend to take on more than our fair share and then find it difficult to balance the rest of our lives along with our business.
Well if there is one test to see if you are building a sustainable business, its to take two weeks off and see if you come back and meet your business intact. Can you afford to do this in March? Would your business still be operational if you traveled for two weeks? Do you find yourself constantly having to do ALL the work while your staff standby and watch? Are you tired of repeating the same thing over and over again…then these tips are just for you!

Hire well– It may seem expensive but hiring the right people for the right roles and testing for character as well as competency is super important to running an efficient business. If you can’t afford to hire highly qualified staff, then be prepared to instill a culture of continuous training to ensure your staff are capable enough to execute allocated tasks. Also don’t be afraid to pull the plug when you find you have hired the wrong staff. You’ll be doing both them and your business a favour in the long run.

Open the channels of communication– keeping everything you do to yourself, is a sure fine way to create a dependency on you. If Madam has to be the one to perform almost every task or the only one that holds all the information, then you can kiss any ambitions you have of taking time off while your business operates efficiently, good bye.

Document everything– write down every process you and your staff perform in the company, even simple mundane tasks i.e. how many times the office is cleaned, how to clean the office, how to answer phones or receive customers. This way there is a process that must be followed every day even if you aren’t present. Its also a great way to train new staff and ensure that knowledge isn’t warehoused with only a few staff.

Embrace technology– there are several technological tools that help organizations operate efficiently and don’t require the CEO’s physical presence to get things done. Whats App, Slack, Evernote and Trello are excellent tools for assigning tasks to teams and individuals and also allow for project management whether near or far.
How are you managing to keep your business operating efficiently when you aren’t there?

About SME Boutique Women’s Exclusive Club (SWEC)
SWEC is a member-based group of aspiring women in business and leadership, seeking business growth and personal development opportunities, powered by Addosser Micro Finance Bank. The aim of the club is to create a community of women who are empowered and positioned to succeed through the provision of capacity building seminars and workshops, access to financing and potential investors as well as networking and business support services tailored to suit specific business requirements. Become a member today by clicking here.