Identify Expensive Gaps In Your Business

Weirdly, it’s incredibly easy for a business to operate with significant gaps in its day-to-day operations. You wouldn’t think that no one would notice this happening, but many small business owners have been left with nothing to grow with due to gaps like these. 

And they can be found everywhere. In your accounts, in your HR department, in the way you search and hire new employees, and even in the way you spend your time on the job. And while it’s OK to have a few holes to patch up here and there, you don’t want to leave them for too long. 

That’s when they become expensive to try to deal with. And when they’re costly, they need to be found and fixed ASAP! So let’s lock down the money holes in your business operations; you’re most likely to see them in areas like these.

Check Customer Complaints

Your customers should be the first people you turn to when trying to identify costly gaps in your business operations. After all, they’re the people buying your product or service, and what they think of it defines what you’re capable of. 

So it’s time to do a quick spot check of your customer service desk! Review the notes from calls and messages to identify the problems. As you scan through this information, take stock of the recurring issues that arise. 

A.k.a., what are customers regularly complaining about? If you find a long-running issue that many customers have come to you about, it’s clear that some changes are needed. 

You should also double-check the resolutions in these cases. For example, are you regularly refunding customers? Or are you regularly sending out replacement orders? 

These are both very costly things for a business to have to do. And if they’re happening multiple times per month, it might be that something has gone wrong in your production line. 

Look for Automation Opportunities

How many tasks do you have set to be automated regularly? If there’s very little being done out of sight and out of mind, you may want to look into investing in automation software. 

With a kit like this, you can keep the workday from being taken up by paperwork and admin. Consider how much time we spend going through the motions daily, leaving little room for genuine brainstorming and innovation in key areas like product development, marketing, and customer service. 

Even the ‘simplest’ of tasks can sap the time away from you. Indeed, employees can lose two to three hours trying to clear their inbox first thing in the morning! 

That’s a lot of time (and billable hours) being lost to busywork that does nothing but keep the wheel spinning. 

But what if you could help them sift through and only answer the most important communications from the moment they turn their work PC on? It’s possible to do with the right tech, and it’s something you could very well invest in in the long term. 

Test the Security of Your Network

How secure is your business network? If it’s been a while since you last thought about it, now’s the time to check in and take a closer look. 

After all, cybersecurity issues can cost a small business upwards of $1,000 per issue, so you really cannot afford to keep this gap unplugged! And all it takes is for one phishing email link to be clicked, and your entire business dataset could be exposed to the entire world. 

But don’t panic. You can close this gap and keep it locked with just a bit of effort. 

The best thing to do is review your current working practices. This way, you can ensure you’re covering all bases, from providing employees with online safety training to conducting routine network tests to identify potential vulnerabilities. 

If you haven’t performed the latter in a long time (or ever), consider investing in attack surface management for your company. 

This way, you have IT experts regularly reviewing the entirety of your online presence and/or network reach, with their keen eye watching out for potential entry points in your infrastructure. 

Rethink Your Long-Term Goals

What goals have you set for your business in the long run? What do you want to achieve in a year or five years? This is the kind of thing most business owners set from the moment they start their business, but it’s not something that should be set in stone. 

You may need to revisit your original business plan and double-check what you wanted to achieve in your career. Once you do, you can conduct a gap analysis to check where you are right now and how far you are away from completing those same goals. 

And while a gap analysis is meant to help you close the gap, it could also reveal to you how far away your expectations are from the reality of how you’re working. 

Indeed, if the gap between these two things startles you, it may be a sign you need to rethink your long-term goals. 

Clearly, your business has developed in a way you didn’t quite expect, and now the goals you’ve put together don’t quite stack up. Still trying to work toward them could leave you in a financial hole that’s hard to get out of. 

Let’s Find the Holes in Your Business’ Setup

There could be quite a few to get to work on, and the sooner you know about them, the better. Time is of the essence here.

So double-check the areas above and think about what’s caused these gaps in the first place. 

Understanding the cause will prevent you from falling into them again and will help you address potential funding issues in the future as well.