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It is difficult enough managing a business at the best of times. When you factor in international transactions, it becomes a whole lot more complicated. From dealing with staff to understanding currency exchanges, business owners can do many things to streamline operations. This post will list some helpful hacks to make your life easier and your business more manageable.
Leverage Technology
Technology is a great leveler that can allow small operations to proliferate rapidly without the need to hire more staff. This is useful because staff costs are often the most significant business expenses, so utilizing reliable technology where possible is the smart thing to do. There are several ways that you can use such services, such as when doing business overseas.
For example, a business would need to hire employees with specialist skills to keep up to date with the latest exchange rates in the past. This is costly and inefficient; after all, human error is often to blame for most mistakes. Nevertheless, there are now services that allow you to link into specific APIs that keep your business updated. The currency exchange professionals over at oanda.com/foreign-exchange-data-services suggest that a company can take advantage of reliable exchange rates by linking up with these APIs to ensure they are not losing out. This is something that only the largest corporations could have done before, but now it is open to almost any business that needs this type of service.
Furthermore, there are numerous other options to leverage technology, not least of which includes:
- Cloud services: These are often affordable and enable staff to be connected to relevant information wherever they are.
- Accounting software: Gone are the days of needing stacks of physical ledgers or even using organized Excel sheets. Any business that understands the need to keep on top of income and outgoings should opt for this software.
- Communication: Technology like Trello or Slack has enabled businesses to organize their communication channels more efficiently, saving time and confusion.
- Google Workspace: This has revolutionized the way small companies do business. It is cheap and links into something that most people already have; a Google account.
- Project management software: These applications save time and make assigning tasks straightforward. Using this system allows everyone to get notified once an assignment is completed, so those waiting can immediately begin their portion of the work.
Value Your Staff
This might sound like a basic hack, but it will pay dividends over time. By providing your employees with the support they deserve, you will do several things:
- Boost loyalty: Happy employees are more likely to stay with you for the long run. It saves your business time and resources by preventing staff turnover and training new employees.
- Increase productivity: By encouraging your staff members, you will allow them to feel secure and content. This has the knock effect of them wanting to support your business and make it successful.
- Cross-departmental support: If your business has several departments, it can be challenging to get everyone on the same page. Fostering a feeling of teamwork among your employees will allow them to see what other departments have to deal with, creating sympathy and further boosting productivity.
- More creativity: Happy people are creative people. If you want your management to develop innovative ideas and then channel those ideas to the rest of the team, they need to enjoy their work.
This support must be genuine and not some weak corporate attempt at “boosting happiness via casual Fridays” kind of thing that everyone can see through.
Improve Your Recruitment Game
The best defense is a good offense. A good hiring process can go a long way toward boosting revenue down the line. Good employees are a dime a dozen, but great ones that adhere to your company ethos are like gold dust. When you begin the hiring process, you should go for a sniper effect rather than a shotgun approach. I.e., don’t spread the message that you are recruiting far and wide; instead, focus on areas where you will find quality. This might mean staying away from the job boards and setting up a team dedicated to headhunting. Once you have found potential employees, you must hone your interviewing skills and ask the right questions. Leave out the usual “why do you want to work here” line of questioning, and instead focus on things directly related to your company. For example, if you are in the logistics industry, you might ask them for suggestions on reducing fuel costs, increasing the amount of product per pallet, etc.
Businesses can be easy to run, or they can be challenging to run. A business owner who invests in technology and cares for his employees will succeed. Those who ignore them are destined to fail.
