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Three steps to realising London small businesses full potential
Every small business has constraints that prevent it from reaching its full potential — a weakness (or weaknesses) that limit its performance and output.
It’s nothing for business owners to be ashamed of. It happens to us all. But what differentiates those successful growth businesses from everyone else is how proactive their founders are in taking steps to deal with and overcome these constraints.
A guy called Ron has created a theory of constraints:
Performance = “full potential” minus “constraints”
While constraints like funding, cashflow and recruitment are commonly acknowledged, in our experience a high percentage of the headaches London’s small business community faces are also in some way a direct consequence of poorly designed IT systems and/or well-intentioned but misguided policies and processes that breed hidden IT bottlenecks. These less widely acknowledged issues, when left to fester, can eventually become a barrier to transacting that hurt a business right at the bottom line.
As businesses grow and scale, they invariably become more and more IT dependent — and it’s here that the list of IT niggles and imperfections start to ramp up, such as faulty hardware, people not being able to access everything they need, slow network running speeds and downtime.
Against the backdrop of all the other day-to-day challenges involved in running a business these IT bottlenecks can feel unsurmountable. But they don’t have to be.
Here are three steps you can take to put you on a path in the right direction:
1. Admit to yourself that you have a problem
Just like every other situation in life, burying your head in the sand won’t make your problems go away. The first step in solving any problem is recognising there is one. You certainly can’t solve a problem by pretending it doesn’t exist. Nor can you find a resolution by making excuses. First you must admit there is a problem. Then you can explore what the causes are. Inertia, apathy, passivity, and denial are not the answer.
2. Use the right tools and people for the job
The challenge of looking after IT probably isn’t something that gets you leaping out of bed in the morning. It’s probably something you’ve inherited rather than being your core area of expertise. You’re doing your best, but there are likely to be times when you’re out of your depth and that’s probably contributing to your businesses constraints rather than fixing them. Is it time to call in the experts?
3. Share your problems
There’s an internet meme that goes something along the lines of: “never tell your problems to anyone — 20% don’t care and the other 80% are glad you have them”. We’re more believers in the saying: “a problem will get heavier when the only person carrying it is you”. Techsolve exists to help liberate you from your IT woes. We’re here to help you not just fix the problems you have but pre-emptively build systems and processes that stop predictable problems from ever rearing their ugly head in the first place.
The more you reduce the barriers or constraints to your performance, the closer you come to realise your businesses full potential.
We know that running a small entrepreneurial business, particularly in the current climate, is a continuous exercise in creative problem solving – and you’re good at it – but when it comes to IT, you don’t have to do it alone.
Remember, a tech problem shared is a Techsolved.
