Joyce runs a hardware shop in Ongata Rongai, 14Km from Nairobi City Centre. Her shop progresses nicely and has been in existence for five years. The business has its good and bad times, however; in general, it covers the bills and supports her way of life very well. Joyce would want to take her business to a next level. She has been wondering how to do this and what it would take. Allow us to investigate her business.
She opens and locks the shop each day. Her clients come in and engage with her at the hardware shop. She has an associate supervisor who assists in performing administrative tasks and a bookkeeper whose responsible for the business accounts. The associate supervisor, Emmanuel, handles the orders, stocks and supplies. He hardly engages with the clients. He can deal with essential enquiries however, on the off chance that it gets complicated in any capacity, he diverts the conversation to Joyce who joyfully takes control over the discussion.
The bookkeeper, Kamau, oversees accounting, collections and instalments. He is mostly in front of his PC the entire day. Joyce keeps the business chequebook with her consistently. Joyce would like to open more stores in high traffic areas and target clients’ who can give consistent orders, which would make her cash flows more sustainable however she cannot afford not to be at the current store. She even had to miss her child’s sports day in light of the fact that a huge request was coming in.
How would Joyce taking her business to the next level resemble?
- Take time to train her existing employees.
Taking a business to the next level is subject to the utilization of time. Joyce’s situation is the run of the mill in most businesses. Her business totally relies upon her to run and that is the essential reason behind why numerous businesses cannot develop. She unquestionably cannot open more stores since she cannot be in several places simultaneously. The dread of giving up control holds us hostage and keeps us small. In Joyce’s situation, she is so terrified of losing a deal, that she controls the discussion and hops in. She unquestionably has a method of addressing clients that reassures them and gives them solace. For many of us, we read this to imply that we are the only ones who can do it while it should imply that we need to observe the situation enough to have the option to show the process to another person. Likewise, we need to acknowledge that no one will do things precisely like you but they can also bring in something you do not have.
- Draw in and Retain Employees.
For Joyce to develop her business, she should draw in and retain great employees. This will not occur in the event that they see no space for advancement. Possibly her associate supervisor can engage with customers if trained and given the opportunity. On the off chance, that he can do that, she can invest more energy building up relations with the sort of customers she is after rather than being stuck at the store. As entrepreneurs, we additionally need to free ourselves of the lost feeling of importance. The bookkeeper can check the number of packs of concrete and prepare the necessary paperwork. Between him and the associate supervisor, the customer can be reached to collect the supplies. Among that and preparing her group of employees on how to address customers, she might have gone for her child’s sports day.
- Create systems and frameworks for your business.
This fear also comes from absence of systems or frameworks. Contemplate the routines that are required in your business. They will be different for any business. For this situation, a portion of the routines would associate with how goods are received and dispatched. It could likewise be the paperwork and reports that are generated so when she returns from her child’s sports day she can in any case get a capable sense of the business activities for the day. Then, at that point, she can quit ferrying around the chequebook and permit the accountant to at least be processing payments, which she can then come and approve. It is a nice ego boost to seem as though we are in control of everything. However, the opportunity cost is in the utilization of time. To grow a business, you need to invest energy and time in it. As Simon Sinek, a bestselling author and inspirational speaker, said, “Time and energy. Those are the most valuable sacrifices leaders can make”. Working ON it rather than working IN it.
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The article was written by Richard Mwangi – A marketer at Springboard Capital Ltd, who is passionate about brand and marketing. He is a cross-functional team player, possesses strong project management skills, and is self-motivated.
