We are so overloaded with information these days that it’s easy to lose sight of the basics of running a business, and you quickly become overwhelmed and suffer from information overload! Just take a look at some of the eBooks, products, eCourses, etc. that you have stored on your PC – I bet they all relate to marketing your business, getting more customers, increasing your income, etc. but I bet NONE of them tell you how to run your business!
Building a successful and profitable long-term business is not about “marketing” your business, it’s about “managing” your business: Marketing comes once you have your management systems in place.
You can’t start marketing your business if you can’t find the information you need, you don’t know who you’re marketing to, and you don’t know where you are in your business.
So let’s get back to basics and take a look at the 3 key office systems you need to “manage” your business before you can start “market” your business.
File Management System
Creating and maintaining a filing system is the foundation your business is built on, so this is the first system you should implement: an efficient and effective filing system.
With a proper filing system, you can quickly and easily find the information you need, when you need it.
Contact management system
Once you have arranged your entire filing system, you should start organizing your contacts. This is another crucial area of running your business. If configured correctly, your contact management system allows you to:
- Take note of the contact information of clients, potential clients and colleagues.
- Follow up with a lead easily and effectively.
- Locate critical customer contact information quickly and easily.
- Build your business.
financial management system
It is the ultimate key office management system that you should implement to run your business. Once you know where you are financially in your business, you will be able to market your business much more effectively.
Having critical, up-to-date financial information available at your fingertips allows you to efficiently manage cash flow and know immediately if you can take advantage of opportunities that come your way.
So remember, go back to basics and “manage” your business first before you “market” it.