Small business owners spend so much time immersed in running their business that it can sometimes be hard to see what is right in front of them. Not only can this cause them to miss good opportunities, but as business and economic conditions change over time they can easily find themselves operating on outdated assumptions.
To avoid this, make a point of finding ways to get a fresh perspective on what is happening in your company and the industry and how you can respond. There are many ways to do this.
• Take some time off. During your time off, don’t spend it thinking about or doing things related to work. Stepping away from the daily grind can allow you to have a clearer perspective on potential issues that you are dealing with as well as opening your eyes to problems you were not aware of.
• Attend industry events. While there talk to as many people as you can about what they do and how they do it. Ask a lot of questions about what others do and make note of any ideas that you can implement. Also share about how you operate and ask others for their opinions on the way you do things.
• Participate in general business events and talk with other business owners. The topics and issues speakers address at business events can be a source of new ideas and inspiration for different ways of thinking about your company. And talking to someone who understands what it’s like to run a business but maybe doesn’t understand how the pallet and wood products industries work can help you view your company from the outside and make you ask questions that those inside the industry would never think of.
• Talk with your vendors. Ask them what they are seeing other companies doing. Ask them if they have any suggestions for your company. Because they see what many companies in the industry are planning and doing, they have a unique viewpoint on up and coming trends.
• Benchmark using industry publications. The Pallet Enterprise is the best place to look for bright ideas and process innovations as well as new business ideas or operational insights. Also, consider subscribing to the Pallet Profile or Recycle Record for market analysis and the latest industry news. Call 800-805-0263 to see a sample copy.
• Question your assumptions and the way you do things. Ask yourself questions like, “How have our customers changed?”, “Why do we do it that way?” and “How could we improve that?” Ask these types of questions about any process or routine within your business, especially those that are done a certain way out of habit.
• Ask your employees what they would change. Their focus is probably on just the segment of the company that they are involved in, not overseeing the entire company like you are. This means that they may have specific suggestions that you might never think of. Some of them may be bursting with ideas but do not know how to share them. If employees seem hesitant to share ideas publicly, try using an employee suggestion box to allow for anonymous input.
• Spend a day or two doing an employee’s job. This is an excellent way to get a different perspective of what is happening in your company. It can help you find bottlenecks in production, safety issues and repetitive tasks.
• Evaluate your company as if it is one you are considering buying from someone else. Go through the entire facility, processes and books. Take notes on what works, what is inefficient and above all, be brutally honest with yourself. A thorough business value analysis can show you critical places that you have ignored that can hurt your sale value if you ever decide to get out of the business.
Try out some or all of these ideas over time to get a more complete view of your company. They will help you look at your company from the inside, the outside, the top and bottom and find ways to improve and grow.
