The productivity of your business, regardless of the size, is directly related to your monthly profit margins, and, as such, for smaller companies that are looking to grow and expand, focusing on increasing this commodity is of optimum importance. 

So, whether you are the manager of a family-run business looking to take it to the next level or else a solo trader looking to make your hobby your main stream of income, either way, you have come to the right place. 

Here are five methods of drastically increasing the productivity of your small business.

As the manager or, indeed, the only employee of your business, it is first absolutely essential to be entirely aware of the numbers, whether or not you employ a professional accountant or handle the books on your own. 

Irregular cash flows are one of the biggest ‘killers’ of small businesses, so paying much closer attention to your ingoings and, more importantly, your outgoings, keeping a close eye on your inventory, and working to improve your company’s credit score are all effective methods of a more productive business model. 

No business, even if you are involved with creating and marketing handmade products, can possibly hope to compete in the market and achieve success and longevity without the use of the internet.

If you work from home, it is strongly advised that you switch internet providers and look into fast and efficient fiber internet for small businesses, which will result in a far quicker, higher quality, and altogether more reliable internet connection. 

With mighty internet giant Google being by far the largest monopoly of internet searches, it would also make sense to look into search engine optimization (SEO).

Essentially, this boils down to either learning the ‘ins and outs’ of SEO yourself and working to place your business, ideally, on the first page of search results or outsourcing such an important process to a reputable and renowned third-party company. 

Good time management skills are a valuable and arguably mandatory skill set for any manager, regardless of the industry in which their business operates.

However, you may not have been previously aware of how proper time management can have a huge positive impact on company productivity. Effective time management comes down to delegating tasks more cleverly and with far more consideration, sticking to your own personal schedule, and only holding meetings that are meaningful and necessary. 

The fifth and final effective way to drastically boost the levels of efficiency and productivity of your fledgling business is to start to actually listen to, not just humor, your employees.

It may well be the case that you are the type of manager, even if you only have one or two full-time employees, who sits back and lets them handle the day-to-day tasks, but either way, asking for their input, advice, and opinions can only serve to identify problems and fix them.