No matter how successful your business is, you should always have a list of action items you are working your way through. That list will help your business to continually improve. Add items to it when you think of them. As you work your way through this list, you will be glad you have it.
No matter how successful your business is, there is always room to make improvements.
Entrepreneurs who have successful and ongoing business operations sometimes become complacent. They begin to adopt the attitude that “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” This is a dangerous thing. It is a bad practice. A better attitude to adopt would be “take the best and make it better.” A successful business can be made better in a variety of ways including:
- improved team building activities
- providing more employee training
- improving the collection of accounts receivable
- obtaining more suitable office space
- improved customer service plans
It is important to understand that improving a certain area of business may not immediately result in increased profits. That is okay. It is more important to understand that improving one’s business on a regular and consistent basis eventually leads to increased profitability and sustainability.
Once you realize that your business can be improved, take action to make the improvements.
If you are running a business, no matter what kind of business, you should always have a list of action items you want to do to make your business better. It is important to always be striving to make your business better. It is an obligation you have to your business, your employees, your customers, and yourself.
No matter what your business does and no matter how successful your business is, there is always an improvement that can be made. Take a moment now to look at your business with an honest, objective, and careful eye. Then take out a sheet of paper or pull up a word processing file. On one side of the page, make a list of all the things that your business does well. On the other side make a list of all the improvements you would like to make with your business. It does not matter which list is longer. The list of things that your business is doing well is important. It is a reminder to you that there are good and wonderful things about your company. It is important to remember as you go about making improvements, that you have done a number of things correctly.
Once you have the list of improvements you would like to make with your business, start prioritizing the list. Re-order the list according to your own priority standards. A few ways to order the list include selecting priority based upon:
- most pressing items
- items that will yield the biggest bang for the least bucks
- where the action needs to take place
- how you will get things done
- easiest items
- items that will generate the most income for the business
- least expensive items
- items easiest for current employees to manage
Be specific and detailed as you create your action plan. The more detail, work and care you put into this step of the process, the easier it will be for you to go from action item to completion as you work your way through the list of items.
If you want to read more ideas about how to take action now and get things done, check out:
Take Action Now and Get Healthy All Over– While it is important to have good physical health, we must also strive to have good health mentally, emotionally, sexually, spiritually, and financially. Click here to read more.
and
Create a TAN Network to Help You Take Action Now– When you are at a point where you need help to take action now and to get motivated to take action, but cannot act on your own, it is time to gather a support network. Click here to read more.
Also, check out our Confidence Tip of the Day YouTube channel for hundreds of videos on creating the confidence you need to succeed.
Once the items are set by priority, create a plan for how you are going to get done the things on your list. Do not merely plan to work your way through the prioritized list. Instead, create real plans with action steps you can and will follow to get things done. For each item on your improvement list, spell out specifically:
- who do you need to bring on board to get the item done
- what are the specific steps you will take to complete the list of items
- when you will do each specific step along the way
- where is the specific place the action steps must be taken
- why is each step important and why is each thing being done
The most important thing to remember when dealing with the action list for improving your business is that you must take action now to complete the items on the list. All the work you put into creating an improvement list and making it an action list is wasted if you do not actually take the action!
