Getting the most work done in the shortest time possible with limited resources is an entrepreneur’s dream come true. Achieving this requires the discipline to focus on the essentials, allocating limited resources to projects that can be fully utilized with increasing returns. Inspired by the book “Power of Less”, I wanted to share 3 considerations for thinking about resource allocation within your business:
Outsourcing work to outside firms that are experts in a respective field and can do the work more efficiently and effectively is a good strategy for increasing productivity with limited resources. Many businesses are hesitant to outsource services because of fear of the unknown and losing control of the project however such risks can be managed by choosing a provider whose skills match your needs, outlining the project requirements and agreeing on how much control each party will have over the project.
Re-engineering the way you do business through investing in technologies –business process automation –that improve on the efficiency of your business operations and keeps up with its rapid growth. This saves you time and money without compromising on the quality of your products or services by eliminating human errors and repetitive work procedures.
Getting rid of the nice-to-have parts of your business that are not necessities in the day-to-day operations of your business. This helps you allocate the resources you were spending on non-essentials to more essential parts of your business. In business focus is everything and cash is king so for survival one must focus on revenue generating activities.
Small businesses don’t have the luxury of wasting resources by randomly assigning budgets to projects and therefore allocation of limited resources must be strategic, researched and included when planning for future growth. Always invest in future income generating projects.
