Why your business needs a structure
You might think your business is too small to set up formal systems and processes. But business strategist say providing structure for your business from the outset will make you more effective as you grow.
A serial entrepreneur, Samiah Oyekan-Ahmed speaking at a conference tagged Uncommon Business Mastery for start-ups recently urged start-ups to put structures on ground to make their businesses grow and succeed.
“Put a structure/system on ground for your business. Put your team together and then make them happy. This way your business will grow and run even when you are not around.” she said.
Build it and success will follow
It is not uncommon for small businesses to lack organisational structure. Entrepreneurs often wear multiple hats and there are more roles to fill than there are people. Chances are that everyone on your team is faced with juggling multiple tasks and priorities, and responsibility for tasks may fluctuate over time.
How to get started
Most small businesses find it best to create a “functional” organisational chart by identifying the key roles or positions important to their business. This structure will allow you to fill positions as you grow and will ensure that tasks don’t get neglected. These could be operations, production, marketing, sales, HR, customer service and so on. Start by writing them all down.
Importance of structure
Mr Paul Alaje, a senior economist with SPM professionals says majorly, lack of structure and system is why some businesses fail-whether large businesses or small business. “Any business without structure, things will be done anyhow. System and structure will take out corruption; it will take out people who are not competent in the system. Having a structure will allow for auditing account. Having a structure will help you have policies that will help guide the running of your business.
Alaje said just like the human body has the digestive system , excretive system, respiratory system so every business must have a system/ structure such that the sales system is working perfectly, the account system is working perfectly, the HR system is working efficiently. Adding that small businesses that are doing well today survived because they followed this procedure.