Why admin should be a priority

PA PLAYS VITAL ROLE A business comprises many moving parts and for maximum success, each part must be functioning optimally.

To succeed in business requires an entrepreneur to simultaneously attend to different tasks that have different purposes. Because of varying outcomes, entrepreneurs usually give more effort and diligence to tasks which they assume are of greater importance, such as sales or production. As a result, other mundane but equally important tasks are given very little attention – administration being chief on that list.

Administration plays a pivotal role in a business, in fact it is the foundation of an efficient business. Essentially admin, as it is commonly referred to, is a collection of tasks that manage the internal operations of an organisation. And therein lays the key differentiator between admin and other organisational tasks: admin is internal, while other tasks such as marketing, sales and customer care focus on external parties, commonly known as stakeholders, such as customers and creditors.

But although admin is internal, it is the underlying function that allows all other functions to operate efficiently. Internal systems such as communications, information technology, time management, accounting, record keeping and storing are all part and parcel of admin.

Disorder is inevitable if these processes are overlooked, which typically leads to entrepreneurs double-booking meetings, missing deadlines or forgetting to send a client an invoice. The receptionist, or PA, plays such an important role in a business, but companies usually regard that post with a cost-cutting view, by placing any individual who may lack the knowledge, experience and desire to effectively carry out that task.

We must remember that a business is a composition of many moving parts, that together add to the collective to bring about success. For maximum success to be achieved, each part must be functioning at optimum levels. A business can be likened to a car; for a vehicle to move smoothly every part must be working efficiently – even the smallest part is necessary and contributes to the entire vehicle’s functionality. The same holds true to a business, but unfortunately minor tasks are overlooked to the detriment of the entire business.

Entrepreneurs must give diligence and adequate planning to their administrative systems. It is the backbone of the entire organisation, on which other functions depend. A great product alone will not make your business succeed. You require systems and processes that allow you to efficiently manufacture, market, sale and distribute your products.

Fortunately for today’s entrepreneurs, technology has come a long way and can aid a business in many different functions such as admin.

Munya Duvera Elgroup is CEO at Duvera