Coming up with a great idea that could improve your business shouldn’t be that hard – the execution tends to be the problem. Sure, completely automating your office, offering great monetary incentives to the most productive members of your team and sending everyone to an expert training sounds great, but are these things realistic? For all those who won’t even consider a hypothetical situation in which money is not an issue, here are four frugal, simple and overall great innovations which could really help your small business.
1. Start a blog
In order to build a relationship with your audience, what you need to do is find a way to let everyone know a thing or two about you. Of course, we are not talking about sharing intimate details about your personal life, we are talking about establishing yourself as a figure of authority in your industry. The easiest and most cost-effective way to do so is by starting your own blog. Here, for a handful of dollars (or even completely free), you can get a perfect way to share your ideas, opinions and thoughts about the issues that are relevant to your business niche.
2. Make a corporate video
Another thing you can do is make a corporate video in order to bring your business closer to your audience. Here, you have two courses of action. You could either get someone to do this for you or choose a frugal way and do so on your own. This choice, however, is much tougher than it may appear at first glance.
You see, while it is true that professionals would probably do a better job, an audience has a keen eye for recognizing a scripted event (no matter how spontaneous they may try to make it). Not to mention that the cost of such a high-scale production would be quite steep. On the other hand, by turning this into a DIY project could potentially end up in a disaster. Luckily, some companiescan offera compromise by providing you with a team of experts that could provide your team with some performance coaching in exchange for a moderate fee.
3. Automate what you can
Earlier on, we spoke about automation of your entire office. Although this would be a great aid to your team, it would also cost an arm and a leg, which is something not many businesses can afford in their infancy. Instead, you could try to automate some minor processes of your business, like for example your social media. The easiest way to do so would be through the use of various plugins and third-party software.
4. Invest in silence
While this may sound a bit off, you need to understand one thing. There is nothing more important than silence in helping one focus on the job at hand. Encourage people to use IM software to chat with the people on the other end of the room. Move your breakroom as far from the work area as possible and finally, when purchasing equipment, try to go with silent keyboards and noise-canceling headsets.
Surely, this last part may seem a bit more expensive, but the difference in price that you would have to pay is not nearly as much as you would imagine. Like the popular Frank Ocean quote states: “Work hard in silence, let your success be your noise”.
Conclusion
With just these few innovations, you can truly start making some difference around the workplace without having to overly invest. The best thing about them is a fact that each of them is completely independent. Furthermore, even half-measures help, seeing how you can move the breakroom and enforce the IM policy without actually having to buy the aforementioned equipment. The possibilities are endless.
