Have you heard of a professional home organizer? Their expertise creates an organized flow between our living spaces. From the kitchen to the closet, office, garage, bedroom, etc. we can all agree that organization is important to the flow of our personal and business lives. A clear space can mean a clear mind and a clear mind can translate into a more productive day when less mental capacity is being used on locating items, documents, or just being cluttered in your thinking space. Thinking with a clear head also combats feelings of fatigue and being overwhelmed, and that’s just the beginning. 

Think of your business and all the numbers, materials, meetings, reports, equipment, sales, presentations, events, etc. and today’s question arises: would improved organization benefit your business? In the case of an accountant, I’m sure they would love your financials, receipts, invoices, and recording to be in order. This makes their process in filing your taxes seamless while increasing efficiency and reducing errors. A lack of organization can create a negative domino effect while improved organization can create a positive one. Now let’s think about daily operational decisions. How much inventory and raw materials do you need to order each month? How much revenue translates into a 5% increase? How many active clients does the business have? How much output can you produce in your current work space? Is it time to expand? Data drives these answers and decisions, but how efficiently can you gather the information needed? Are you prepared to enter an audit? Can you find invoice number 542? Can you locate the receipts for July 12, 2019? It can be a daunting task trying to locate files on demand if they are not organized in an understandable format. 

Is your database up to par for what is needed to analyze your data in a quick manner? Not every database is a one size fit all. Are you fully utilizing the data sections to include notes, descriptions, and additional information? A worthwhile exercise is to measure your business organization level by notating how long it takes you to locate reports, invoices, receipts, etc. Can your staff locate these files and if so how fast? How fast can you run a report needed for executive meetings? The positive domino effect of minimizing the time to run reports, locate files, can translate into hours of work time a week saved. Now ask yourself what could you do with those extra hours of work time to invest? 

Kentucky Small Business Development Center offers one-on-one coaching to serve all of the domino effects of organization at no cost to the business owner.