The time a
round the changing of the year is commonly used for reflection and revitalization. We make promises of things that we will change about ourselves, or we set goals for the year, tough goals, that we may or may not reach. Today, I want to focus on something much more practical. With the longer days and warmer weather, you will probably be preparing to rid your house of the clutter that has accumulated over the past year. This is a great opportunity to do the same for your small business. Small business owners should take some time to perform some spring cleaning on their businesses.
What do I mean by that? Spring cleaning is all about getting rid of clutter. “Clutter” is anything that is inhibiting you from creating value for your customers. For your business, “clutter” may be the Britannica-sized stack of papers on your desk. It may be the product line that isn’t selling. It may even be the employee who shows up late, drags their feet, is rude with customers, and adds about as much value to your business as the pen you’re fiddling with while you read this. Whatever it may be, it is disrupting processes and decreasing revenue. Spring cleaning is all about eliminating these things.
Why do I believe this is a good activity for your business? Because I’ve seen your desk. Not your desk specifically, but the desk of a small business owner. It is a desk that bears less resemblance to a desk than it does the Amazon rainforest. As a small business owner, you have a plethora of responsibilities, and when these overwhelm you it can lead to disorganization and waste. Spring cleaning gives you a great opportunity to ask yourself questions like “how much time am I wasting on everyday tasks?” and “what can I do to change that?” You don’t need to find drastic pivots to make to your business model or philosophy. Save that nonsense for New Years. The goal is to look for simple improvements to make to your business and your daily routine.
Why spring? No particular reason, just tradition. Also, with this being around tax time, you may already be getting ideas for things that need to be cut or changed. More than anything, the end of another long winter often makes for an influx of productivity from Midwesterners, who are weary of hiding in their caves to escape the cold. Now, you can obviously choose a different time to do your spring cleaning, although then it will just be “cleaning,” and no one likes boring ol’ cleaning. Whenever you do your “spring” cleaning, the important thing is that you are setting aside time to identify and eliminate the clutter in your business.
Remember, spring cleaning is not another opportunity to make sweeping resolutions about the direction of your business. You should be looking for small, tangible changes to make that immediately increase productivity or improve business processes. Most importantly, your focus should be on eliminating, not adding. This is a time to get whatever is worthless or inhibiting out of your business. So for Pete’s sake, clean your desk.