Arbutus Ridge
Arbutus Ridge
works with you to find IT-driven ways of making your business run better. Our clients are small business owners who know that growth and value are held back if you depend on one or two key people being there all the time. Everything we do is about helping you improve the systems and processes on which you rely.
Testimonial
"The advice we received from Arbutus Ridge was invaluable and we are very pleased with their Jumpstart package.”
The owner of an Edinburgh glazing company
Want a copy of the case study? Email case-studies@arbutusridge.co.uk
The Doctor's In ?
Would you like to meet up for a chat over coffee about your business IT systems?
Perhaps you are struggling to get yours to work properly and could do with an IT advisor to help sort out some problems. Or are you thinking of upgrading your system, but would appreciate some advice on how to go about it and the pitfalls to avoid? We would be delighted to discuss these and other issues in an informal no-sales-pitch environment.
We are resident most Mondays between 5 and 6 pm at Starbucks - 30 George ST Edinburgh (Corner of Hanover ST). Look out for the Arbutus Ridge sign. Please call 0845 094 8487 if you would like to confirm an appointment, or to make a different, more convenient arrangement.
Looking forward to meeting you soon.
For busy small business owners
3 Top Tips – For keeping your business ticking along
Thought for the day
"Plan your escape now. If your business depends solely on you being there, no one will want to buy it when you retire."
Thank you for reading our top tips. As business owners, it is easy to get stuck into working in your business and not spending enough time working on your business. As a result, when we started thinking about this project, we wanted to give you some practical steps that did not require a huge IT investment. In fact, you can implement these steps without changing any IT at all. So here you go.
Top Tip Number 1
Schedule your time off
Taking a break is a low risk way to see how robust your business systems are. Before you go however, here are some things to keep do in advance.
- Document what you do
- Plan who will cover what responsibilities while you are away
- Prepare a set of instructions for your team to follow and get them to record their actions
- Brief them before you go
- De-brief them on your return and evaluate the results.
An added bonus may be that by using the new systems you have set up for your break, you will be able to delegate some of your current workload – a break without taking a break.
Top Tip Number 2
Delegate one of your current tasks
Think of something that you are doing regularly now. Ask yourself, “Am I really the only person who can do this task?” Write down the steps you take and share them with a member of your team. Ensure the actions are clear so that you and your team can track what is actually happening. Go through it a couple of times until they can do it on their own.
Top Tip Number 3
Empower your staff to take on aspects of your role
As owners, we get nervous about what happens when a new customer contacts us. This is partly because we never seem to happen enough and partly because of the investment you made to find them in the first place. However, whilst you may not want to surrender complete control, your team can at the very least deal with the initial enquiry and setup a meeting for you. You can then take over. Having a standardised script available with the click of a mouse will go a long way to helping remove this pressure. This tip ensures you have excellent communication between you and your team which leads to a seamless customer experience.
Which leads onto:
All 3 tips can be put into action in the next 60 minutes if wanted. Of course, to be scalable and more robust, means putting a little more thought into the process. It may also require a little outside help. This is what Arbutus Ridge is all about – helping you manage your business through the use of better IT and business processes.
As an added thank you for participating in our Top Tips programme, you are eligible for a FREE Jumpstart™ Check-up. We designed Jumpstart to meet the needs of today’s small but yet growing businesses like yours. Business who are increasingly looking to integrate their offices:
- Contact management
- Email management
- Automated accounting
- Marketing intelligence
- Remote working
- Internet commerce
Call us now 0131 527 6140 and book your no obligation Jumpstart Check-up. Or email Francis at fcandlin@arbutusridge.co.uk Thank you.
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