Every business owner, regardless of what industry he or she is in, is always looking for ways to improve. Following are some tips to consider when you are evaluating your business processes and looking at ways to protect your bottom line.

1. Conserve energy, money, and time. Consult with the experts that will analyze your systems and make them more efficient, whether it is an insulation energy audit or Human Resources professional.
2. Invest in yourself. Keep your equipment in top shape—it reflects on your company and business image as well as your efficiency.
3. Fire quickly, hire slowly. Bad employees can be toxic to your environment and bad managers are the top reason employees leave.
4. Create an environment in which you retain your best employees by recognizing individuals and accomplishments and prioritizing work-life balance. Verbal recognition is free and one of the most effective ways for an employee to feel valued. Being flexible on attire, work locations or work hours, and allowing shorter days for holidays or children’s birthdays are also low-cost retention methods. Retaining a good employee is far less expense than finding and training a new one.
5. Have both a long-range business plan and succession plan in place and monitor them regularly.
6. Establish a marketing plan with benchmarks to gauge effectiveness.
7. Have an active social media presence and strategy. Determine what you are trying to accomplish and who on your team understands your mission well enough to accomplish it.
8. It is more than just tweets. Understand that social media is now used for marketing, sales, customer relations, and employee recruitment. Technology is easy to teach, but messaging takes training.
9. Set a budget and work with a professional accountant to ensure you are meeting all budgeting goals.
10. Keep learning—stay up-to-date on any news or developments in your industry to maintain a competitive edge. Consider making use of relevant training opportunities.
11. Identify parts of your business or individuals products or areas that are not profitable, and consider revamping or eliminating them.
12. Identify key partners in the industry.
13. Network with members of a national trade association—peer-to-peer learning with companies that are not your competitors can help you solve your current problems and save you time and money.
14. Prioritize customer interactions—ensure all employees are ambassadors and know offerings and how to engage with potential customers.
15. Consider new technologies—technology changes so often that you should evaluate what can be more efficient and save you money each year. Various large scale software options are available to streamline parts of your business, but small things like Bootcamp, Doodle, and Dropbox can help solve problems too.

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