Business

4 Helpful Small Business Organization Tips

Published

2 years ago

December 21, 2021

As a small business owner, organization is one of the distinct challenges you face. It might not always feel like the most pressing, but it’s certainly one of the most important. And if you don’t do something about it sooner rather than later, sloppiness and confusion could ensue.

The Importance of Being Organized

There are certain elements of running a business that are “sexy.” Things like marketing, sales, branding, and even product development are fun and exciting. They can be creative (and usually provide immediate feedback). Organization, though? Not exactly the most thrilling aspect of running a company. But it’s arguably one of the most critical.

Being organized saves your business time. Rather than spending hours searching for files, trying to track down expense reports, or dealing with preventable scheduling conflicts, you can move efficiently through your week and amplify productivity.

On a related note, being organized saves your business money, reduces waste, and improves your customer service by allowing your team to quickly attend to customer needs and concerns.

At the end of the day, all of these factors combine to reduce stress.

“Not knowing where to look for information, sorting through unorganized paperwork, and dealing with the consequences of poor organization create a stressful workplace. And that stress may extend into the business owner’s life and lead to a feeling of being burned out,” Long Island Center for Business and Professional Women mentions. “Implementing solid organization systems will help reduce this stress and give you more time to enjoy life outside work.”

If your business is currently being held back by confusion and a lack of clarity, there’s good news. All it takes is a proactive strategy for getting organized and you can finally put your company on the right path.

4 Organization Tips for Small Businesses

Being organized is really the combination of doing lots of little things right. It won’t happen overnight, but if you’re strategic in your execution, you’ll eventually have your business firing on all cylinders with total clarity and efficiency. Here are some tips:

Organize Your Physical Office

Begin with your physical office. Look for opportunities to clean and declutter. Removing unnecessary items from your physical environment will reduce distractions and feelings of overwhelm.

Focus on one area of the office at a time. Begin in one corner of the room and go through each and every item. Toss anything that you don’t need. Donate anything that’s functional but no longer being used. Send equipment in for repair if it’s something that no longer works but would still be useful. If you haven’t used something in the past six months and don’t plan on using it in the next six months, it goes.

Keep Track of Inventory

It’s time to get a grip on your inventory. Use office inventory software to keep track of office equipment, supplies, and furnishings with an easy-to-use web-based system. This will give you real-time visibility into precisely what you have, as well as anywhere you’re deficient.

Go Paperless

Going paperless is one of the best things you can do for your business. Not only does it allow you to get rid of physical clutter, papers, filing cabinets, and machines (printers, fax machines, scanners, shredders, etc.), but it also enhances your ability to find files when you need them.

The key to a good paperless strategy is to have a strong cloud filing system. This requires you to choose the right cloud storage platform and to use a streamlined filing system that keeps records organized in an intuitive and predictable manner.

Take Control Over Receipts and Bookkeeping

From a financial perspective, taking control over receipts can improve your bookkeeping and save you thousands of dollars per year. If employees use their own cards and expense different purchases, make sure you have an expense tracking solution that they can download directly to their smartphones. This allows them to take pictures of receipts and load them into the system right away.

Keep Your Business Organized

A lack of organization hurts your bottom line, creativity, innovation, and employee satisfaction. By finally gaining control, you can reorient your company and move the business in a stronger direction. Use this article as a starting point, but be sure to identify additional areas for improvement. It won’t always be easy, but it will be rewarding.

Business

Turning Tragedy into Triumph Through Walking With Anthony

Published

18 hours ago

April 18, 2024

Rosario Farell

On the morning of February 6, 2010, Anthony Purcell took a moment to admire the churning surf before plunging into the waves off Miami Beach. Though he had made the dive numerous times before, that morning was destined to be different when he crashed into a hidden sandbar, sustaining bruises to his C5 and C6 vertebrae and breaking his neck.

“I was completely submerged and unable to rise to the surface,” Purcell recalls. “Fortunately, my cousin Bernie saw what was happening and came to my rescue. He saved my life, but things would never be the same after that dive.”

Like thousands of others who are confronted with a spinal cord injury (SCI), Purcell plunged headlong into long months of hopelessness and despair. Eventually, however, he learned to turn personal tragedy into triumph as he reached out to fellow SCI victims by launching Walking With Anthony.

Living with SCI: the first dark days

Initial rehabilitation for those with SCIs takes an average of three to six months, during which time they must relearn hundreds of fundamental skills and adjust to what feels like an entirely new body. Unfortunately, after 21 days, Purcell’s insurance stopped paying for this essential treatment, even though he had made only minimal improvement in such a short time.

“Insurance companies cover rehab costs for people with back injuries, but not for people with spinal cord injuries,” explains Purcell. “We were practically thrown to the curb. At that time, I was so immobile that I couldn’t even raise my arms to feed myself.”

Instead of giving up, Purcell’s mother chose to battle his SCI with long-term rehab. She enrolled Purcell in Project Walk, a rehabilitation facility located in Carlsbad, California, but one that came with an annual cost of over $100,000.

“My parents paid for rehabilitation treatment for over three years,” says Purcell. “Throughout that time, they taught me the importance of patience, compassion, and unconditional love.”

Yet despite his family’s support, Purcell still struggled. “Those were dark days when I couldn’t bring myself to accept the bleak prognosis ahead of me,” he says. “I faced life in a wheelchair and the never-ending struggle for healthcare access, coverage, and advocacy. I hit my share of low points, and there were times when I seriously contemplated giving up on life altogether.”

Purcell finds a new purpose in helping others with SCIs

After long months of depression and self-doubt, Purcell’s mother determined it was time for her son to find purpose beyond rehabilitation.

“My mom suggested I start Walking With Anthony to show people with spinal cord injuries that they were not alone,” Purcell remarks. “When I began to focus on other people besides myself, I realized that people all around the world with spinal cord injuries were suffering because of restrictions on coverage and healthcare access. The question that plagued me most was, ‘What about the people with spinal cord injuries who cannot afford the cost of rehabilitation?’ I had no idea how they were managing.”

Purcell and his mother knew they wanted to make a difference for other people with SCIs, starting with the creation of grants to help cover essentials like assistive technology and emergency finances. To date, they have helped over 100 SCI patients get back on their feet after suffering a similar life-altering accident.

Purcell demonstrates the power and necessity of rehab for people with SCIs

After targeted rehab, Purcell’s physical and mental health improved drastically. Today, he is able to care for himself, drive his own car, and has even returned to work.

“Thanks to my family’s financial and emotional support, I am making amazing physical improvement,” Purcell comments. “I mustered the strength to rebuild my life and even found the nerve to message Karen, a high school classmate I’d always had a thing for. We reconnected, our friendship evolved into love, and we tied the knot in 2017.”

After all that, Purcell found the drive to push toward one further personal triumph. He married but did not believe a family was in his future. Regardless of his remarkable progress, physicians told him biological children were not an option.

Despite being paralyzed from the chest down, Purcell continued to look for hope. Finally, Dr. Jesse Mills of UCLA Health’s Male Reproductive Medicine department assured Purcell and his wife that the right medical care and in vitro fertilization could make their dream of becoming parents a reality.

“Payton joined our family in the spring of 2023,” Purcell reports. “For so long, I believed my spinal cord injury had taken everything I cared about, but now I am grateful every day. I work to help other people with spinal cord injuries find the same joy and hope. We provide them with access to specialists, funding to pay for innovative treatments, and the desire to move forward with a focus on the future.”