A business thrives when several areas are kept tightly knit and in check. As an entrepreneur, you must appreciate the indispensable importance of running your enterprise professionally. That is why in this article I have chosen to discuss the importance of structures in business. A structure is essentially the arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of something intricate (in this case, a business). In simpler terms, you could say a structure is a complex entity constructed of many parts. Thus structures provide the framework for organizational activities and the management thereof. So you will find that individual components such as financials, human resources, supply and value chain, pricing, and marketing are examples of structures. Each of those areas has numerous moving parts that must operate in harmony.
Actively Build Each Structure And Symphonize Them
In starting and running a business it is commonplace to do things haphazardly. That is why we get to recommend that entrepreneurs must draft business plans in the first place. If you diligently draft a comprehensive business plan you will get to appreciate structures more. Think of a business as a living organism e.g. the human body. Suppose you are experiencing a toothache, it can literally affect your overall well-being. Basically, that toothache could have emanated from poor dental care. Do you see how that one structure of your body can negatively affect the whole body? The same goes for running a business – drop the ball on one structure and the whole business can actually suffer. Each structure deserves attention and must be solid.
It does not end there though; even more importantly, the structures must gel-like a symphony. You have to streamline them so that they feed off and into each other harmoniously. For example, if you want to lower your operating costs you will find one piece of advice is to re-examine your supply and value chain. By implication, any chances in that will have an effect on pricing which in turn has a bearing on your financials e.g. profit margins. That goes to show you that the structures are virtually quantum entangled i.e. a change in one reflects or registers in the other. Understanding these relationships and manipulating them to your advantage is central to business success.
Impact And Implications Of Structures In Business
Order
Structures ensure the people involved in a business are optimally organized to achieve goals and objectives by fully utilizing available resources. Roles and responsibilities get to be smartly divided amongst the different departments and these departments are linked together to form a unified system.
Proficiency
Effective time, material, and human resource management is enhanced through the setting up of structures. Exceptional results are wrought because everyone will be playing their individual roles incumbent upon them. Structures make it easy for people to apply and put to use their knowledge, skills, and aptitude.
Heightened Sense Of Ownership
Every individual who holds a position in any structure has a strong sense of belonging. Their involvement in decision making and the overall running of the business gives them that sense of ownership. If only businesses knew the positive ripple effect this has on building a business. Picture this scenario: if you have people posted in the various structures you can have, for instance, 50 people working in the business.
These people become, by default, your marketing reps in that they will recommend the business or refer people. In principle, they most likely will start with their immediate spheres of contact e.g. family, friends, and relatives. Imagine the customer inflows that can result just from the people working in the business. This, however, will only happen if the structures are properly constituted and everyone truly has a sense of belonging.
Effective Communication
Functions, responsibilities, authorities, relationships, and communications of individuals and management within each department and across departments are always well laid out when it comes to proper structures. This sets the tone for effective communication in the execution of all required tasks.
Enhanced Transparency And Accountability
These significant aspects are very important for a business. Structures make it much easier to uphold these two aspects. The individual roles and responsibilities of post holders are part of the underlying guidelines in ensuring transparency and accountability are upheld. Without proper structures, it would never be easy to hold anyone accountable when something happens.
Effective Monitoring And Evaluation
This must be a core on-going activity in any business venture. Structures make this exercise much easier and more insightful. General decision making and strategic planning heavily depend on this. Structures even make it easier to troubleshoot when problems arise. Probably a structure in itself can be faulty or how it relates to another structure can be the source of the problem.
A business, no matter how small, must have properly constituted structures. I have at times asked small business owners certain questions just to see if there are proper structures in their business. For instance, you are doing poultry and I ask you how much it costs to raise one chicken. If you do not know then that can be an indicator that some structure is lacking from your business. Suppose you run a business that realizes sales daily – do have a structure that makes it easy to know how much profit you realize daily. These are some of the simple tests that can show whether or not a business is being run upon properly constituted structures. Structure gives shape and form which means that structures can literally attract customers to your brand.