Your business is more likely to succeed with a solid foundation. Whether you are operating as a solopreneur or a mid-size company, the infrastructure to your business can deteriorate if it is nonexistent. Some of the key elements to a strong foundation include:

Developing standard operating procedures;

Utilizing effective strategies relevant to your industry, and, most importantly;

Standing true to why you started the business [the purpose].

According to global statistics, 80% of small businesses worldwide do not make it through the first two years. Of the 20% remaining, statistics prove that a further 80% of the remaining 20% will not pass the fourth-anniversary mark. Like building a home, it has to be well thought out and planned for; resources need to be known, and then construction can begin. Even if you lack a solid foundation in a business, it is often possible to go back and build while still operating.

Are you having challenges with earning and retaining customers? You may have heard that a customer retained can bring more value than a customer acquired. Most importantly, it will cost you less to keep your customers or clients than acquire them. Creating effective retention strategies will help elevate your brand and overall business as your biggest asset is the end customer because if they are happy, they will advocate for you. After all, word of mouth is one of the best free marketing strategies.

Inconsistent processes bring about issues that impact you and your operations and the end customer, and the lack of consistency will ultimately disturb your brand. Without standardization, your processes can have errors, increasing the time spent incurring excess costs in the short term and long term. Creating standard procedures is just one part and documenting them so that everyone involved in your business can maintain your brand standard is another.

When you think of deliverables and task management, it doesn't have to be on a large scale. If you have a list of "things to do" to keep your business operating, that is a form of task management. Those "things" are tasks that need to be properly managed to prevent slipping through the cracks and being forgotten about.

Poor project management can have severe consequences for a business, such as budget overrun, delays, and a bad reputation. You may be able to get away with one project with this type of outcome, but when this repeatedly happens, this can impact the business bottom line and risk the closure of the business.