One question I hear all the time from new clients is, “How can I take my business to the next level?” Many hope for a ready-made checklist to make it happen. While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, every business needs a few essentials from the start.

Once those are in place, I recommend creating a personalized checklist of “best next steps” and tackling them one by one. Start by identifying the challenges you face and be honest about what it will take to overcome them. Let's look at the challenges that can grow as your business expands:

As your business grows, so do its challenges. Without addressing them, you'll find yourself overwhelmed and struggling to maintain quality. Quick fixes and makeshift systems will not solve the problem. Business blogs and magazines tend to emphasize tools for growth and profitability, this may result in financial loss if underlying challenges are not addressed. These challenges are the broken pieces in businesses.

1. Your contact list: You’ve got business cards stacked on your desk, a business email address, and countless connections on Alignable and LinkedIn. At the moment, you can kind of, sort of remember where to look for a specific contact. When you need to send an announcement or promote a webinar, it will be a massive task.

The solution is to keep all your contacts in one place. Use Spreadsheets or choose a CRM and add everyone, once and for all. Create a system, to keep it up to date and stick to it.

2.  Your email inbox: If you're having a hard time keeping up with your inbox now, think about what happens when your business doubles and triples in size. The volume of email will double and triple as well.

The solution is to take the time now and work out a system to manage your inbox now.

3. Your Consistency:  Be honest, this is one of the most common challenge faced in business. Inconsistency in branding, messaging, or service delivery can confuse your audience and weaken your brand identity. A strong brand is built on reliability and consistency. 

The solution is to develop a schedule that support consistency.  Set boundaries and minimize distractions. Create an organized workflow and be intentional about it. 

Challenges will always be present, but they are fixable. Make a list of all your challenges, prioritize them according to how much time and money they are wasting and how they are holding you back.

Then, consider hiring someone to help manage them or create a list of actionable steps to regain control. Tackle them one by one to grow your business, boost efficiency, work less, and earn more.