How to Organize Your Business: 5 Steps to Success

Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned business owner, staying organized is key. After all, every business comes with a lot of moving pieces—and it can be tricky to stay on top of everything. The good news is that getting your company organized doesn’t have to be overwhelming! Just tackle one of these list items at a time and you’ll be on your way to a well-organized business.  

How to Organize a Business:

Step 1: Finalize Your Business Strategy for the Next Year

Creating a list of business goals is a great way to start building your business strategy. You can include some longer-term goals, but really focus on shorter-term achievements—these smaller milestones are what will help you keep your business organized (and on track for success!) over the coming year.  

Step 2: Organize Business Offerings

Take some time to review your sales or bookings from the last year. Was there a product that didn’t sell as well as expected? Or a service you performed only a couple of times? Eliminate these from your offerings to keep your business organized—and focus instead on what’s resonating with your customers. 

Step 3: Streamline Your Brand Messaging

Your brand probably shows up in a few different places—like your business website, social media posts, service menus, email newsletters, and even your promotional products. So, ensure that the way your brand speaks to customers is consistent. It could be as simple as: 

• Making sure your updated tagline, contact information, and business hours appear everywhere.
• Creating a templated answer for replying to customer inquiries and reviews.
• Compiling a list of “don’t use” words and phrases.

You can also consider the personality of your business. Are you goofy and lighthearted? Or do you want to portray professionalism and polish? Whatever you decide, make sure you apply this messaging style everywhere your branding appears.  

Step 4: Don’t Let the Paperwork Pile Up

Let’s be honest—nobody likes paperwork. Whether it’s tax statements, employment forms, or customer invoices, it’s easy to toss paperwork aside and focus on more tactical matters. Though it isn’t fun, it’s essential…so prioritize organizing business paperwork.  

Start simply by filing paperwork by category so it’s easier to find what you need, or consider hiring an office administrator to help you stay on top of everything. Come tax season, you’ll be grateful everything is already in a folder that you can pass off to your accountant! 

Step 5: Set Employees Up for Success

Your employees are representatives of your brand, so it’s worth taking time to make sure they’re set up for success. And there are a few organizational ways to maximize their productivity, too.  

• Regularly meet with each employee 1:1. This will allow you to get a better idea of how they’re spending their time and what’s on their plate for the coming week or month.
• Collect employee feedback. Encourage your employees to share their opinions on what’s working, what they could use support on, what the biggest timewasters are. It can be anonymous!
• Collect customer feedback. Similarly, ask customers to complete a brief feedback form after they interact with your employees. This will make it easier to identify gaps and address them with individual employees.
• Enforce a uniform. Depending on the type of business you run, a uniform or dress code can be very effective in creating an organized, professional look.