There are so many essential components to a new business, that it can be very confusing for a budding entrepreneur to decide which avenue they need to go down to ensure a healthy starting off point for their brand new venture. Once the basics are in place, do you start to prioritize your needs according to the products, the employees, or the resources? Every aspect is as important as the other, but which one is the most invaluable asset when you are starting out? Let's make a case for the resources …
For The Workers…
In any industry, regardless of the unique skill sets your employees have, it is the resources available to them that enable them to do their job properly and complete their tasks efficiently. It is a cliché that a shoddy workman blames his tools, but you cannot argue this point when you're working in an industry like writing, where tools are almost as important as the people who use them.
From the perspective of an employee, we now work in an age where the tool, be it a computer, app, server, or the standard hammer and nail, are a important piece of the puzzle for any company to continue with their work.
While many are arguing the point that we are placing an over-reliance on tools, such as the internet, the fact of the matter is now that the industry has progressed so far, that we are unable to function without technological help. So, we are seeing the vitality of what tools and resources are to the employee side of things.
The one resource that benefits the employee more than anything else is knowledge. A lot of industries are addressing the idea of the employee taking their own education into their own hands, which we have seen with e-learning programs, but the employer has to provide these resources. The employee can seek out their own education, but if they are doing this without guidance, they may be veering quite far off course, which doesn't benefit the employer. So if the employee has access to a bank of knowledge, this means that the employee can develop their own skill set, which benefits the company, as well as their own sense of self-satisfaction and that they are doing a good job.
For The Business…
Every company requires a stable structure for it to function, and while every person is reliant on each other to do a good job, it is the resources, from the internal as well as the external, that ensure the business is ticking every box. Every industry relies on a certain set of fundamental tenets to keep the business running on an even keel, and the pool of resources that the company needs to operate from can vary from industry to industry.
The first thing to address as far as resources are concerned is in relation to your physical needs. An industry like the construction industry is reliant on the important tools to do the job, and so with every aspect of a company that relies on each individual moving part to help the company function as one, we've all seen the difficulties that businesses face when one aspect isn't working properly. In the manufacturing industry, the impact of a piece of broken equipment has a detrimental effect on the productivity and the profits of a business, the amount of downtime will equate to a loss of finances based on a lack of productivity.
So this means that a valuable resource in terms of the business is functioning equipment. Inevitably, businesses pick preferred suppliers of equipment and tools. And it is vital regardless of your chosen industry, that you pick preferred suppliers so you can build a positive relationship with them. Look at a company like Construction Trailer Specialists, they provide the most basic of equipment for any labour-intensive industry, trailers, and so whether you are running a building site, working on a farm, or laying sidewalks, some subcontractors provide a more total service based on the product they supply. And it is these businesses and clients that you are better off aligning yourself to.
This goes to show that your resources belie your relationship with those suppliers. While you can state that your relationships are the key part of keeping any business thriving, when you're dealing with contractors, subcontractors, clients and so forth, the relationship is built on these resources. You need certain resources to make sure your business is running effectively, and so your relationship with these suppliers can help you to get a discount on bulk buying certain tools. But at the end of the day, you can head to another supplier because it's your business that is the priority, not your relationship! The resources are the main thing that will keep your business working, your employees productive, and your customers happy.
For You…
You know better than anyone, when you are in charge of a business, the right resources won’t just put you above and beyond your contemporaries, but it adds an extra layer of professionalism. You, as an entrepreneur, rely on these resources, not just to improve your business, but to improve how you lead.
In essence, professional resources are your bread and butter as a business owner. We've seen the importance of LinkedIn influencers, and we've seen the big names in business delivering their twopenny worth on pressing issues of the day, from Richard Branson to Bill Gates, to Tony Robbins, and anyone else you would care to think of.
The great thing about being an entrepreneur now is that there are more and more apps and resources cropping up on a daily basis, such as Shapr, intended as the Tinder of business networking. By swiping left or right, based on your ideal colleagues and industry influencers, you are in the driving seat as to who you would like to align yourself with to build up your network, and by proxy, your pool of resources.
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Resources for the modern entrepreneur isn't just a good quality workforce, it is the people you are building relationships with. You cannot underestimate the power of who you know when you are in charge of a company, especially when you are starting out. While it can be argued that more companies are going out of business now than ever before, especially in the fickle nature of the startup industry. But the onus is now on the entrepreneur to make sense of the infinite amount of resources available to them, and to distil them into which ones will benefit the most.
The most difficult thing in any industry now, is to make sense of these resources. Lots of business owners hurtle forward into an industry they know almost nothing about, relying on their passion and heart to lead the way, and while the importance of taking risks in something that should be communicated to every single entrepreneur in the world, some people will act upon this impulse, without having done the relevant research.
This is where your resources come in handy. You also have a number of resources at your disposal that you can share to your contemporaries, and we've seen a lot of skill swap meetings, where people get to share different skills, and so we can all build up our basic skill set. But this is part and parcel of the networking game now. As an entrepreneur, you have to be willing to share your skills so you can receive more knowledge, and resources to help build up your company.
Finally, you are the well of knowledge in which people will come to. So, you have to make sure that you are consistent, that you have an unending amount of curiosity, and have an infectious passion for your industry. People are going to be coming to you for ideas, inspiration, advice, a shoulder to cry on, how to cook the books, and the list goes on. You are a fundamental resource for your business, so you'll have to make sure that you are adequately fueled in this respect.
People talk about money being the ultimate resource, but this is only one piece of the business puzzle. These three aspects of the company, your workers, the business itself, as well as you, require the right resources. We are all aware of how to nourish ourselves so we can feel adequately fueled, but do you do the same for your business? Look at these three aspects, and begin to ask if you are giving each part the right resources. Resources needn’t be expensive, or complicated, but when you are looking to implement a structure, fund a company, or just to clue yourself up in the relevant business practices, it's the resources that need to be put in place.
