Many a good idea for business growth has come from an employee. In order to enact it, though, they had to be confident enough and smart enough to know their idea was a good one, and then they had to share it with the boss. A minimum-wage book employee once thought that cafes should be included in bookstores, and everyone can see now what a success that idea has been.
Like everything, though, using an employee's idea because it sounds like a good one is a huge risk; however, it can be a calculated one, and when it works out the benefits can be life-changing. A few of the ideas below have worked for other companies; they may help you as well.
Stop the Stealing
Obviously, you don’t want your shrinkage to be very high. Even in an office environment, employees have been known to steal office equipment: from pens and paper all the way to the occasional computer or high-end printer. If you run a retail business, customers tend to be the ones stealing, but the result is the same: loss in profit. So how do you prevent theft?
Costco has come up with a simple and effective way of preventing shrinkage. They hire a few people to stand at the doors of every store that check receipts for accuracy. They even make you open certain things – like a cooler – to see if you are hiding anything. Most of the high-end products are also locked away in a cage; when you purchase something like a GPS or a gift certificate, you have to go to the cage with receipt in hand to claim your item. Though it may seem a little rude in some cases, it works: Costco’s inventory losses come in at .2% every year, while Walmart averages 1.6% a year in losses.
Raise Your Prices
Jumping from $10 to $20 for a product isn’t always the best way to make more profit, but your prices can be reasonable without being obscenely expensive. You shouldn’t be competing with other businesses on price – you should be competing with them on services instead. So instead of lowering your prices to compete with your neighbor, improve your services and set your prices to reflect those changes. Clients will pay a premium if they think your services or products are better than a competitor’s, and sometimes paying more makes them feel like they deserve better service or products in the first place.
Have a Brainstorming Session
Sometimes the best ideas come out of nowhere. Have a meeting and call it a “brainstorming session”, and provide treats to your employees. Tell them there’s no pressure for the next few hours and see what everyone, as a whole, can come up with to improve the business. Chances are, you’ll have at least one or two promising ideas by the end and you’ll be able to make those ideas stronger to include in your business.