Organizing and Automating Ft: Windwood LLC
“I’d say easily, the thing that’s getting most in my way is just being organized enough to know what I have, where it is, and how to get to it. Not just how to physically get to it, but it would fall under inventory, and how to get organized.”
- Mark Dubac
Many businesses can relate to Mark’s question—getting organized and making the most out of your time and practices can be a challenging thing. New companies, especially those without experience in client relations and inventory management, can run into trouble. However, long-standing companies are not immune to this phenomenon either, as old habits can get in the way of efficient time, customer, and product management.
Getting Automated
The initial method for getting organized that Steve implements for Mark’s business is the process of automation. While automation can sound like a very open-ended kind of concept, Steve breaks it down into understandable and relatable pieces that can be applied to nearly any business that works with customers.
“One is having a lot of your customers all in one location. Because you’re communicating on DM, text, email, maybe even Facebook Messenger, right? You’re communicating all these different locations, and it’s like, “What conversation is where? What did they want? Etc.” That is something that you could probably automate. Think of having a system that allows you to have all those in one spot.”
- Steve Larosiliere
There are countless apps, systems, and programs that provide this kind of service for people. However, many of these processes fall under the broad heading of CRM or Customer Relationship Management software. Each different CRM caters to a different industry, and for one tailor-made for the wood industry, check out the Acres of Timber CRM.
Time is Precious; Know the Value of Yours
“Because your time is pretty precious between work, family, and your orchestra stuff. You need to have dedicated time that you can look out one to two weeks in advance. In doing so, you’ll have a way to have your schedule set so that if you need to do a job, you know that your time is allocated.
If you need to do a quote for somebody, and somebody wants to talk to you, you’re not going back and forth. So that you know what time you’re available, and then you just shoot them a link, and it says, “Hey, here’s when I’m available.” Then they book it, and it’s sorted out immediately.
The other thing is project management. How do you keep your projects and all of your contacts and all of your people in place so that you can keep track of where they are. You’re pretty much doing the same types of projects all the time, just for different people. So you need a set system where you can drag and drop where people are on your project timeline.”
- Steve Larosiliere
This element is probably one of the most common errors that new and established businesses make. Consider whether or not you are making the most out of your time and if there are simple and effective ways to streamline this essential part of your business.
Upgrading every Element
“There are so many different ways that you can automate. You can even automate things like collecting deposits, collecting payments, that sort of stuff. The other thing is that you’re growing, and you have people who want to buy your wood products. Wouldn’t it be great if you just took a picture of something that you just got, or it’s fresh out of the kiln, and you just sent a text message to everybody in your contact list at once that says, “Hey, this is what’s available. Click here to buy.”
There are different ways to do it. Long story short, you need a CRM as a way just to stay organized. As someone who has multiple hustles, sometimes you just need to put your brain to something else. You shut down one part of your life, and then you turn on the other part. But when you turn on the other part of your life, meaning the woodworking, it is all in one spot. This is what I have to do right then and there.”
- Steve Larosiliere
There is no single path for every business to get organized and automated as everyone’s journey and needs are different. However, there is a lot of overlap between wood businesses, so take the time to assess if your company could be improved through these changes and take the next steps to get your business streamlined and running efficiently!
Website: https://www.windwoodmilling.com
Instagram: @windwood_llc