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For new business leaders, it is important to have a clear and prioritized roadmap for the future of the business, as this will help guide your decisions every day. However, every initiative, project and task requires certain resources – such as staff, funding, equipment, tools and more. Determining how to allocate these resources effectively is key to ensuring your business has what it needs to meet your goals.
That said, it’s important to regularly assess whether your resources are being used effectively and make adjustments as needed to stay on track. To help you do just that, members of the Rolling Stone Cultural Council offer their best advice on how to tackle resource planning as a new business owner.
Prioritize resources based on importance
Resource prioritization is the best technique to handle resource planning. Try to prioritize resources based on the most important projects and initiatives. This will ensure that resources are allocated to the areas of the business that will have the greatest impact. This technique works well when you encourage collaboration and flexibility between teams and employees. – Candice Georgiadis, Digital Day
Save your time wisely
Your time is your most valuable resource and I wouldn’t waste it until you know a business is a business – or until you start generating revenue that allows you to schedule resources for legal, accounting, tax planning, bookkeeping, HR, PR, marketing. and advertising. These are not a problem until you start generating a consistent product and, at that point, the income should start flowing or the business will start to take shape. – Adam Rumanek, Aux Mode Inc.
Plan for essentials
During the initial stages of resource allocation, it is advisable to determine what resources you need to start and plan for the essentials, regardless of budget. This may sound counterproductive, but it will allow you to see which areas need to be completed first after studying the actual costs. Balancing resources by making this rough outline makes it easier to prioritize investments. – Jacob Mathison, Mathison Projects Inc.
Provide a mix of long-term and short-term resources
Create a comprehensive sourcing strategy that includes existing and future sourcing. Consider resource adequacy when allocating them, ensuring you have a mix of long-term and short-term resources so you can react to changes in the market or business environment. You’ll be better able to make educated decisions about resource allocation and react quickly to change. – Theo Sastre-Garau, NFTevening
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Assess your inventory
As a new business leader, one piece of advice I would offer is to create an inventory of all available resources and then assess which are most important and should be prioritized. This will help ensure that you allocate your resources in the best possible way to achieve maximum success. – Kristin Marquet, Marquet Media, LLC
Be flexible and change when necessary
The plan you created in the fourth quarter for the first quarter of next year is great in theory; however, things change and you need to be ready to pivot quickly. Trust your instincts and move quickly. If you make a mistake, own it and fix it as soon as you make it. Resource planning is about results, so understand exactly what your goal is and work towards it. – Amanda Dorenberg, COMMB
Identify your resources and use them sparingly
First, identify what your resources are: contacts, accounts, suppliers, money, employees, etc. Second, identify where your resources will have the most impact in the next moment. Finally, because resources are usually limited when you’re new to business, leverage them in minimal increments so you can pivot if necessary without exhausting all of your available resources. – Sheila Dedenbach, Heavenly Sweet
Allocate resources to what drives a new business
Focus on allocating resources to what drives new business the fastest. It’s easy to get caught up in the “shiny object syndrome” instead of revenue-generating initiatives. Efforts that impact your top and bottom line should be at the forefront of resource planning. Set milestones and measure success in 90-day sprints. Act quickly if you find you need to make budget adjustments. – Traci DeForge, Produce Your Own Podcast
Invest in Resource Management Software
As your business grows, manual data entry can waste valuable time and resources that could be spent elsewhere. By adopting project resource management software, you will reduce the risk of costly errors while ensuring the efficient use of staff to achieve maximum productivity. – Sidon Farris, c4n2, LLC
