10-Step Process For Effective Business Problem Solving

When you launch a startup or start a small business, the one thing you can count on is the unexpected. No matter how well you plan, forecast, or test, issues will happen. That’s why, as an entrepreneur, you have to know how to solve business problems effectively. 

In this article, we have focused on a 10-step process to help you enhance your problem-solving skills and approach any issue that arises with confidence.  You can also get help from business management consultant companies to get your business problems solved effectively.

1. Define the Problem

When a problem arises, it can be easy to jump right into creating a solution. However, if you don’t take the pain to look thoroughly at whatever has been the cause of the challenge in the first place, you may devise something that doesn’t really solve it. You are simply treating the symptoms.

For instance, if you ever find that your sales from new customers are decreasing, you may rush into building a marketing plan to create buzz and exposure. But what if it is something where the decreasing sales are only a symptom of the problem at hand? Hence, it is essential to understand the exact cause of the problem.

2. Make a SWOT Analysis

All good businesses solve some form of problem for their customers. What if the particular business problem of yours is not really an issue, or even a strength if looked at from another perspective? That’s when you would want to run a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis to make sure that’s really the case. 

SWOT is an extremely useful tool in strategic planning and bringing multifaceted viewpoints into the mix when one is looking to invest resources to solve a problem. You might even include it in your efforts to identify the source of your problem since it helps you quickly outline your business’s particular strengths and weaknesses. From here, after you have found some opportunities or threats, you can use your findings to kickstart a solution.

3. Design Thinking Can Result in Multiple Solutions

While solving your problem, you may find it beneficial to use the design thinking approach. It often finds a place among organizations that seek to solve big, community-based problems. Its strong suit is engaging a wide range of people in the problem-solving process, which will lead to multiple perspectives and solutions arising.

It is not about finding the most complex problems to solve but about finding everyday needs within the organization and in the real world and coming up with solutions that fit those needs. When you’re solving business problems, this applies in the sense that you’re looking for solutions that address underlying issues.

4. Market Research and Customer Outreach

Market research and customer outreach aren’t things that small business owners and startups do once and then scratch off the to-do list. When you hit a roadblock, think back to the last time you did some real market research or took a deep dive to understand the competitive landscape.

Market research and the resulting insights from customer outreach are not a panacea. Many businesses struggle with what to do next due to conflicting data points. But it’s worth struggling through and gathering information to help you better understand your target market. 

5. Seek Input from Your Team & Your Mentors

Do not do the SWOT analysis or design thinking alone. Freedom to express concerns, opinions, and ideas will let people, whether in an organization or otherwise, be able to speak up for themselves. Their feedback will, therefore, enable you to work faster and more efficiently. 

If you have built a team, engage them in the discussion. You hired them to be an expert in their area; use their expertise in order to navigate further and deeper into possible causes and potential solutions.

6. Lean Planning for Agile Execution

By adopting the lean business planning method—that process of revising how you’re running your business regularly—you’ll be better placed to fluidly change strategies. You do not need to change course every week, nor do you fall for shiny object thinking. You can drive a middle path that will let you reduce the risk of your business while keeping it on course with your team.

You’ll make strategic decisions along the way that don’t turn out the way you hope. The best thing you can do is test your ideas and iterate often so you’re not spending money and resources on things that aren’t working. 

7. Run Different Financial Scenarios

When you are really battling a serious business problem, one of the best things you can do is build a few different financial forecasts that model various scenarios. You may discover that your strongest-feeling idea will actually take longer than you had planned or anticipated to reverse a negative financial trend. At the very least, you will at least know better where you stand in terms of financial ramifications if you decide to move in another direction.

The real value lies in examining several tactical strategies for solving the same problem. It may very well be that rather than doing it now, over time you will be better off if you implement a strategy for reducing churning and retaining your best customers. You never know until you model a few different scenarios. 

8. Monitor Your Cash Flow

While you are fighting to solve a critical business problem, pay additional attention to your cash and your cash flow forecast. Knowing the times when your company might be in danger of running out of cash in the bank can keep you proactive. It’s much easier to have the line of credit while your financials look great and you’re healthy than when you’re one pay period from disaster.

9. Implement a Framework to Help Drive Decision Making

By the time you have gathered all the information, come up with several ideas, and do your financial modeling, you might be in a state of confusion. That is okay—you are not a fortune teller. You are trying to make the best possible decision from where you are, using what you know.

10. Key Metrics to Track

You’ll know that your problem is fixed. But not just with the symptom—how will you know you have really addressed the underlying? Before diving into the enactment of a solution, be sure to know what success looks like. Identify a few KPIs; take an initial measurement, then set a goal with a date. 

You do indeed take your solution and turn it into a real plan complete with milestones and goals. Without them, you are left having just made a blind decision—with no possible way to track success. 

The Bottom Line

Adaptability is the key to effective problem-solving in business. You may use too many resources by staying on the wrong course for too long. So, you can make a plan to decrease your risk now. Think about what you would do if faced with a problem large enough to sink your business. 

Be proactive and get help from the best business consulting companies. Brava Consultancy excels in solving intricate business problems. Our approach puts forth structured problem-solving techniques imbued with effective communication.