Here is the situation: you own a franchise or small business. It’s the first year, so you are working through the speed bumps every business faces. You have a handful of employees that are pulling your attention to a million different things, the budget is tight but your demands keep growing, and you are still figuring out how to market your brand.
What is the one thing you have to be good at to succeed in this situation? Problem solving.
The only way your business (and your sanity) will make it is if you can take these problems and solve them—for both your employees and your customers. The more you learn to master critical thinking and problem solving, the more time, energy and money you will save. Excellent problem solvers all go about it differently; however, there are some key steps that you can follow to find a solution.
Before you can do any solving, you must first identify the correct problem. It isn’t as simple as you may think as you need to be asking the right questions and find the root of the issue. After you’ve correctly identified the real problem, you can start the brainstorming.
Related Article: 6 Ways Entrepreneurs Become Great Problem Solvers
You may like the idea of working alone, but the brainstorm process may better serve you if you include others. You never know, someone on your team might have the perspective that leads to a quick solution. This is the step that involves a great deal of critical thought, which is more a state-of-mind rather than techniques or tools. Looking at the issues from multiple viewpoints and remaining open minded will lead to the most creative, longer-lasting results.
Evaluate the different ideas you come up with and see how they will impact your goals within the constraints that you have. Shoot for high impact–low complexity ideas and get it done. Try to have a couple plans as a backup in case your original idea falls through; a problem can be solved many ways.
As a franchise owner, you will face many issues, some big and others little. No matter the size, you need to approach and resolve each hurdle with a sense of calm and purpose. Look for the opportunities within the problems, keep it positive and you’ll be ready for any situation.
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