When was the last time you saw a disorganised, but successful business?
Probably never.
As clutter and disorganisation affects business success, the organising philosophy behind Marie Kondo and its connection to mental health has many lessons for the business world.
Not the least being tidying up your business by categories, showing gratitude towards your employees and business partners, committing to working on and not in your business and simplifying and streamlining to focus on the things that bring you joy and success.
The simple Kondo philosophy is about constantly asking questions, what does success look like, can I improve my processes, who are my best clients, what categories need tidying up, how do I get to best practices and always looking for a better way.
The Kondo philosophy does not have an end solution as much as it has a constantly evolving method of improvement.
For many businesses the above questions are hard to answer because they are stuck in the reeds and minutiae of the day. Working in and not on the business has ramifications that affect the ability of management to make impactful decisions quickly and accurately.
The declutter by category philosophy of Kondo provides business with the means to take smaller bites of large problems, whether they be the piles of outstanding invoices and bills on your desk or developing the mental state needed to find solutions.
To help thoughtfully organise the business, Kondo would, for example, look at CRM platforms to take away the need for bits of paper with sales information, post-it notes on prospective contact numbers and people having to remind you to follow up that sales call.
She would recommend streamlining your financial reporting, accounts receivable and accounts payable systems with platforms such as Xero to enable you to partner with specialist softwares for invoice automation and early settlement discounts.
(Check out our Xero integration opportunities that can help Marie Kondo your business - https://bit.ly/3skl7jd).
The declutter philosophy would also pertain to discarding irrelevant and inefficient processes and constantly building for the customer, not what you think they need but what they tell you they need.
Finally with all that in mind, focus on what’s important, business joy.