Time is money, and that’s even more true when you begin running a business. For many business leaders, downtime is their mortal and sworn enemy, while making certain the workweek is as productive as possible can help improve performance through and through. It’s even why some companies are trialing the four-day work-week, the premise being that employees being offered ample chance to rest at the weekend, and the motivation to get everything done in a smaller amount of time could improve business productivity on all fronts.
However, you don’t have to wait for this advanced culture change in order to figure out certain elements of your business timeline, so you can account for new initiatives or programs worth considering. This way, you’ll also be able to figure out basic measures for your forward progress, such as asking how long will it take to get an EIN number?
In this post, then, we’ll consider the average durations for vital business processes to complete. This way, you can factor in your own small business timeline as you hope to grow and expand:
It Can Take Two-Three Months To Hire Someone
It’s important to remember that from the day you decide on hiring for a certain position, you need to have the job position up for people to see and apply to. Then you need to schedule interviews of each appropriate candidate, decide among them, provide a job offer (not all will be accepted or made good upon), and they may need to give notice at their previous position. As such, hiring for a role, especially an important, skilled position, can take up to three months depending on the role.
Developing A Website Can Take Four-Eight Weeks
Certain templated websites can be implemented quite quickly, as Squarespace, Wix and WordPress all have vital functions necessary for running basic web platforms with e-shops and many pages of your choosing. However, here you’ll always be tied to a template, which is why it can be worth using private web designers to engage creatively and develop the front end. However, this can take one to two months or even longer depending on your needs, although the basic format should always be focused on first. Keep this in mind if you’re hoping to launch your web presence alongside your service or product launch.
Product Development Is A Six Month Process
From initial conception to design, prototyping, patent approval, and final product can take six months minimum. This means that research and development should be something your business focuses on, cultivating its services or manufactured goods through reliable providers and suppliers that can help aid that process along. It’s always best to delay a product or service than to launch a shoddy offering that affects your reputation. As such, launching your business often comes near the end of your development pipeline, especially if you’re just starting up.
With this advice, you can use basic averages to help plan out a rudimentary business timeline. Remember that this can differ depending on your particular business type, the industry it sits in, and your own luck.