With close to 32 million small businesses in the United States, the ones that rise to the top are those that are effectively able to solve problems. Problem-solving techniques don’t just gain profit but help create welcoming environments that customers love to return to. 

If you learn how to solve problems, you’ll learn how to take your business to the next level. But how exactly do you solve company problems in an effective manner?

This article will walk you through a few things you need to know about business problem solving. 

Consider All Sides Of The Issue

When a problem comes up in the world of business, the first thing you should do is break it down. What is this problem telling you on its face? — what causes lie beneath it? — what implications does it have for the future? 

Upon first encountering a problem, you should go into research mode. Don’t respond instantly. Understand that all problems have gray areas that you need to explore. 

Check Your Solutions

It could be helpful to pitch solutions you come up with to other trusted members of your business. These people will help you refine your idea and make it more implementable.

These people also might bring their own ideas. Their ideas can act as a springboard for you to find the perfect solution, or they could create ideas by themself.

Other people will see cracks in your ideas that you couldn’t see from your vantage point. Make sure you come into these sessions with your ego checked at the door and understand that someone disagreeing with your idea isn’t personally insulting you. 

Take Decisive Action

Though your ideation should go slowly and cautiously and consider all sides of the issue, when you take action you should take action swiftly. Treat your idea like it’s the best idea out there — confidence will lead to the idea coming off successfully. 

Make Use Of Design Thinking

It can be helpful when making decisions for your business to come up with a thinking framework. The structure will set you free, and being able to follow a step-by-step process to solve problems could give you the freedom to come up with more creative solutions. 

Design thinking seeks to solve problems in the business through creativity and placing oneself in the customer’s shoes. We don’t have space here to get into the specifics of this thinking framework, but you can check out a whole article on it here: https://www.teccelerator.com/blog/design-thinking

Understand Business Problem Solving

As you can see, effective business problem solving is all about the balance between research and action. Make sure you check your ideas out with trusted partners to make sure you’re not missing anything. Understand when you need to do some more research to come up with the best idea, and when you should strike.  For more articles like this, check out our “business” section.