Quality control is a critical consideration for women running a business of any size. A defective product, or a substandard service, can damage your profitability in both the short and the long term – and having robust procedures in place to limit this possibility, and mitigate its consequences, can make a big difference. (Disclaimer: This article contains spons0red content, meaning we may receive compensation from the products or services mentioned.)
Building Trust with Customers Through Consistent Quality
All businesses rely on the trust they get from customers. Without trust, a purchase is impossible. By providing consistently excellent products and services, you can build trust – and establish your reputation.
But a single negative experience is enough to sour any customer’s impression of your company. Moreover, that negative experience might lead to knock-on effects. The customer might tell their friends about their negative experience, and the reputation of your business will thereby suffer.
Good quality control will ensure that defective products never arrive into the customer’s hands. However, it can never eliminate defects entirely – which is why a good returns procedure matters, too.
Reducing Costs by Minimizing Errors and Waste
Quality control won’t just protect your reputation. It will also prevent you from spending unnecessarily. Fewer returns means lower administrative costs, and less spent on shipping and packaging. However, quality control will also help you spot subtle variances in product performance, which might indicate an underlying problem with your methods that would not otherwise have been identified.
For example, if you’re developing electrical products, then you might use analog voltmeters to test the voltage coming out of the power supply. When there’s a significant variance, you might make the decision to switch to another supplier – and thereby drive down defects.
Meeting Regulatory and Industry Standards
Defective products might not just be a reputational risk. They can also pose a legal risk, too. This tends to be the case, especially in businesses where safety is critical. By implementing the right quality control, you can avoid problems with regulatory compliance. Of course, it’s worth establishing exactly where you’re most likely to rub against the regulations, and then concentrating your efforts on eliminating these areas.
For small businesses, this should be a particularly pressing priority, since a failure to comply with regulations can be more difficult to spot – which can lead to it dragging on for longer.
It’s worth occasionally seeking the input of a consultant or lawyer with expertise in the industry you’re working within. This will help you to not only spot potential compliance issues, but get you up to date with best practice in the industry more broadly.
This approach has another advantage – since regulations are constantly shifting, it can be advantageous to check every now and again whether your business is at risk of non-compliance.
