Posts Tagged ‘management’
The Importance of Managing your Business Plan
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
One of the key points in any new business is having a business plan to get your company started. This allows you to see where your finances will be used, what markets are open to your product and service, how you’ll attract customers and much more. However, once your business is established, you shouldn’t just forget about your original business plan - indeed, you should continue to refer to it and change as necessary.
Since the business world evolves continuously, it’s more important than ever to be ready to face any new challenges that you might encounter. This is where managing your business plan effectively will come into its own.
Have Regular Reviews
To ensure that your business plan is current to your particular business needs and requirements, it’s an excellent idea to set up a regular review process. This can be monthly, bi-monthly or even quarterly - however, anything over that timescale is probably leaving it too long. You can carry out the review if you’re a sole proprietor, although having an external business analyst or specialist to look over it with you is a sensible idea. If your business has numerous employees, then your Senior Management should review the business plan.
Once you decide on the frequency of the review, it’s time to ensure that you have set agendas to discuss in the review. These should include:
* Review of previous/existing business plan
* Changes in strategy to future business plan
* Agree how long reviews should last
* Set result comparisons on how well your business plan is performing
Although these are just some of the basic steps you should be looking at when reviewing your current business plan, they’re often the most used as well, so it’s a good idea to make sure you include them when planning and carrying out your review.
Why You Need a Regular Review
When you first started your business, it’s more than likely that the market was very different from how it is now. Even if you’re fortunate enough to be in a particular niche where there’s very little competition, you can never rest on your laurels - too many businesses have failed this way.
This is why reviewing your business plan regularly is so important. As an example, think about how the Internet has changed the face of business. If you just have a business plan in place that only has plans on how to compete with local businesses, then your online competitors will soon leave you behind. So you need to make sure that your business plan is updated to not only take into account your offline bricks and mortar business needs, but also any online presence you have. It’s not difficult to maintain a business plan, but it’s extremely important for any real success to happen.
Tags: advice, business plans, danny brown, management, managing your business plan, tips, updating your business plan
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Non-Compete Contracts and Whether or Not You Should Use Them
Thursday, April 17th, 2008
With businesses constantly wary of losing staff to rival companies, many are now enforcing what’s known as non-compete contracts. This is where new employees sign a contract that states they cannot contact a client of their old company to take them to their new place of work. It usually applies for anywhere between 2-3 years from the date the ex-employee leaves the company. However, whilst it’s an excellent way for business owners to protect not only their clients but also their intellectual property, it can also have its negative sides.
The Pros of Non-Compete Contracts
The obvious benefit of having a new employee sign a non-compete contract is the protection it offers you and your business. Say you have an excellent sales person who accounts for over half of your annual sales alone - there’s a reason they have such a high success rate, and a lot of it has to do with the relationship with the client. If that same salesperson was to leave your company, there’s a strong possibility that they could take their best clients with them, which could prove extremely costly for your company. Having them sign a non-compete contract will negate this possibility.
The other benefits of having a non-compete contract is that they can save you a fortune in legal fees if there was a case of an ex-employee stealing your best clients. Since they signed the contract in question, any defense they would have had would be null and void, as they would be in breach of contract.
The Downside
While there’s no question that a non-compete contract can offer you a high level of protection when it comes to your core business, they can also have the opposite effect as well. One of the biggest downsides of enforcing these types of contracts is that it can actually put people off wanting to work for your business.
With employees changing jobs as frequently as they do in today’s job market, anyone looking at a company that has a non-compete contract in place might actually prefer to look elsewhere. This is particularly true if it’s a sales role that you’re looking to fill, with many salespeople preferring to build from an old client base as opposed to starting from scratch.
They can also be difficult contracts to enforce, even in a court of law or employment tribunal. In the US especially, there are many states that won’t officially recognize a non-compete contract. And although a decision may go your way in court, the cost of bringing it to trial in the first place can be an expensive endeavor.
The Alternative
Since there is no clear-cut strength and weakness of a non-compete contract, many companies are now looking at alternatives. One of the most popular is the “300% Contract”. Instead of a new employee signing a non-compete contract, they will agree instead that should they leave and take any of your clients with them, they will have to pay you compensation to the value of 300% of that client’s annual spend with your company.
Tags: advice, danny brown, employees, Hiring and Human Resources, legal, management, non-compete contracts, tips
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Why You Should Run Your Business Like You’re in Show Business
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
If you’re searching for some business bling: bigger profits, more customers, an increase in traffic, etc., then start treating your business like you’re in showbiz, baby! What this really means is giving your business its own identity. You’d never see Jim Carey and Robert De Niro competing for the same role. Why? Because they have positioned themselves as different “brands”, or different identities. And you should do the same thing for your company or products. Having a branded image will help your company to stand out in an already overcrowded marketplace.
Take a look at your competition and find your “angle”. Something different and unique. Chances are, your competition is all very similar, and are using the same old selling points to attract customers. Just like any successful actor knows, getting people to remember your name, your look, or your image is what keeps them coming back for more. And the same holds true for companies and their products. Any car can get you from place to place, but certainly a Hummer has a different image than a Volvo or a Ferrari. And it’s that definitive image that has each brand standing out in the marketplace and appealing to a certain group of customers.
Once you have decided on your company image, it’s time to play the role of agent and start promoting it. Hard work can pay off with “gigs” in magazines, newspapers, local news, blogs, websites, etc. Just because you never worked for a fancy Madison Avenue PR firm doesn’t mean you don’t have the chops to get your company mentioned again and again and again. Start sending out press releases, email blog writers, and email sell sheets to editors and online reviewers. And just like in show business, it just takes that one “role” or mention, to start a snowball effect all across the nation. We all remember Alex Tew, the Million Dollar Homepage guy - that all started from a few blog mentions!
You’ll find that doing PR for your company gets easier once you get past the first few. You can then use those mentions as examples to show other potential media platforms, showing them how easy it is to write a sensational piece about your company or product. And, more importantly, that there is a newsworthy component that readers are interested in.
So now that you know the real star potential of your company, it’s time to play the role of agent and get your destined-for-stardom company in the spotlight. Most business owners never think of their company in this way, which may also be the reason why most businesses within an industry all seem to market themselves in the exact same way. Now that you have the methods to make your business shine, you’ll need a scrapbook to hold all the magazine and newspaper clippings!
Tags: advice, Carrie Hinkel, Growing Your Business, management, tips
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What Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Tai Chi
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
Entrepreneurs have been described as many things over the years in a variety of mediums. Aggressive, type A, intelligent, calculating, assertive, savvy, and many other terms and descriptions have been used.
Tai Chi is often called a passive martial art form, and “whole body and mind” form of exercise. Known throughout the world as a form of exercise to help with stress, how can Tai Chi be compared to being an entrepreneur? After all, one of the more famous quotes in Tai Chi is action through inaction which would seem to run counterintuitive to the entrepreneurial spirit.
Dig deeper in to Tai Chi and those entrepreneurs who succeed in business and you will find many similarities. In fact, on a value and conceptual level, it is striking how much the entrepreneurial spirit and this form of martial arts has in common.
* It Starts Simply , with warm up exercises and breathing to gain focus. Even the most coordinated expert in Tai Chi starts their lessons with warms ups and breathing exercises to gain focus. No entrepreneur succeeds without focus. Think about that tough problem you had to solve. What was the first thing you did? The chances are you focused on coming up with a game plan, and then decided where to start first.
* There is no Substitute for Experience or Time. In Tai Chi, there are no short cuts. To learn the sequences it takes repetition which requires time. A good instructor helps, but the individual must work hard to succeed. The same is true in business. Even if you have a fantastic mentor, you learn by making decisions, gaining experience, and by practicing. Study the world’s most successful athletes, entertainers, and business people, and you will find they are nearly maniacal in their practice regime. Think about what you should be practicing for your success, are you?
* Take Time to Meditate and to Focus beyond just warming up. Built into Tai Chi is time for meditation and focus. To achieve success in Tai Chi you must be able to focus and take that focus and apply it to you physical achievements to attain mastery. The same can be said of your efforts in business. If you are too busy working running your business to focus, you will forever be overwhelmed by tasks. Take time to focus, to plan, to do root cause analysis and you will succeed. To become a successful entrepreneur you must work “on the business” not just “in the business”.
* Push Yourself Beyond Where You are Comfortable is a catch phrase for many areas of life. This saying, however overused is true in Tai Chi and in business. You simply must push yourself beyond where you are comfortable if you are going to grow. Taking risks can come naturally to the entrepreneur but it is still not an easy thing to do on a regular basis. Recognizing when it is time to step beyond where you are comfortable is a skill you find in people who are able to achieve the pinnacle of success in their endeavors.
In Tai Chi there are many similarities that can be taken and applied to success in business. As an entrepreneur, make sure you are studying and applying these fundamentals in all the areas of your life to find what true success means to you.
Tags: entrepreneurs, Growing Your Business, larry Slusser, management
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How to Handle Your Workday Information Overload - Quit being a slave to email and manage your work time more effectively
Friday, April 4th, 2008
Are you one of those people who checks their email every five minutes? And do you practically have a panic attack when you’ve realized that you left your Blackberry at home or in the car? Well, you’re not alone. Today, in this digital age, workers have become so reliant on their email communications that it has become more of an obsession, making workdays less productive.
When you consider emails over phone calls, it’s easy to see how emails can be time savers: a quick 30-second email verses a 10-minute phone call. Okay, so what is the problem? Well, considering emails are so easy and quick, people end up sending out more emails then they would end up making in phone calls. What would once be figured out by reading a manual, now a question gets emailed out to someone and then Cc’d to five others. Many workers check their messages so frequently that finishing other tasks ends up taking 2-3 times as long. Also, many times with email communications, questions aren’t clear or answers are vague so there will be back and forth emails for several rounds, where a phone call could clear things up much quicker.
How to be more productive by distancing yourself from emails
Take an honest look at how often your check, write and respond to emails. Do you always have a PDA device with you to ensure that you never miss an important email? Do you ever go longer than an hour during a workday without checking your email? It’s easy to become a slave to email and feel like you are powerless to its addictive communications but, don’t worry, you can get back your workday and learn how to manage your time more effectively. Here’s how:
Turn your email program off when you are working on a project - When you have a paper or report to write or research to do, etc., temporarily turn your email program off to keep temptation away and to avoid hearing that distinctive inbox “ding”. You will be amazed at how much quicker you can get through tasks when you’re not constantly distracted by that temptation-ridden inbox!
Stop unnecessary Ccing - It’s a trap that many business people fall into: Unnecessarily Ccing others, thereby wasting their time and inviting them to respond to the email. This can turn a simple email into non-stop back and forth banter - and for no apparent reason. You should only copy others to an email if their participation is absolutely necessary. Implementing this rule office wide would end up saving everyone’s time - and you’d be surprised by how much!
For complicated subjects, make the phone call - Believe it or not, there are times when a phone call is quicker than sending an email. People are so accustomed to emails that they’ll spend 10 minutes typing up an email that inevitably gets confused by the reader because of the complex subject. When dealing with complicated or easily-misunderstood subject matter, it’s usually best for both parties that a phone call is made to clear up any confusion.
It is possible to free yourself from the shackles of email, but it will take some commitment and willpower on your end. You’ll no doubt find that once you learn to control your email addiction, your workdays will be more productive and even less stressful.
Tags: Carrie Hinkel, effeciency, Growing Your Business, information management, management, staying productive
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How to Cope with Seasonal Product Demand
Friday, April 4th, 2008
The old adage says ‘variety is the spice of life’ - but if you are in business, you know that variety in customer purchasing patterns can be an extremely stressful issue to deal with.
Every season will see different products shoot to the top of the must-have list and others sitting on the shelves, gathering dust. What you want to know is how to stock more of those ‘must-haves’ and fewer of the dust gatherers.
Some seasons will see a trend to fewer purchases - other months, everything you have on the shelves will be selling.
While you can’t change your customers’ buying patterns or convince them to buy what they don’t want, you can use a little logic, research and planning to try and get a better picture of when they are going to want things, what they may want and then prepare accordingly.
Do Your Homework
Start by trying to predict what will sell. If you don’t keep a record of your store sales, you may have a problem with this. The best way to predict the future is to learn from the past.
Looking at your sales from the same time period a year ago will give you a good idea of what sales will be at same time this year.
If you are planning for the fall season, look at last year’s fall sales to know what may be selling this year. Generally, the same types of items will sell, just in the current season’s styles.
Next, plan for typical down times. Create ways to bring customers in that may not traditionally choose to shop right now.
If you would prefer to hear the cash registers ring, you need to come up with new ways to get customers. Some options to do this include holding events, sales and stocking special items:
* Events - Season-based themes usually go over very well (Summer Beach Fun, Spring Break, etc). Use the current season to create an event that incorporates your items.
You could have special visitors that customers can meet, or even a themed party that gets them into your store having fun, and makes them more likely to open their wallets.
* Sales - A great deal will bring in shoppers that were not originally planning to spend money. Design clear signage that lets shoppers know how great the deals are in your store and what they’ll be missing out on if they just walk by.
* Special Items - If your regular items aren’t selling as well, maybe it’s time to try out a few new items or unique niche items that may grab the attention of your customers.
If you can get them in to purchase one small unique item, you may be able to get them to stick around - and purchase a couple more items that are part of your regular inventory.
The key to coping with varying and seasonal product demand is to try to plan ahead for those times to keep the profits coming in.
Tags: holiday, inventory, Leeia Ladipoh, management, product demand, Product Sourcing, seasonal, source
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Tips and Ideas for Motivating Your Employees
Monday, March 31st, 2008
Knowing what will motivate your employees is tough. Thus, it is important to determine how and what makes each of your employees tick. This will help you to establish different motivators that will appeal each person.
Regardless of what you do to motivate your employees, it is important that you do something. If you do not do anything to motivate your employees, they will care less about the success of the organization, or about their jobs. Motivation does not always come in the form of financial rewards. That is an important motivator to have in place, but money is not the only thing that will keep people excited about their jobs or organization.
First, it is important to make work fun. If you establish different fun things to do around the office, such as a daily drawing for prizes, or conduct a bingo game that is related to your business and the prizes will be an extra half an hour for lunch, or to leave early one day, those are motivators that will get people excited and want to accomplish more, which will result in more success. Other non-compensatory motivators could be as simple as having a dry cleaner that comes to the office once a week to pick up their laundry or employee of the month where it is the employees who nominate potential recipients, where they get the choice parking spot for the month or anything else you come up with for a reward.
When you reward employees’ successes, this is most likely the easiest way to motivate your employees. Depending on what type of acknowledgment they like, either public or private, complimenting them on their hard work is always welcomed. Another thing that you can do is to give them a handwritten note about their success and put a copy of it in their file for their annual review.
Additionally, keeping your employees excited about their job and knowing when they are becoming complacent in their positions is very important. One way to help your employees to continue to grow before they start to become complacent is to introduce new projects. Of course, you will need to know your employees pretty well to know if they can handle new responsibilities. Perhaps they have too much on their plate already, that it is not the amount of work, but the challenge of new things. Shifting around responsibilities where appropriate will encourage everyone to continue to grow and master new skills, which is great for them and for your business.
Monetary incentives and rewards are always welcomed, but should not be the only thing that you offer to employees. The monetary rewards can come in a variety of different incentives, such as bonuses, gift certificates, trips (even just an overnight somewhere in town), or an increase in their compensation.
There is not a one-size fits all when it comes to motivating employees. Individuals are motivated in different ways thus having an array of different programs in place is one step. The first step is to know your employees and what types of things will motivate them. Money is always good, but should not be the only thing offered.
Tags: advice, employee morale, Hiring and Human Resources, larry Slusser, management, motivating your employees, tips
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Do You Manage Knowledge?
Monday, March 24th, 2008
Technology does not supersede good, old-fashioned knowledge management. It is the staple of any emerging small business. If you are no longer the receptionist, secretary, bookkeeper, webpage designer, and customer service specialist, you probably don’t realize the methods of your employees, their growing responsibilities and most importantly, neither will anyone else when they leave. Knowing that they do their jobs simply isn’t enough.
Take a moment to consider what would happen if the most valued employee was injured. Could anyone else walk into that position and know that Company Y’s project director uses your business to perform his job and you allow it because he is the CEO’s son-in-law? Would you remember to tell the temporary employee that the alarm at the back door is broken? If your company consists of more than four employees, who is in charge of knowledge management?
Knowledge management requires input of what is required from each employee/contractor. It should detail day-to-day operations as well as miscellaneous responsibilities. When you review the performance of your company, the map of positions and functions often serves as a catalyst for change. This process can dissect the inner-workings of your management style, which in turn reflect positively (or negatively) when applying for capital or other assistance.
Anyone employed in any capacity should receive a "company handbook" that outlines your company mission and vision, positions and functions. Many companies require new employees to sign position descriptions. Otherwise, the document is part of the contract.
Small business owners are especially susceptible to leakage and performance issues when they do not follow basic protocol. Many believe they are too young, too small, and they are often under the mistaken impression that they know the actions of their labor pool from the inside out. Managing growth includes managing knowledge. It is simply ignorant for an entrepreneur to expect one without the other.
Begin by mapping what you think your employees’ roles and functions consist of. If a responsibility requires step descriptions, write it out. If you are a business service provider, list your current contracts and a brief description of each in a different area, then update regularly. If there are quirks - simply state, "No direct contact without prior approval". Organizational charts are often more interesting than lists and make for easier consumption.
Pass the document to each employee/contractor for review. Typically they will add to it or exclaim, "I didn’t know I was supposed to do that!", which in itself can make for a very bad day. When you begin, expect some confusion. You might hear comments like, "I don’t do that, Sally does because…" It could be that the employees are correct in shifting responsibilities, but the bottom line is: You didn’t know about it.
Think of all the ways you can jeopardize operations by a lack of specific description. In a small business, it may take only one individual to cost you thousands of dollars. Invest in a few months of meetings, some overtime and perhaps a technical writer to put it all together. In the end, a road map of operations will benefit you far more than basing day-to-day operations on assumptions.
Tags: information management, management, Melissa Bailey, technology
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Is Starting a Retail Business Right for You?
Thursday, March 20th, 2008
With the retail industry taking in $4.5 trillion in sales in 2007, it’s no wonder that more and more people are considering opening their own retail store. But, being a successful retailer isn’t as simple as entering the industry and opening a store. In order to have the best chance of running a successful retail establishment, you should first assess your skills to figure out what your personal strengths and weaknesses are for being a retailer. If you fall short in some areas, don’t worry, you can always take a course, do some research or, even easier, hire someone who excels in that area.
Retailing skills - where does your experience fall?
It’s no surprise that successful small business owners consider themselves jacks of all trades, with experience or knowledge in almost all facets of their business - from customer service to product selection. However, it’s also important to know where your skills are lacking. If you have zero experience in marketing, it’s best to realize that an attempt by you could end up backfiring, leading your business off on flat note. Don’t be hesitant to hire professionals when you know your experience in a certain area is minimal. Here is a list of the basic skills required in order for a retailer to be successful:
* Customer service - A friendly smile and a welcoming atmosphere is important to any retail store. The way employees treat their customers can many times make or break a store. From the extra effort of special ordering to handling customer returns, each situation needs to be handled in a calm and friendly manner - even if the customer is being rude and demanding. If you have a hard time controlling your emotions (especially anger), then maybe hiring a customer service agent to handle these situations would be best.
* Sales - Depending on the store, having a background in sales can be imperative to turning visitors into customers. It’s important to learn the line between pushy and annoying and helpful and informative. While the former can literally drive potentially customers out of your store (and never to return), the latter can make visitors feel comfortable and eager to make a purchase.
* Marketing - Having a great store is one thing, but getting people in the door is quite another. Flyers, in-store events, advertisements and online websites are all important to getting your store’s name in front of potential customers. Professionals with a background in retail marketing can help create the right marketing blitz for your store, getting people excited about what you have to offer.
* Management - Managing a store and its employees is harder than most people think. It’s important to have well-trained workers who are excited about their job and ready to help customers. Do you have experience in training, hiring and firing employees? If not, you may want to hire an employee who also serves as the employee manager. But, management doesn’t stop with employees. Your store - from ordering products to setting up product displays - will need to be managed as well. Otherwise, you could end up with backordered items and a stale store layout.
* Accounting - This is the one area where many new retailers feel in over their head the most. If your only experience with accounting has been balancing a checkbook, you may find that hiring a bookkeeper is money well spent. In addition to regular monthly bills like rent, phone and utilities, you’ll also have product vendors and employees to pay, advertising costs and, eventually, business taxes to prepare. With everything else you have to worry about to make your store a success, you may quickly find that, even if you have the skills, accounting simply takes too much time away from the business.
So, while retailing is by no means rocket science, it’s certainly not as easy as running a lemonade stand either. Before deciding to open up a new store, it’s important to first assess your skills and then determine in what areas you will need to employ outside help. Good luck!
Tags: Accounting, advice, Carrie Hinkel, customer service, Finance and Accounting, management, Marketing, retail store, Sales, Starting a Business, tips
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Lowering the Potential Risks for Your Business
Thursday, March 20th, 2008
Understanding your business’ range of potential risks can help you to manage them, or even avoid them all together. By anticipating risks and potential pitfalls for both your business and the industry as a whole, you can protect your business and improve its success. Here’s how:
Step one: Identify the risks
There are two categories of risks facing companies: risks that directly affect the business and risks that face the business’ industry as a whole. For the former, make a list of potential risks that are affecting your business. It might include things like: specifically-named competition, price increases, material shortages, etc. Identifying the industry risks will take some research on your end. However, the good news is that most of it can be done online. The first place to start will be with the associations operating within your industry. From their websites, see if you can find any research on sales trends or social, economic or environmental issues that may have a direct effect on the industry. Second, do online searches relating to your industry and “risks”, “trends” or “research”. Third, take a look at the quarterly and annual reports for public companies operating within your industry. Many times these companies give a detailed report on risks and potential risks facing the company.
Step two: Rank the risks
Unless you make an effort to rank order the potential risks facing your business, you may very well fall into the trap of constantly putting out small fires and losing site of long-term goals. While all risks are potentially harmful to the business in one way or another, only certain ones demand immediate and undivided attention. Take the time before the risks appear to put them in order of most important to least important. This will require some time to think through the process of how the risk will affect the business and how disastrous the potential outcome could be.
Step three: Prepare an action plan
For each risk, set up a clear policy in order to manage and control it, should it directly affect your business. The policies should be specific, easy to understand and, ideally, quick to implement. The chaotic and stressful time when a business has fallen prey to one of its risks is never the time to create a how-to-bounce-back strategy. Take the time now to develop a process that is clearly thought through and will minimize negative effects.
So, while every business and every industry has potential risks looming, it’s what you can do to prevent or minimize them that will keep you ahead of the competition. An unknown risk is sure to affect an unaware business much more than a known risk to an alert business. Take the necessary steps now to put your business in the latter category. It doesn’t take much time or effort to prepare a risk prevention plan, but the detrimental effects it can avert can prove to be enormous.
Tags: business risks, Carrie Hinkel, Growing Your Business, lowering risk, management, protecting your business
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