If you want to grow your small business, your concept must be scalable. In other words, you have to be able to produce your product or service over and over again without dependence on any one person. Yes –that even means you.
When I survey business owners at the beginning of their work with me, the majority tell me they are working 4 or fewer hours per week ON their business. Most of their time working is spent working IN the business. This is not surprising since most of my clients hire me because they want FREEDOM from the day-to-day involvement in the business. At the start of our work together, most can be away from their business for only brief periods of time before the business grinds to a halt.
Most business owners dread performance evaluations. Here are some tips to make performance evaluations not only easier, but more meaningful:
Do employee evaluations on employee anniversary dates, rather than trying to do them all at once during a certain time of year. Doing more than a couple evaluations at a time is overwhelming for even the best of business owners.
Over the last weekend, I got to read Profit First, the newest book from Mike Michalowicz. As I read, I thought of one client after another who could benefit from implementing Profit First in his or her business. In talking to business owners day in and day out about the challenges they face in their business, I hear a lot of the same challenges coming up over and over. Many of these challenges relate to managing finances in the business.
I am a convert. “Profit First: A Simple System to Transform Any Business From A Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine” will be here in less than a week, and for small business owners all over the world, not a moment too soon. I have had the privilege of reading an advance copy of this third book from author (and Provendus CEO) Mike Michalowicz, and the following is a summary of what I love about it.
As business owners, we all know we should delegate, but that doesn’t mean we are good at it. As a matter of fact, almost every entrepreneur I talk to, regardless of the size of their company or the number of employees, either tells me that they can’t delegate, they don’t know how to delegate, or they try and fail miserably to effectively delegate. If you fall into that category, don’t feel bad, you are in good company!
Every business, whether it is an insurance company or a manufacturer, an auto mechanic or service provider, goes through a process, a sequence of activities and steps to deliver its product or service.
When there is high competition for exceptional employees and a limited talent pool, rural business owners need innovative methods to attract great employees. Employee referral incentive programs offer an effective way to recruit some of the best talent available through leveraging the networks of your employees.
Picture this: it’s late at night, and you’re working to finish up a presentation that’s due tomorrow. You’re exhausted and you know you’re not doing your best work, but it can’t be helped. You have to just get it done. Can you feel the stress?
As business owners, we often hear about the importance of implementing processes and systems in our business to create a standardized, professional company that is not dependent on the owner or specific key people. However, for many small businesses, the question of how to effectively implement processes is very real and challenging. Actually it can be like a black hole – most small business owners have some idea of how to implement a process and what it entails, but when they actually start to apply it in their companies, they get only frustration, or at best, good results in the short-term and long-term disappointment.
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Email: Info@PumpkinPlanYourBiz.com
