Archive for February, 2012
Be involved in the community where you do business
First and foremost we have to start at the beginning and that simply means getting involved. Every community has a host of organisations where people give their time freely to get behind good causes that need some help. They may be charities, they may be environmental groups, they may be groups trying to improve conditions [...]
Write your own operations manual as a way to question what you do
An operations manual is simply a written description of how your business operates on a daily basis. You should have one, regardless of the size of the business. Operations manuals put details in black and white and writing one is the perfect way to question why you do things in a particular way.
Don’t be afraid to be a manager—sometimes it’s tough
Being a manager is a big task. It covers an enormous amount of ground and it is constantly changing. Being a manager means being a leader, it means being a decision maker and it means being committed to what you do. As a business owner you fall into the role of being a manager by [...]
Talk to your staff—ask them for ideas and their opinions
Many businesses take an almost us-and-them approach to their staff. For most of us, life without staff would be pretty hard. Our businesses would never be able to grow, our workloads would be enormous and there would be a hollow feeling when it comes to sharing the trials and tribulations experienced in our daily business [...]