5 Important Questions for Business Owners
Winter solstice, June 21 - another good time to take stock of things. Here are 5 key questions to help you do that.
Q1. How do you feel about your business?
Are you still passionate about it and committed to it?
If you aren’t, then both you and the business are probably in some kind of ‘holding pattern’ and almost certainly not going anywhere. Think of it as like being in an airplane waiting to take off. And it will be obvious to your customers, your suppliers and your staff, even if it isn’t to you.
If you answered no to this question, I strongly suggest you do some hard thinking, and consider your options. If you can’t fall in love with your business again, it’s probably time to let someone else run it.
And deciding not to choose, ie, putting aside the decision, or telling yourself you’ll think about it ‘later’ is also a choice. You see, if you do nothing, you’ll continue getting what you’ve got now. So change may come whether you want it or not. Why not make it happen instead?
Q2. Have you got a written plan for at least the next year? (And preferably one for the next 3.)
While everyone knows they ‘should’ plan, very few of us really do. That goes for large companies as well as small ones. In fact, you might be shocked at how many large companies do planning very poorly, if at all.
But if you don’t plan because you’re too busy reacting to problems, coping with issues that come up and fire-fighting, what you are really doing is putting all those other things at very the top of your priority list. All the time. Because if YOU don’t know where you want to go, how on earth do you expect to get there?
Q3. Have you given your team what they need to paddle the canoe with you?
No one likes working in a business that doesn’t seem to know what it’s doing or where it’s going.
People really enjoy working when they have a good leader, plus they’ll work harder and often surprisingly long hours. But they need someone who makes the plan clear ("troops, this is where we’re going"). And someone who ‘walks the talk’ not just says it, and who is determined and decisive when necessary.
Do all your people know where you want the business to go, and how? And if not, what do you need to do in order to make that happen?
Q4. Do you pay yourself first or last?
A fundamental rule for wealth creation is to pay yourself first, not last. Yet most small and medium businesses pay everyone else before they pay themselves. This may help keep the economy going around, but it does nothing to compensate you for the time and effort involved in starting and running a business. Make it a rule to pay yourself first. Apart from any other considerations, it’ll force you to focus on business cashflow and the bottom line.
Q5. Have you set up systems to run your business?
To run well, every business needs systems. Far too many don’t really have systems, and certainly not written ones. Which means they won't be ISO 9001 of course. Instead of systems, they have experienced people, most often the owner(s) and/or people who’ve been there a long time).
But not having systems leaves you vulnerable, and gives rise to poor consequences: the quality of service or goods may be unreliable if key people are absent, ill or leave. The owner can rarely afford to get away for holidays, increasing their stress levels.
Contrast that with a franchise like McDonalds. That business can be operated by a competent 20 year old, managing 16 year olds. And most often is.
What makes the difference? Like all franchises, McDonalds has a system. And it’s written down. People follow the system; the system underpins the business.
Any small or medium sized business should aim to systematise. ISO 9001 is a good starting point, even if you don't use all of its requirements.
Some of the many benefits of systematizing: the owner can share the load with other employees, profitability generally improves, and purchasers will pay more for a business with a written down system than one without, for very good reason.
There’s method in ISO 9001 demanding that the quality system be documented!
-------------------------
© Mapwright Pty Ltd
Jane Bennett,
Director, Mapwright.
Stop struggling with ISO 9001
http://www.mapwright.com.au/
---------------------------
** Attention Ezine editors / Site owners **
Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine or on your site, so long as you leave all links in place, do not modify the content and include our resource box as listed above.
If you do use the material, please send us a note so we can take a look. Thank you.
© Mapwright Pty Ltd
(+613) 9416 7344
Q1. How do you feel about your business?
Are you still passionate about it and committed to it?
If you aren’t, then both you and the business are probably in some kind of ‘holding pattern’ and almost certainly not going anywhere. Think of it as like being in an airplane waiting to take off. And it will be obvious to your customers, your suppliers and your staff, even if it isn’t to you.
If you answered no to this question, I strongly suggest you do some hard thinking, and consider your options. If you can’t fall in love with your business again, it’s probably time to let someone else run it.
And deciding not to choose, ie, putting aside the decision, or telling yourself you’ll think about it ‘later’ is also a choice. You see, if you do nothing, you’ll continue getting what you’ve got now. So change may come whether you want it or not. Why not make it happen instead?
Q2. Have you got a written plan for at least the next year? (And preferably one for the next 3.)
While everyone knows they ‘should’ plan, very few of us really do. That goes for large companies as well as small ones. In fact, you might be shocked at how many large companies do planning very poorly, if at all.
But if you don’t plan because you’re too busy reacting to problems, coping with issues that come up and fire-fighting, what you are really doing is putting all those other things at very the top of your priority list. All the time. Because if YOU don’t know where you want to go, how on earth do you expect to get there?
Q3. Have you given your team what they need to paddle the canoe with you?
No one likes working in a business that doesn’t seem to know what it’s doing or where it’s going.
People really enjoy working when they have a good leader, plus they’ll work harder and often surprisingly long hours. But they need someone who makes the plan clear ("troops, this is where we’re going"). And someone who ‘walks the talk’ not just says it, and who is determined and decisive when necessary.
Do all your people know where you want the business to go, and how? And if not, what do you need to do in order to make that happen?
Q4. Do you pay yourself first or last?
A fundamental rule for wealth creation is to pay yourself first, not last. Yet most small and medium businesses pay everyone else before they pay themselves. This may help keep the economy going around, but it does nothing to compensate you for the time and effort involved in starting and running a business. Make it a rule to pay yourself first. Apart from any other considerations, it’ll force you to focus on business cashflow and the bottom line.
Q5. Have you set up systems to run your business?
To run well, every business needs systems. Far too many don’t really have systems, and certainly not written ones. Which means they won't be ISO 9001 of course. Instead of systems, they have experienced people, most often the owner(s) and/or people who’ve been there a long time).
But not having systems leaves you vulnerable, and gives rise to poor consequences: the quality of service or goods may be unreliable if key people are absent, ill or leave. The owner can rarely afford to get away for holidays, increasing their stress levels.
Contrast that with a franchise like McDonalds. That business can be operated by a competent 20 year old, managing 16 year olds. And most often is.
What makes the difference? Like all franchises, McDonalds has a system. And it’s written down. People follow the system; the system underpins the business.
Any small or medium sized business should aim to systematise. ISO 9001 is a good starting point, even if you don't use all of its requirements.
Some of the many benefits of systematizing: the owner can share the load with other employees, profitability generally improves, and purchasers will pay more for a business with a written down system than one without, for very good reason.
There’s method in ISO 9001 demanding that the quality system be documented!
-------------------------
© Mapwright Pty Ltd
Jane Bennett,
Director, Mapwright.
Stop struggling with ISO 9001
http://www.mapwright.com.au/
---------------------------
** Attention Ezine editors / Site owners **
Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine or on your site, so long as you leave all links in place, do not modify the content and include our resource box as listed above.
If you do use the material, please send us a note so we can take a look. Thank you.
© Mapwright Pty Ltd
(+613) 9416 7344
posted by JaneB at 9:32 AM
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