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Running a Small Business: Tips on Keeping All the Balls in the Air

Guest post by: Marja Botha van Doorn

Article Overview: One of the challenges in starting and growing a small business is fitting in all the work. You wear so many hats, and have so many details to handle; it is hard to accomplish everything each day.

Running a Small Business: Tips on Keeping All the Balls in the Air

At one of the business networks that I attend frequently we discussed this topic a couple of weeks ago and brainstormed strategies to help you keep all the balls in the air.

Here is a summary of our brainstorming.

Know what you want:

Know the difference between having a business and owning a job and decide which one you want. Knowing what you want to achieve in terms of your career will help you to work in a more structured and logical way towards setting and achieving your goals.

Set appropriate goals

Once you know whether you want to own a job or have a business, set goals accordingly. Begin with the end in mind. How do you want your company to look when it is complete? What is your exit strategy? Once you have your big hairy goal in place, you can start breaking it down into smaller pieces by identifying milestones and action steps to get you to each milestone.

Embrace deadlines

Part of setting goals and milestones is agreeing to deadlines. Business is made up of deadlines. They help you to achieve results. Embrace them!

The organizational chart and your role in it

Designing an organizational chart and developing “position contracts” around it are essential even if you are a sole proprietor. An organizational chart and position contracts give you an overview of all the tasks that need to be handled in the business and it stipulates who are accountable for what. Without it, everything hinges on luck, personalities and good feelings of the people involved. Although these elements are important, they are not the only ingredients of a successful organization.

Most successful companies will have at least the following functions (even if all of them are covered by only one person):

· Chief Operating officer -person responsible for the achieving the overall strategic objective and setting longer term goals.

· Marketer - person responsible for finding new clients and finding new ways to exceed client expectations

· Operations manager - accountable to deliver to the client what the marketer has promised them and find new ways in which to do business more cost effectively.

· Financial manager – accountable for supporting both Marketing and operations in fulfilling their accountabilities by achieving the company’s profitability standards and securing capital whenever needed and at the best rates

Time management

Know the difference between important task and urgent task and choose how you are going to deal with them.

· Important task are normally tasks that will bring you closer to your goal but are often not urgent. (i.e developing a living working business plan)

· Urgent tasks are those ones that need your immediate attention but won’t necessarily bring you closer to your goal. (i.e. immediately arranging for the burst geyser at home to be fixed)

Delegate and follow up.

Delegation does not mean giving things away and forgetting about them. It means giving things away and setting a time to review, provide feedback and ensure that quality standards are met. If you delegate and follow up effectively, there is less chance that you or someone in your company may drop the ball.

Systems & processes

Develop systems and processes of how things should be done in your business and ensure that everyone working for you is aware of it and buys into it. That way you will ensure consistent product and service delivery even if you are not there.

Ask for help

Most friends and family are able to handle something extra and will be happy to help out if you ask them. For example: I occasionally ask my sister-in-law to collect my daughter from school, which gives me more time to deal with the business of the day, on very hectic days.

Maintain Balance & have fun

Avoid getting too intense. Have a sense of humor and have fun. When you are calm and relaxed you will get more done.

Until next time........

Empower your Mind! Inspire your Soul!

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Article Tags: balls, brainstorming, business networks, challenges, hats, small business



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