Take Authority Over Business Operations
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There are THREE WAYS for owners to take authority over business operations!
A recent article from a service industry business coach listed numerous mistakes made by small business owners.
No doubt, each of the mistakes/frustrations he listed is harmful to a business’s health when left unattended.
However, the business coach gave NO solutions, other than to point out that the owner should concentrate on these issues to solve them.
Unfortunately, never addressed was the ROOT CAUSE, or HOW TO TAKE AUTHORITY over each of these mistakes/frustrations.
That’s like seeing a diver about to jack knife into an empty pool and given no warning. Believe me, it won’t end well!
Yes, there are THREE WAYS business owners can control business operations:
The most popular approach to business dysfunction is, whenever a problem/mistake occurs, JUST DEAL WITH IT. Sorry to say, little to NO preventive action taken to assure such issues never occur in the first place. The worst choice!
Another approach is to HIRE MANAGERS to deal with problem/mistakes as they occur. This method may take some pressure off the owner, but leads to less profit. Not good!
The BEST way to take authority over business operations is a system-by-system approach. For every major issue in a business, there is a system that, if implemented, will FIX it! Moreover, the right system will prevent future occurrences.
Systems for Taking Full Authority Over Operations
One of the mistakes listed by the business coach mentioned above was — the “overworking of employees which,” the coach added, “leads to higher turnover rates.”
We advise owners to ask WHY a problem is occurring, and continue asking WHY until the root cause is found.
For example, using the problem of overworked employees. Apparently, in this coach’s industry, the overworking of employees must happen on a regular basis.
From our experience, working with many industries, we know WHY the overworking of employees and owners occurs:
- Lack of a proper Scheduling System
- Poor use of a Scheduling System
- No Daily Routine System for monitoring employee activities
- Lack of a Quality Control System for eliminating job and service errors
- No comprehensive Operations Manual
- No Follow-up System i.e., CAPA – Corrective Action/Preventive Action
Fact is, without comprehensive systems, the loss of valuable time continues unabated. Consequently, owners and employees must work longer hours to make up for the loss of time.
The systems we listed above give owners TOTAL CONTROL of every aspect of their business. This enables them to steer the company wheel in the right direction.
Truth is, if ANY small business owner would take authority by implementing JUST these systems, it would eliminate over 90% of ALL their business frustrations.
Did I mention? Great systems WORK!
Philip Beyer, founder/president of Ebiz Products LLC and founder of Beyer Printing Inc. in Nashville Tenn., is a chronic entrepreneur, business systems analyst and consultant. Author of "System Busters: How to Stop Them in Your Business" and recipient of an InterTech Technology Award for the design and development of System100 business process management software. Beyer speaks to business owners across the country on how to bring lean, sustainable order to their businesses. Contact him at (615) 425-2652.
