Small business management is critical to the development and growth of a business. Many entrepreneurs go into business because of a specific passion or skill set that is marketable. With all the excitement of starting a new business, the only downside is all of the “business management” functions that many entrepreneurs don’t always think about as they begin their journey.
Unless an entrepreneur has specific training, they may not think of all the things that need to be tended to with a new business. Many of the following are areas that you need to develop a team to help with. Some can be learned internally but are time consuming and some will need to be outsourced to ensure appropriate expertise.
1. Processing Payroll/Taxes
Processing payrolland keeping clean and accurate records for tax purposes is critical. Keeping good records helps to eliminate a stressful time of trying to gather documentation that is needed for filing tax returns. One of the first members to your team should be a credible and responsible accountant. When you look for an accountant, look for one who has the credentials (CPA), specializes in small businesses and has a customer service record that will ensure their services are accurate and timely.
2. Human Resources
Managing people can be a challenging part of a new business and obviously changes drastically as a company grows. Having “policies” on sick time or vacation time is probably not as big of an issue when an organization has a handful of employees, but when the employment numbers rise, it is very important to have written policies to ensure compliance with all regulatory laws. See 3 performance management tactics article.
3. Facility Management
Once a company grows to a point where an office front or building is required to run the business, facility issues arise. Most facility management can and should be outsourced with a reputable company that has a good customer service track record. Prices are always negotiable and creating a custom plan is always an option. As an example, how much less would it be if you emptied your own trash, or had the services less often? These are things to think about as you negotiate.
4. Information Technology
All companies today are dependent on technology to run their business. This is another area that should be outsourced to a reliable IT vendor. If you’ve ever had your hard drive crash or the server go down, you understand this. Depending on the complexity of the organization, office hours or times when a company is open for business, different vendors have different levels of IT support. As with all vendors, checking references and interviewing support staff is important. You want to make sure that your tech guy has good communication skills who you can relate to and who has your organization’s best interest at heart.
5. Customer Service
Knowing who your customers are and what they want is very important. Keeping a pulse on your customers and how their needs are being met is a gauge to the health of your organization. Focusing on the customer and what they want is the secret to success and learning to identify issues and working with the customer to resolve issues is very important.
6. Website Development
An organization’s website is often the first impression a potential customer has of an organization. A well thought out, organized and user-friendly site is critical to attracting and keeping customers. There are few things more frustrating for a customer than to go to a website and either not be able to find what they are looking for or find a page that is not functional. When interviewing website developers, make a point to visit sites they have created and contact their customers to get feedback on their timelines of projects performed. One last note on websites, it is important to remember that a website is not a onetime “project” but an ongoing process that needs to managed on a continuous basis. Neglecting a website and leaving outdated information on a site can be detrimental to an organization.
7. Social Networking
Social networking has become one of the fastest internet advancements in recent times. Having someone who understands the ever changing technology and trends on your team is critical. A tip for you, find a teenager and they will be able to teach you lots! There does not need to be lots of time in a day put into this, but it is critical that something is released at least daily in small bits.
8. Search Engines
Most people now try to find businesses via the internet. In doing so, search engines can be your friend or your enemy so it is very important that you, or someone on your team, goes out and searches for your organization on a regular basis to see how it ranks against other organizations but more importantly to see if there are any negative comments floating around the internet about your organization. I can tell you from personal experience that I have chosen to not do business with organizations that I have googled and found negative comments about. I’m a firm believer that while most of the time comments may be exaggerated, there is an element of truth in all negative comments and potential customers take them seriously. If you have any unresolved customer issues, do anything you can to get it resolved.
9. Work-Life Balance
As a business owner, it is critical that there is a good work-life balance. Building a successful business can be a great sense of accomplishment. But to neglect family, friends or other personal interests can take its toll over time. Taking time to reflect, think and regroup on a regular basis is important to personal mental health and business advancements. Think about it, where were you and what were you doing when you got the idea to do what you do?
10. Fun
Ok i saved the best for last. I had a boss tell me once that if you aren’t having fun at work you’re in the wrong job. As a business owner, it is important for you to have fun and carve out time to make sure you provide a fun environment for your employees. There is a real-estate company that is named THF, when asked what it stands for, the reply was “To Have Fun”! Try to learn from this.
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A very good article.
There is so much talk in the media right now about entrepreneurship and turning your passion into a business. However, just passion more often than naught, will not bring profit. Managing your passion to profit will.
I am also surprised by the number of small business people I meet that do not have a website. Owning a website, even a simple one with basic information about you, is inexpensive and puts you ahead of the line searching for customers.
Your comment about fun hit home with me. Running a small business takes more than “full time” hours! However, you make a similar point to what Stephan Covey calls “sharpening the saw”. Do nothing but work constantly and you will become “dull” / lose your sharpeness!
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