The Thriving Small Business

The 5 Step Process of Strategic Planning

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Strategic plans help identify what an organization is striving to achieve and maps out the necessary steps needed to be successful.

It used to be that strategic plans would go out for ten years but organizations today typically look 2-3 years down the road – some industries just plan year by year. Read the Full Article →

9 Inhibitors to Business Growth

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Why is it that some companies are birthed and grow very quickly – seemingly overnight?

While other organizations putter along at the same stagnant pace for years – or die a slow death.

There are several fundamental things that influence growth and when organizations neglect these business basics – it hinders growth. Read the Full Article →

7 Tips To Foster And Manage Innovation In Your Office

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Innovation is the golden key to success for business. However you need to know how to manage innovation to set yourself apart from the rest!

Innovative people have been around since the beginning of time. These creative doers have literally change the world.

Without creative and innovative ideas, we would not be where we are today in terms of product development, technology and the way we deliver service to customers. Read the Full Article →

7 Steps to Implementing Business Strategy

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Business success is the result of strategy, planning and management skills.  

Every business should have a strategy and a plan.

However, a strategic plan is only as effective as the supporting goals that are written to implement it.

And goals are only as effective as the people who have responsibility for completing them. Read the Full Article →

13 Tips For Improving Job Satisfaction

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According to a Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement Report by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 88% of US employees reported overall satisfaction with their current job in 2015.

This number is the highest level of satisfaction in 10 years. The purpose of the survey was to identify those factors that contribute to employee satisfaction in the workplace. Read the Full Article →

Read This Before Donating to That Charity

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It seems that there is a natural disaster happening all the time. The most recent has been Hurricane Florence that hit the east coast pretty hard. Disaster victims rely on the help from all of us. However, if you want to help, make sure your charity donation goes to a credible organization. Read the Full Article →

Advantages and Disadvantages of Performance Appraisals

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Employees, as well as managers, often question why organizations do employee performance appraisals.

Anyone who has ever been on the receiving end of a performance appraisal could argue why they perceive it to be ineffective and a complete waste of time.

Employees often feel unjustly assessed and managers often go through a forced annual process to comply with job expectations. Read the Full Article →

7 Steps Your Small Business Should Take Before Hiring That New Employee

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When a small business is formed, it is often difficult to imagine the time when there is a need to hire employees.

When that day comes, it is important to understand what needs to be done to hire a new employee.

There are several steps that need to be considered before entering into an employment arrangement. Read the Full Article →

7 Tips for Your Benchmarking Efforts

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Learning from others is how we all improve.

Organizations use benchmarking to compare themselves to others and learn.

Benchmarking is the process of going outside an organization to look at how high performers are doing things in other industries.  The concept is to identify and learn from best practices.

Organizations use benchmarking as part of their Quality Management System in an effort to gain insight into ways to improve what they do. Read the Full Article →

5 Barriers to Achieving Business Goals

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Organizations use strategy and goals to move a business forward.

However, this is all dependent on how well goals are achieved.

Organizations need to have a structured performance management process to ensure business goals maintain priority until they are achieved.

Well written SMART goals lay out the framework and accountability for goal completion to support managing employee performance. Read the Full Article →

Did You Know That There Are 5 Levels of Customer Satisfaction?

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Customer retention is the result of an organization’s ability to create customer loyalty.

This is done by providing the systems, processes and support, to not only keep a customer happy, but to transition them into an advocate for the organization – who is not only loyal but also recruits others. Read the Full Article →

4 Ways to Keep Focused on Your Goals

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I don’t know about you but I am in a constant battle with trying to get the day to day tasks accomplished and accomplishing my goals for the year!

Anyone who manages a business understands the challenges of keeping the vision, strategy and business goals moving forward.

The day-to-day management issues associated with people, processes, facilities, equipment, etc. Read the Full Article →