A small business owner has his hands in all aspects of the business. Managing and managing a small business is different from running a large business because there is a lot of personal contact between the employees, the owner and the final product.
To have an efficient organization, a business owner needs to understand the best ways to run a small business a Small Business Coach in Melbourne is very helpful for this.
STRATEGIES TO MANAGE A SMALL BUSINESS
1.- MANAGE WITH CONFIDENCE
When you are running a small business , you must make critical decisions all the time, and those decisions need to give your employees confidence that the company is on the right track (See Resources). The owner of a small business needs to analyze the business climate, be prepared to make risky business decisions and then support those decisions with confidence. You develop that confidence by taking the time to understand your business, your clients and your competence and then make decisions based on your educated observations.

2.- HAVE COMPETENT PERSONNEL
Whether you hire a person or have 100 employees, it is important that the owner of a small business be surrounded by the right people, according to David Lockwood . Hiring friends and family members just to give them work is not going to help you grow your business. Your staff needs to be made up of people with the skills, experience and dedication you need to help you run a successful business.
3.- REDUCE COSTS
A small business owner needs to be aware of the costs of doing business, according to Cisco’s “Five Ways to Control Business Costs” article. Use a title of inventory software and cost monitoring to keep track of your materials, and work with suppliers to find ways to reduce your costs. Have an energy auditor come to your business so that you can work on items that will reduce your overhead costs by making the business more energy efficient. Instead of hiring employees to perform tasks, seek the use of independent contractors and reduce your payroll and benefits costs.
4.- OPERATE YOUR BUSINESS DAY BY DAY
The best way to manage your business is on a daily basis. Develop a plan by which you operate your business, and attend to the daily tasks that will help you achieve that goal. If you stay dedicated to your plan and continue planning for the future, you will begin to develop ideas that will help you move your business forward.
MEANS:
10 WAYS TO RUN A RISKY BUSINESS
- Take a risk The riskiest decision you make can be the most rewarding and rewarding.
- There is no crystal ball. Take big leaps to learn about yourself as an entrepreneur and decision maker.
- Once you make a decision, trust it and move on. Do not look back.
- Stop worrying. You can not take risks with confidence if you constantly worry about the outcome or the future.
- Remember that there are no mistakes. If you fail after taking a risk, the lessons learned are invaluable.
- Ask yourself, what is the worst that can happen?
- Stay out of your comfort zone. The more successful you experience through risk-taking, the more you will allow yourself to branch out.
- Do not let perfectionism get in the way of taking risks. Accept that as an entrepreneur, learning is endless.
- Evaluate what you are really risking. It may not be as gloomy as you originally thought.
- Do not stress for having that “great idea”. Great ideas do not come easily, a small idea can be the big prize.
FIVE WAYS TO CONTROL BUSINESS COSTS (SOURCE CISCO)
Health. Energy. Mail. Insurance Transportation and travel. These are business expense categories and costs are likely to increase year after year.
Large companies are better prepared to absorb these rising costs. But small and medium enterprises have limited financial resources and face the pressure of keeping prices low to be competitive. They really feel the pinch.
The best strategy is to plan ahead. Ultimately, their goal should be to focus on being proactive rather than simply reactive, says Lauren Ventura, senior director of market management for small and medium-sized businesses at Cisco. “Being proactive means that you have anticipated, as best you can, the opportunities to improve your business. And in the long run, being proactive costs much less than being reactive. ”
A well-designed network can go a long way in helping small and medium-sized businesses to contain costs. These are just five ways the network can help:
1.- UNIFY DATA AND VOICE SYSTEMS:
Some companies have a data network and another system, such as a PBX, for telephones. Many are turning to “convergent” Internet Protocol (IP) networks that can carry data, voice and video in the same system.
A converged network reduces operating and capital expenses because you are installing, managing and supporting one network instead of two. A single network can also help reduce the time you spend on maintenance and troubleshooting. The result may be lower support costs and more time for your IT staff to focus on helping your business succeed.
For example, when Warner Pacific Insurance Services, an insurance company with 103 employees, added a second building to its headquarters in Westlake Village, California, it decided to replace its obsolete PBX system. The company decided to take the opportunity to gather its voice, voice mail and separate data in a single unified communications system.
The new network should be able to serve more users without the need for new support modules.
“We just wanted to connect new IP phones when necessary,” says Mike DeDecker, network administrator.
Unified communications in an IP network also reduce the cost of movements, additions and changes in the network. Even a basic change, such as adding a new user, can cost between $ 75 and $ 135 with a standard PBX.
2.- REDUCE COMMUNICATION COSTS:
A single voice and data network allows you to route long-distance telephone calls through your company’s network, rather than through the public switched telephone network. Carrying calls in this way can generate big savings. For example, Warner Pacific Insurance Services avoids toll charges because calls between its offices in California and Colorado, as well as calls from teleworkers, now travel through the company’s IP network.
3.- WORK MORE EFFICIENTLY:
A network can help make your business processes more efficient by reducing the costs of doing business in many ways. For example, health clinics are using electronic medical record (EMR) systems along with a wireless network. Doctors can get the information they need anywhere in the clinic and can write down notes about a patient’s visit while they are in the exam room, which reduces the cost of dictation in thousands.
Warner Pacific credits Cisco Unified Communications for helping employees achieve more. “We do everything we can to make our current employees more efficient, instead of hiring more people,” says CEO Dave Nelson. “With Cisco Unified Communications, our employees can more easily transfer calls, view an online directory of the company and review their incoming and outgoing calls.”
4.- MONITOR THE COSTS:
An intelligent network allows employees to share applications that monitor and measure many business activities. This tracking ability can help you contain costs in ways you may not have considered. For example, you can allow employees to view your company’s inventory in an easy-to-read “control panel” on their PCs.
“If you know where most of your products are shipped, you can better control your inventory costs,” says Ventura. “Having visibility in business information is a great way to keep costs under control.”
With the right tools, you can also let your customers record their own costs. Commercial Communications, Inc. offers an on-demand printing service and offers its customers access to an online document management system called Publication Zone. The system allows customers to see the products they currently have in the order and see who is requesting them and the quantity ordered. They can also use the system to schedule print jobs for documents. “They can make smart decisions about the entire lifecycle of their documentation,” says Brent Hegwood, president and chief operating officer of the company.
5.- REDUCE STAFF TURNOVER:
Providing your employees with a richer communications experience helps keep your employees satisfied and can make all the difference in the long-term success of your business. Dissatisfied employees can look for work elsewhere, and having to find and train their replacements increases their costs.
A network can allow its employees to work from home and access all the information they need from the office, in real time. Studies have shown that teleworker programs can help employees achieve more and give them a better balance between life and work. Satisfied employees tend to stay with their jobs longer. Even better, your satisfaction can translate into more satisfied customers, and that helps to increase the final results.
BUILD A NETWORK PLAN
To create a network that helps you take control of costs, you need a plan that maps your business goals and objectives to the network technology investments you make. Too often, small and medium-sized businesses invest in equipment that they believe will meet their short-term needs, without thinking about the future.