No professional tradesperson starts a job without the right set of tools, and to get the job done, those tools will be put to work. It’s the same in any business, the right tools are required to achieve your aim, but you’ve got to use them effectively to get where you hope to go.
Here are the three tools every business needs that must be put to work.
A plan
Regardless of whether you’re in the business of printing stationery, plumbing houses or selling products online, every business needs a plan.
This must-have document sets out where you hope to go in the future and how you hope to get there. A good plan will give you the strategies you require to your achieve aims in one, three or five year’s time. To be used effectively a business plan must be implemented, referred to, and updated when required.
Essentially it’s the roadmap to business success, and you can’t successfully navigate a course if you don’t refer back to the map when you need to know whether to turn left or right, have taken a diversion, or an obstacle crops up.
Systems and procedures
Each business should have their own guide to provide a “how to” of the way things are done. These systems, procedures and operations manuals are the reference point for everyone involved in the business that outlines who does what, when and under what circumstances.
But they’re not just a set of ring binders that should be gathering dust on a shelf. Staff need to be made aware of systems, procedures and business policies when they first join your team and given updates or refresher courses every now and then.
The documents themselves should also be updated as a business grows and its techniques evolve.
Staff
Arguably your staff are the greatest assets you have at your fingertips when it comes to business. The right staff will present a professional image, provide superior customer service and have a skill-set that helps business reach its goals.
But like the tools of a tradesman, staff need to be tended to, taken care of and honed over time, and this happens through training, communication, and performance reviews.
When a new staff member is brought into a business they should be provided with a position description, and educated about the systems, procedures and operations manuals. They should also be given training and feedback to utilise each individual to their best ability.
The most successful businesses are backed up by well thought out plans, operations procedures and staff, but these essential tools of every business trade only work if you apply them to the job at hand…building your business.
