Every aspect of business has it own unique set of rules. For example, management and building your team has rules. Connecting with your target market while seeing them as a single person with a specific need has rules. The daily operation of your business also has rules.  Even though we are in business for ourselves and can do whatever we want, there are certain rules of engagement that can lead to success and certain violations that can lead to failure. These rules, procedures or standards have great impact on our bottom line.

In other words, it’s all about systems.  If you put us in charge of anything, then we  eventually come up with a way of doing it, because systems make “it” easier. Our personal morning routine is a system. Our coffee or tea before the first meeting is a system.  The way the bank processes our money is a system.   In fact, all the elements of business can be Continue reading »

No one wants to actually spend time documenting what they do. It’s time consuming and you could actually be “doing” it rather than writing it down. My e-mail marketing company VerticalResponse has been bitten time and time again by the “non documentation” bug and boy does it sting. Two HUGE reasons to document processes for your own business are:

1.    Your employees go on vacation and you need to pick up the pieces for what they do when they’re not around.
2.    Your employees will leave your company and you’ll be left holding their bag and you don’t know what’s in it.

Whether it’s Continue reading »