Business Owner Newsletter - Page 39

In last week’s article, “3 Keys to Getting Your Business Recognized,” we discussed the importance of creating an online presence by using Likes, Comments, Shares, Tags and Check Ins on various social media sites. This week we’re looking at why you should use the features and how to use these features in more detail.

Note: We’re mainly focusing on Facebook features in this document, because it is one of the most widely used social media sites. However, most social media sites have similar features and you should look at using these on all sites.

 Have you ever found yourself standing in a book store or novelty shop looking at one of those pictures with an image hidden in the graphics? You stare, and stare, and stare at one point in the picture until the image shows itself. In today's small business climate, getting your business recognized can be like staring into that picture. Customers make thousands of choices everyday that decide the success or failure of small businesses and it is up to you to bring your business into focus. How do you make your business standout? What is different about what you do and how you do it that drives customers to your door? What are you doing to get the name of your business out to your potential customers?

As Michael Gerber pointed out in "The E-Myth Revisited," you have to know who your customers are and what they want from your business. In the following bullets, you will gain a high level view of how to get your business recognized by your customers, their friends and the surrounding community.

If you have been in business a few years you've probably have heard or even worse have your own hiring horror stories.  The truth is hiring can be a huge strain on your resources-money and time-but it doesn't have to be!  This month, we've looked at hiring from a big picture point of view in "The Next Great Employee" and recommended "5 Underused Resources for Finding Your Next Great Employee".  Today we are wrapping up our hiring topic with two products that will help you systemize your hiring process and help save you time and money when you are ready to hire. 

Now that you need to find your Next Great Employee where do you start?  Sure there are the usual tactics such as newspaper ads, website postings, and even word of mouth, but there are other resources out there that are under used by business owners.  Here are five resources you might consider:

Indiana Jones looking for the Ark of the Covenant. Frodo’s embarking on a quest to destroy the Ring. Both tasks daunting in their own right, but not nearly as daunting as finding the next great employee. How do you begin the quest? How do you even begin to think about it?! How do find that one candidate that fits with your organization? Do you understand what type of employee fits with your organization?  These questions, and more, swirl in the minds of many business owners, and are completely ignored by most. Without a hiring process, finding the next great employee becomes a crap shoot, or just dumb luck.

The hiring process is something that happens in between the everyday business activities. By taking the time to map the process in advance, you set your business and candidates up for success. It is vitally important to have your strategy planned and your path to hiring set before you embark on the quest to find the next great employee.

Hopefully you’ve made a commitment to achieve a work/life balance this year and have already started working on a plan. If not read our article: “Planning to have a life outside your business.” If you have, Congratulations! Now take the next step by exploring these tech tips which can help you implement those work/life balance goals!

In last week’s article, “Planning to Have a Life Outside Your Business,” we discussed the need to schedule your time away, to have a Paid Time Off (PTO) Policy, and to support your business and employees by creating Systems and Training that enable PTO. This week we are presenting a listing of PTO Systems that your business should have in place to support your employees, clients, and company:

Most people take this time of year to talk about resolutions and planning. You know, the weight you’re going to lose, the new business you will bring in, the weight you’re going to lose, upgrading your business facilities, the weight you’re going to lose, and so on. In the context of your business, planning is usually all about revenues and profits, staff, equipment needs, and even how you as the business owner are intending to use your time more efficiently.  What about you?  Aren’t you one of your business’ most important assets?  Isn’t it important to your business, let alone yourself and your family, to maintain your health and your sanity?  Did you not go into business in part to create more freedom and a more enjoyable life?  How is that working?

This is a not-so-subtle reminder to plan for your time off. Plan some short days. Make plans for a vacation later in the year. Take the time you need to put your work/life balance back in order. Encourage your staff to do the same and they will thank you for it.

We are a celebratory society. We celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and other milestones. In our personal lives we celebrate just about every chance we get. But what about our professional lives? When was the last time your business celebrated a birthday, anniversary, or mid-year production goal? With their eye on the finish line, business owners can miss the little successes, milestones, and personal achievements that happen on the way to that finish line.

So, what does celebrate really mean? Does it mean that every time something good happens you have to throw a party? Of course not, but it does mean that as the owner, you will need to be intentional about acknowledging the successes of the business and its employees. There is any number of ways a business can celebrate success.

Now that the C.A.T. (Communication, Accountability partner, and Take action) is out of the bag  regarding the importance of accountability, how can you create a structure of accountability?  Ask and answer the following questions and you will on your way to creating an accountability structure that will help ensure you gain the results you desire.