Business Owner Newsletter - Page 46

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.

It’s the time of year when you start to think ahead to your goals for 2013.  Your inbox starts to become filled with newsletters such as ours that talk about the importance of setting goals.  Putting goals on paper is an important step.  They provide you and your business with direction for the upcoming months, but before you set those goals, there’s an important step that many business owners overlook.  That step is looking at the accountability structure you need in place to meet your goals.

Many businesses owners feel as if they are isolated from the rest of the world and believe that accountability within the business stops with them.  They feel there’s no one to talk to when things are not working as planned.  There’s no one to vent to when they are frustrated or to encourage them to take that next step.  There’s no one to celebrate the many small steps they take each day to reach their goals.  Were you surprised the last time you did not meet a goal? The scary answer is probably not. Did you want to meet your goals? Of course, but by not having that measure of accountability in place, the journey becomes long and lonely.  There are a number of ways to establish accountability for yourself with in your business.

We are thinking of our clients that are facing the complications brought on by Hurricane Sandy.  We hope that those of you impacted are hunkered down and safe.  This storm obviously has the potential to impact all of us as travel and suppliers are impacted.  While you might not be in the direct path of the storm we encourage thinking and preparing for the ways that your business might be impacted.  Preparing for a natural disaster is hard on a personal level, but as business owners you have more complications to deal with than the average person.   Preparedness and communication with customers, employees, and vendors is often the key to surviving a natural disaster.  Whether you are impacted by Sandy or not, below are our “Air Force One” tips on being prepared and keeping in communication during business interruptions. 

When was the last time you took a good, long look at your financial reports? Do you remember what your income statement looks like? What does a balance sheet have to do with the day to day operations of your business? What types of investing in the company infrastructure do you need to do before the end of the year? These are some of the questions business owners have to ask themselves as they take stock of their current financial situation and plan for the push to the end of the year. Now is the time to take a look at what your support system looks like and what resources you have at your disposal to insure your finances are as strong as possible.

It happens to nearly every one of us. When summer arrives and the kids are out of school, life outside of the business becomes more prevalent, if not more important. Family vacations become the priority. Spending more time with your children when they have the free time becomes more important. The work/life balance you strive for has become skewed. Then, you wake up one morning and find that the business goals you set for 2012 are still a long way off. Your desk is a mess and you have no idea where information is. Your thoughts are scattered and you are having trouble identifying how to get back on track. Take heart! This is not a unique situation. You are still in the fight. You just need to get back on track.