Business-Building Information

What is risk assessment?

Part of running a business comes down to knowing a few of the risks like the risk of an injury, the risk of illness, etc. Risk assessment allows you to carefully examine the different things that bring about risk to a business. Risk assessment allows you to make sure you have the resources available to pay for legal damages or any damages that are caused by an employee or faulty machinery.

]]> Of course you always have the hope that accidents will not happen in the workplace, but unfortunately they do happen. If you don't set aside money to pay for wages and other things if an employee is injured, it can literally destroy your company. Holding good insurance is another important thing as an injury at the office can be quite expensive. When you take the time to evaluate the amount of risk your employees will be exposed to, how will you understand how you can make the workplace safer for everyone?

There are a few different steps you need to follow as they will help you identify hazards. They are as follows:

Step # 1 - Walk around
The first thing you need to do is walk around the office. Make a list of all the potential hazards that exist in the workplace. Look at the way your employees perform their job duties to see if they are putting themselves in harms way. Sometimes behavioral habits will cause accidents to occur. As you walk around the office and you look for hazards, you also need to talk to your employees. Ask them for their opinions on what hazards exist in the workplace. Since they work with machinery and other things, it's easier for them to tell you where the problems are.

Step # 2 - Where is the risk?
Every business will have different areas that are at high risk while others are not. Some employees may work with equipment that is particularly dangerous, causing them to be at an increased risk for harm. New employees are always considered a risk because they are still learning the ropes of the company. As they are learning, it can be easy for them to make mistakes and place themselves in harms way.

Step # 3 - What precautions have you made?
Next, you need to take a look at the various types of risk and then determine if you have taken enough precautions to counter the risk. Have you implemented a behavior-based safety program to properly train employees and to change the way they work to keep them out of harms path? Check the healthy and safety standards and make sure you are in compliance with all of the laws. This means you need to pay worker's compensation and you need to make sure all claims are filed properly. Try your best to take safety one step further and provide employees with extra clothing, new equipment, and other things that will prevent workplace accidents.

Step # 4 - Record the hazards
As you have gone through the workplace and you have made a list of all the hazards, you also need to record every time an accident happens or when an accident almost happens. Recording all of the reported hazards will allow you to see where changes need to be made to prevent any future problems.

Step # 5 - Make revisions
Your last step is to constantly monitor the risks and look for ways to improve hazards. Making revisions is an important step you need to take as a manager to ensure that your employees are protected. Hire an employee to go over the safety regulations of the company to make sure that the work place remains risk-free as much as possible.

What are the skills you need to be a good manager

Finding a perfect manager is hard to do. This person must come with a variety of different skills from interpersonal skills to decision making, finding a good manager is a hard task for any business. Of course if you think you have what it takes to become a good manager, you need to put yourself out there and get recognized. Here are some of the skills you need to possess if you want to become a good manager:

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Leadership skills. One of the most important traits you need to have is the ability to lead. Think of all the people that have inspired you throughout the course of your lifetime, what was it about those individuals that made you want to become a better person? A strong leader can be born, but many of them learn the necessary skills they need over time. A good leader is a person that is a well-respected by his/her peers. A good leader encourages others to do well and to push their skill level outside the box. A good leader does not dominate others and they do not try to belittle others.

The ability to listen. A good manager must have the ability to listen. As a manager you will be faced with a number of problems and your employees need you to listen to them to know that you are going to try and do something about all those problems. Part of being a good listener comes down to non-verbal communication. Make sure all the distractions are out of the way when you are listening to others. It is rude to text on your cell phone or check your email while one of your employees is confronting you with an issue they have.

Problem-solve. As a manager you need to have the ability to problem solve. While you may not always have all the answers all the time, you need to do your best to appear this way. Employees look up to you and they trust you to lead them. If you cannot solve a simple problem or at least come up with a few solutions for a problem, they will start to lose faith in your ability to be a good problem solver.

Time management. You are going to be pulled a hundred different directions and it is important not to get discouraged. Do not let your leadership responsibilities become so stressful that you start to double book yourself or you neglect answering emails. Your customers and employees need to be able to get a hold of you and they deserve your attention. Plan a schedule and stick to it religiously, this is the only way you are going to stay sane with all of the projects and tasks at hand. Get a personal assistant to help you manage your time if it becomes too overwhelming and stressful.

Have a vision. Part of being a manager means you need to have a vision. Why do you want people to follow you? Where are you taking them? You need to have a vision that you can clearly communicate with others and you need to have the stamina to make this vision become a reality. Plan for the future growth of the company and clearly show people how you plan on achieving this level of growth.

Keep your cool. When your world comes crashing down and the office is in crisis mode, you need to keep your cool. If you can remain calm and handle each problem one step at a time, people will respect you for it and they will follow you anywhere.

Using incentives to create a positive work environment

It is important for the workplace to be a positive one. When the workplace is positive it makes going to work a better experience for the employees and the employer. People tend to work better in a positive work environment and more employees will enjoy coming to work instead of dreading it.

]]> While there are many ways for a business owner and the managers of a business to create a positive work environment, this article will discuss one of the best ways; incentives.

Examples of workplace incentives

There a variety of incentives that a business can use to help create a positive work environment for their employees and for themselves. And depending on the type of workplace and the type of employees the kinds of incentives that will work well will probably vary.

Cash tends to be an incentive that will work well for just about any type of business. Both men and women employees like to receive extra cash. And age does not tend to be a factor with this incentive choice either.

Gift certificates are another great incentive. Of course the particular employee who has earned the gift certificate should help a business owner or manager decide on the type of gift certificate they should give out. For example, while a restaurant gift certificate may work for a male or a female employee, a spa gift certificate may not work well for a male employee.

Free vacations or even just free night stays in a local nice hotel can be a fun incentive for employees. And of course other types of incentives, besides cash and prizes are also good options. For example, an opportunity for an extra vacation day or an extra hour for lunch can be great incentives that can help create a positive work environment. The chance for an employee to be the head of a committee, or to be in charge of the next project are also considered great incentives.

How to use incentives correctly

Of course giving away incentives is not a flawless way for a business owner or manager to create a positive work environment. There are a few problems that a person needs to keep in mind if they plan to use incentives.

One problem could be that incentives create too much competition. While competition in the workplace can be a good thing, too much of it can be bad. Instead of creating a positive work environment it will likely just create a hostile one. If everyone is constantly working against their coworkers to win prizes and be better than their coworkers, they will likely not work together. Businesses need competition to be successful, but they also need teamwork.

Another problem that can come about when using incentives is using them too liberally. If incentives are used too often they can become common place and employees will not be excited to earn them. It is important for business owners and managers to keep incentives a special thing. And changing up the type of incentives they give out is also a good way to keep incentives special.

A business owner or manager should not make it too hard, or too easy, for employees to get their incentives. If getting the incentives is too hard employees may not try to get them and that will defeat the entire purpose of using incentives. But if incentives are too easy for employees to get once again they will become common place and may not help to create a positive work environment.

Types of conflict resolution

Here is a look at the different types of conflict resolution that are available for you to use in the workplace.

Number one: Negotiation
Negotiation is the process of discussion among the parties that are in the middle of the conflict. How the negotiation process works is that all of the parties that are involved in the conflict gather to discuss what is going on. Before the discussion starts, ground rules will need to be laid out so that other conflicts do not arise from the discussion. For example, nobody can interrupt when another person is talking. The goal of the discussion is to reach an agreement to settle the conflict.

]]> Number two: Mediation
Mediation is a process that involves a neutral third party to help people discuss the issues that are going on; they also help the people reach an agreement based on the issues at hand. The neutral third party person can be anybody who is trained in conflict resolution, including management in the workplace. How meditation works is the neutral third-party gathers information, outlines the problem or problems at hand, helps the parties develop their options and negotiate an agreement. An important thing to note with mediation is that the third party does not have any power in making decisions, so the parties involved in mediation are the ones to determine the solutions.

Number three: Arbitration
Arbitration is different from mediation because the neutral third party has power over the final outcome of the conflict. How arbitration works is that the parties sit down and talk to a neutral third party about the issues at hand. After listening to both sides of the story and gathering information, the neutral third party makes a decision that will settle the conflict. The parties involved in arbitration do not have any say on what the outcome will be. Arbitration is most commonly used in labor/management disputes.

Number four: Mediation-Arbitration
This method of conflict resolution is a combination of mediation and arbitration. How this type of conflict resolution works is that before the conflict resolution session starts the parties that are involved agree to try mediation first, which means they try to solve the problem and come to an agreement without needing third party to come to the final decision. If the parties involved cannot do it on their own than the neutral third party makes the final decision.

Number five: Early Neutral Evaluation
This type of conflict resolution is used in cases where there is the threat of going to trial. How this type of conflict resolution works is that a court-appointed attorney reviews the merits of the case before it goes to trial. The court-appointed attorney then encourages the parties involved to resolve the problem before it goes any further. If no resolution can be reached, he advises both parties involved about what the next step would be to litigate the case, plus what they think the outcome would be based on the merits of the case.

Number six: Community Conferencing
This type of conflict resolution is best used in a community type of setting, where more than two parties are involved, the whole community was affected by the conflict. How this type of conflict resolution works is hat a main facilitator is in charge of the meeting and they invite people to come forward to talk about how the dispute affected them, plus what they would like to see happen to help settle the dispute.

Number seven: Negotiated Rulemaking
While this type of conflict resolution is mostly seen in government agencies, it can also be used by business. How this process works is that the board of directors or government agencies asks for people's input on the dispute, plus how they might expect to handle it. Once they listen the issue a new rule that effectively handles the conflict.

Trusting employees to run your business when you aren't there?

Any business owner understands the worry that comes with delegating your workload. No matter how much time you devote to a company, you cannot be there all the time and there will come a time when you need to learn how to trust your employees to run your business when you aren't there. Learning to trust others entails taking on a risk, which has backfired due to faulty hiring procedures. Small business owners are particularly reluctant to delegate power to employees because they completely rely on the success of the business to feed their family. For small business owners, trusting others means there is more to lose and when there is such a high-risk situation, it makes it almost impossible for them to learn to trust their employees to run the business. Although it will be hard, you do need to learn how to delegate some of the responsibilities and trust your employees to run your business when you aren't around.

]]> When it comes to trusting your employees, you need to be aware of a couple things that drive trust. First, you have the motives behinds trust. Motives behind trust simply refer to the reason why you can trust this person. Do you have similar work ethics? What is it about this person that makes you feel confident in their abilities? Second, you must trust the person for their ability to do their job. Why did you hire this person? What skills and talents can they bring to the job? As you evaluate the employees that work for you, it is important to look at the different types of trust so you can find a person that you can leave your business to when you cannot be there.

It is common for managers to leave the business with a person that has a higher level of skill versus a person that they trust for morale or personal reasons. This is because a person that has a higher level of skill usually is respected by other employees and is often feared by them as well.

To learn how to trust your employees and to build relationships with them, offer them some mini-projects. This is an easy way to test their ability to manage the business when you aren't around. Observe the way they work and the different customer situations they are in. As you keep a watchful eye on them, start expanding their responsibilities. It could be something short like watching the floor while you are in a meeting or holding down the fort while you run errands for a couple of hours. As you start giving them some mini-projects, you will be able to gain an idea for their ability to manage the store when you are gone. If they pass the mini tests, you will be able to leave the store with them for days or even a week at a time.

Rely on your instincts to help your evaluate people that you can trust. If you don't have a good feeling about leaving the company with one particular employee, don't do it. Perhaps leave it with another employee that may not have all the necessary skills, but has the people skills to allow the business to keep functioning until you can get back to handle the rest. You might also try trusting the business to two of your employees versus one. This is a great way to make sure both employees will stay honest as they will be checking up on one another.

Always have some clear disciplinary rules to present to your employees. These rules should inform them of what will happen to them if they do not uphold the business standards and if they are caught doing anything inappropriate during the time when you are away.

Training employees into a skilled staff

When college students are hired to work for Disneyland and Disneyworld, they spend about 6 weeks in training, only to work for 8 weeks out of the summer. The reason why Disney invests so much time and money into training their employees is because they want their employees to memorize every aspect of their job. This way they will be able to thoroughly help the people that come to visit Disneyland and Disneyworld and the entire business can run smoothly.

]]> Most employers only spend 2 weeks or less on the training of their employees. If Disney invests 6 weeks of training for 8 weeks of work, don't you think you should start investing more time and money into your training program? When you spend time training employees, it will make it 10 times easier for them to perform their job responsibilities. They will not become frustrated with their work because they don't know where something is or where to find the answer to it.

Spending time on the retraining of employees is an important way to keep your business running smoothly and effectively. To find out if you are spending too little or too much time on training is to look at a few of the warning signs that indicate it:

High turnover rate

Employees that do not show initiative

Simple customer complaints that are sent to managers because employees don't know how to handle them

Staff members that are disagreeing often or spend a lot of time debating with one another

Managers taking on a higher workload because they cannot trust employees to handle it

Difficulty finding new staff members

Slow or no expansion

If you have any of these tell-tell signs, it's a big indicator that your training procedures need some revamping. A big part of training employees is teaching them how to be confident in their abilities. Monitoring their work and providing them with feedback is a simple way to boost their self-confidence in the workplace. Fair compensation and manageable workloads are another simple way to reduce employee turnover.

As a manager, it is your responsibility to be available to your employees. You must be available to answer questions that they have and you need to observe them and provide constructive criticism. This will help them learn how they can perform their job and to find ways to become a better employee. The other benefit of providing them with feedback is that it will teach them that you are watching them and you are noticing what they do. A manager that is present and actively involved in the day-to-day operations of a business will be respected by his/her employees.

Create a training manual to teach the employees the basics of the company. Teaching them about the background of the products will help them to become invested in the business. You don't need to spend a ton of time on the basics of the company, just enough so the customers know why you are in business and why you have created those products you sell. After you teach the basics, take the employees out into the office and start having actual interaction with customers and different situations they will be involved in. Do this on the first day of training so the employees can gain first-hand experience with their job. Once they see a little bit of what they will do, go into the formal training which may include computer work and phone work.

Any time there is a problem with the company, the problem often lies with the employees. If you can figure out how to fix the employees, you will have an easier time building the organization and moving it into the future.

Tips for using conflict resolution in the workplace

No matter who you are, you have faced some kind of conflict in the workplace, whether it is a co-worker who drives you insane or a manager's who style you do not particularly care for. Facing these types of conflict is a normal part of life, but that doesn't mean we should ignore them. If you ignore even the little conflicts in the workplace employee morale can go down, which can ultimately affect production and performance.

]]> Here are some tips that you can follow for using conflict resolution in the workplace.

Tip one:
Always make sure that you stay calm, no matter what is going on. If you are the other, party involved in a conflict or if you are the neutral third party, it is critical for you to stay calm when dealing with the conflict. Staying calm can help keep your anger or irritation under control, which can help to keep the other person from going on the defense.

Tip two:
When practicing conflict resolution you want to make sure you choose a good time and place for conflict resolution. The place that you choose needs to be free from distractions and interruptions, no meetings or heavy foot traffic should be in the location that you choose. You want a quiet place that is free from interruptions so that the parties involved in conflict resolution do not feel rushed or at a disadvantage because they have to go somewhere at a set time.

Tip three:
Make sure that the parties who are involved in conflict resolution focus on the problem, rather than on each other. Placing blame on the other person, calling each other names, or even belittling the other person is not going to help solve the conflict it will make it worse. If the parties involved focus on the underlying problem, they can come up with a responsible solution to the problem. To help solve the underlying problem each party is going to have to accept responsibility for their actions that helped lead to the conflict.

Tip four:
Both parties need to really listen to what the other person has to say, even if they don't want to hear it. It is hard to listen to people when you are upset with them, but if you do not listen, you are not going to get any closer to resolving the conflict. To truly listen to another person you have to listen with your ears, body and mind, while they are talking do not think ahead of time about what you are going to say in response to what they are saying. If you are thinking about your response, you will not truly hear them. The best way to help others listen to each other is to allow each person to talk for 10 to 20 minutes without any interruptions.

Tip five:
Once you have heard, what is going on you can start coming up with possible resolutions to the conflict. No matter how silly the idea might be put it out on the table for both parties to evaluate because you just never know what is going to work. Once you have put all of the ideas out there, talk about the pros and cons of each idea to see what resolution is going to work the best, work together to tackle the problem, rather than continuing the conflict.

Tip six:
Once you have agreed upon a resolution you need to commit to it, if you are not committed to making it work, chances are it will not work. Keep in mind that the problem is not going to be solved overnight; it is going to take hard work and dedication for the resolution to start showing progress. You should also expect some setbacks because that is a normal part of the resolution process.

The value of an expression of interest letter

If you have been in business for awhile, one document you should be familiar with is the expression of interest letter. An expression of interest letter simply introduces your business to other companies or investors to tell them why they should be doing business with you. Companies that are looking for financing often use their letters to help take their business to the next level.

]]> Spending time on an expression of interest letter can help you generate more sales or it can be the demise of your company. To get started with an expression of interest letter, follow this basic format:

Upper right corner, your company name and address.
Left side, the date
Left side, the name and address to whom the letter is addressed.
Dear (name),
Center, the title of the document.

First paragraph. Include a mission statement of the company. Why is your company in business? The first paragraph should be able 3-4 sentences long.

Second paragraph. Include the reason why you are interested in working with this company. Under this list a few bullet points that include projects in the works and how working with this company will benefits both of you.

The closing paragraph. Include your gratitude for reading the letter and considering the possibility of working together.

Sincerely, your name typed and handwritten

It should be less than one page, but it should easily fill the entire page. Look up a few template samples so you can see the basic outline of how the expression of interest letter should look.

An expression of interest letter is basically a profile of your company. Be weary about self-congratulating the company as this can cause some potential clients to turn the other way. What you need to say is how you have tackled some important projects in the past and how partnering with this person or company will allow you both to take your businesses to the next level. The expression of interest letter should build your companies reputation and clearly set your company apart from others in the industry. It should compel the business to have a strong desire to answer the letter and work with your business.

Always have a couple people from your office read over the expression of interest letter. When you have multiple people checking it, you can make sure it is not overdone. It should look polished, but it shouldn't excessively boast about the accomplishments of your company. You need to write the letter in the mindset of what is in it for them, not what is in it for you.

The other important thing about writing an expression of interest letter is how quickly it captures the reader's attention and how it engages them. The opening paragraph should be brief and to the point, but it should also hook them in immediately.

The quality of the expression of interest letter will come down to your writing ability. Are you able to capture your audience within the first paragraph or have you lost them? Looking over a few different expression of interest letters will allow you to create a letter that best suits the needs of your business and the needs of the other business.

A great way to check over the quality of your expression of interest letter is to take a look at a few of the expression of interest letters that have been sent to your business. What compelled you to read the letters? Did you respond to any of the letters? The more letters you can look over, the easier it will be for you to develop an expression of interest letter that will help your company move up to the next level.

The basics of risk management

One of the most important job responsibilities of a manager is learning the basics of risk management. Risk management entails a number of things like planning for risk, controlling risk, risk triggers, and risk combination. While most people think specifically of workplace accidents when they talk about risk management, there are other areas of risk management that you may not be familiar with. Risk management also encompasses sales, marketing, and hiring the right employees.

]]> Lets start with some of the basic principles that make up a business, your employees, Without the right employees you will be unable to run a successful business. Employees are in charge of face to face interaction with your customers and they need to be thoroughly trained in order to foster meaningful relationships with your customers. Hiring the right employees in the first place will also save you a ton of time. To hire the right employees, write out several job descriptions for them that clearly explain their role within the company. During the job interview, be sure to ask them every question you can think of that will help you know if they are completely qualified for the job. Find out their weaknesses and other problems that they have had in the past so you know where to begin to train them after you hire them. No employee should be perfect and you should expect some flaws with all of the positive attributes they bring to the company.

Projects are another big part of risk management. Projects refer to not only the individual job responsibilities you have but to the overall group project. Before you assign projects to your employees, you have a responsibility to assess the outcome of the project to determine the risks of it. Can you afford to place as many people on the project as you like? Do you have all the resources you need to fund the project? How long will the project last? Some of the projects you assign to your employees may last only a few months while others will take years to complete.

Risk management also entails working with vendors. How much money are your vendors charging you for your supplies? Working with vendors is a risk because they can quickly cut off your supply to the materials you need to run your business properly. The other thing you need to worry about is the actual cost of the materials. It's important to your business to get continual updates from different vendors to make sure you are getting fair prices on your materials. When you work with the same vendors for several years, they can go one or two ways. One way they can go is to stop offering you good prices. A lot of vendors simply assume that you will remain a client no matter what so they don't have to keep giving you good deals. The other way a vendor can go is to offer you great prices because they know the value of your business. Even though you may be a small business owner, you can still be a driving force for their business as you start to build a solid reputation.

Then of course the biggest part of risk management comes down to your ability to prepare for accidents. Do you have the right type of insurance that will protect your business if one of your employees is injured on the job? What are you doing to prevent workplace accidents from happening? It is important for you to implement some sort of safety regulations if you want to stay in business for the long haul and to bring on good employees.

Teaching leadership skills to managers

Not every manager is a good leader. But to be a great manager, a manager needs to have the leadership skills that can make him or her a great leader.

Start early

Managers have a lot of responsibilities, and one of the important responsibilities is being a leader to the other employees who working for the business. Some businesses choose to hire their managers by giving their very skilled employees or the employees that stand out in their current position a promotion. While these employees may be very capable of handling the responsibilities that come along with being a manager, they may not have the leadership skills that are needed to be the best manager they can be.

]]> Of course even a manager that has had managerial experience elsewhere may still need to have some leadership training to make sure they will be a great leader for the company they currently work for.

Because a manager may not be equipped with the right leadership skills it is essential that the business owner begins right away to train the manager and teach them the leadership skills they will need to be a good manager.

Teaching leadership skills

There is more than one way for a business owner to teach their managers leadership skills. One way is for the business owner to teach the manager themselves. This way does take a lot of time and energy and many business owners do not have the time to teach the leadership skills that need to be taught to their managers.

One of the best ways for a business owner to ensure that their managers are taught the leadership skills they need to know is for them to send them to a leadership training. There are leadership trainings available to small businesses in the community. This can be a great and inexpensive way for a small business to train their manager or managers.

Larger businesses may be able to offer their very own leadership training to their managers. They can set up speakers and teachers who can train the managers and teach them all they need to know about leadership.

What they need to know

For a manager to be a good leader there are many things that they need to know. For example, they need to know how to handle conflicts, especially those that may come up between employees in the workplace, they need to know how to handle stress, how to encourage employees to work hard, how to communicate, and how to help employees work well together, among other things.

Trial period

A business owner should give their managers a trial period. Some managers catch on quickly and are naturally good leadership. But other managers may take a little longer to become good at being a manager. If they are given a little time they may grow accustom to their responsibilities instead of just being overwhelmed, and may blossom into a great leader and manager.

Keep up the leadership education

While teaching a manager what they need to know and do to be a good leader, it is important not to teach the manager once and never teach them again. Not all managers will use all of their leadership skills each day, week, or even month at work and it can be very helpful for them to have a refresher course on what they need to do to be a terrific leader.

A manager can stay keep their leadership skills up-to-date by reading leadership books, periodically attending leadership trainings, and by having a six month or once a year review with the business owner.

Steps to manage a small business

Small business managers have the responsibility of assuming multiple roles. In addition to managing employees, they are also in charge of managing the cash flow, marketing, human resources, and several other things. Learning to manage a small business can be difficult at best, but with hard work you can learn how to become a successful small business manager.

]]> Step # 1 - Time management
With all of the different shoes you need to wear, one of the most important things you need to do is to learn how to manage your time. Have a personal assistant or secretary handle your schedule so they can keep you on target with all of the different meetings and other business functions you need to be involved in. This way you will avoid double bookings, late payments, and other things that can doom your business and your personal success.

Step # 2 - Cash-flow management
One of the most important things a small business manager must be in control of is the cash-flow. Proper cash-flow management will help you avoid falling into problems with over drafting accounts, late payments, missing pay dates, etc. Almost all small business failures can be directly pointed at cash-flow management problems. Hire a bookkeeper to help you stay on top of your accounts so you don't have cash-flow problems. Just make sure you check up with the accounts because it is common for employees to commit fraud when they have a lot of control over finances and no one checks on them.

Step # 3 - Employee trust
In order to successfully manage a small business, you need to gain the trust of your employees. People need to have a reason to follow you and your ideas. Gain their trust by holding yourself to the same standards that you hold them to. This means you need to show up to work on time, avoid taking long breaks, and leaving early. As you set a good example for employees, it will be easier for them to have a strong desire to follow suit.

Gaining their trust also comes from making hard and important business decisions. Listen to their needs and concerns and try to do something about them. Let your employees know that you really do care about them by being active for their part. Try to make their jobs easier by providing them with all of the things they need to perform their job duties like modern equipment.

Another part of gaining your employee's trust comes down to your ability to be there for them as they struggle with personal problems. Let your employees know that your door is always open and you are willing to help them no matter what the problem may be.

Step # 4 - Hire the right employees
Since your employees are in charge of face-to-face interaction with your customers, you need to make sure you are hiring the right people from the get-go. Proper screening and interviewing of potential candidates is the best way to hire the right employees. Talk to a variety of individuals with various skills and talents and try to find someone that has excellent people skills, since customer satisfaction will drive your small business.

Step # 5 - Train right
Finally, the last thing you can do to make sure you will become a successful manager is to take the time to train your employees. Once you hire the right people for the job, you need to spend enough time with them to teach them everything they could possibly need in order to do their job. When employees are not trained properly they become frustrated and many of them lose their drive to work hard and to help the company become successful.

Methods used for crisis management

In any organization, the only method of crisis management that is used to deal with a crisis is a crisis management plan. Being that this is the only method used to handle a variety of crises it is important that you create an excellent crisis management plan.

The crisis management plan that you create for your business is going to be used to ensure that no matter what crisis your business faces your business is still going to be able to continue with its normal operations during the crisis period. Since your business will need to operate as normal as possible during the duration of the crisis it is important that you create the plan ahead of time and prioritize the business functions, the most important business functions should be identified first that way they can be handled first.

]]> Here is a look at the things that every crisis management plan should include.

Number one: Overview
The first section of your crisis management plan is going to need to include an overview of your crisis management plan. In the overview, you are going to want to include information on the plan's mandate. You will also need to include a brief description of the objectives of the plan. You don't need to include much detail in this section because it is an overview, the details will come later on in the plan.

Number two: Description
The second section of the crisis management plan needs to include a description of the structure, which is what is going to be used to support your business through the crisis period. You will also need to include details on the roles and responsibilities of the employees during the crisis period. Any basic operating principles that apply to the crisis management organization also need to be included in this section of the plan so that it is clear to others how the business will be run during the crisis.

Number three: Plan
This is where you are going to detail the actual plan that your business is going to adopt during a crisis. For example, if the power goes out how will you handle customer sales for the duration of the power outage. One option is to have a backup generator, another is to ring up the sales by hand, which will take longer but will be better than sending everybody home. You also need to include any information relating to your budget for implementing the crisis management plan that you have in place.

Number four: Recovery strategies
This section needs to address any recovery strategies that your business has in place, you will want to have recovery strategies in place for all likely failure scenarios. This is going to include critical business functions, external entities, software, and equipment. You should also include any contingency plans that our business has in place in this section.

Number five: Communications strategy
This is where you will need t detail any information related to how specific members of the organizations will talk with each other during the event of a crisis. For example, back up communication devices in case the phone lines go down. This section needs to include information on project members, executives, employees, and external parties.

Just remember that when creating a crisis management plan for your business that different types of crises can affect your business differently. For example, a natural disaster can affect your business differently than a technological crisis because an earthquake can knock out power lines or snow can force the closure of roads leading to your business. A technological crisis can usually be fixed with a few hours, such as a computer crashing or even a server going down.

Managing your employees properly to prevent fraud

While you may work hard to hire the best employees out there, some employees have a nasty habit known as committing fraud against their employers. Fraud actually accounts for up to 7% of lost income for business. Fraud is more than taking a pen or a notepad; it often includes giving away free products to friends and stealing money from the company. Preventing fraud is one of the most important things an employer can do in order to prevent losing money and weeding out the bad employees. Here are some simple tips to follow that will help you manage your employees properly to prevent fraud:

]]> Tip # 1 - Check-up
One of the most important things you can do to prevent fraud is to check-up on your employees work. If you don't want to personally check-up on each person, you can always have your employees check-up on each other. When you only have one person over something important like your bank accounts, the temptation to start stealing money from those accounts is pretty easy. When you train employees to assume multiple roles, it helps to keep other employees accountable so they don't try to steal from your business.

Tip # 2 - Honesty
A great way to prevent fraud is to make sure your employees see hat you are an honest person. Showing your employees that you are a trustworthy person will help them learn that they should not be dishonest in their dealings with the company.

Tip # 3 - Investigate behavior
If you suspect one of your employees of fraud, investigate them. Each time you notice any type of suspicious behavior with any employee, you should always do a quiet investigation or you should hire an external investigator to come in and check-up on the employee. Having routine investigations done on your employees will help them stay honest and they will know they cannot get away with fraud because they will be caught.

Tip # 4 - Manage fairly
As a manager, you have a large responsibility to your employees. The way you manage them will determine how they will act as employees. If you aren't being fair or you are favoring employees, it can be easy for people to become disgruntled and fraudulent. Some things you can do to show fairness include providing your employees with good benefits, adequate compensation, recognition of hard work, and a team-building environment will all help employees avoid committing fraud. People want to work for a company and a manager that recognizes their hard work and wants them to be successful. Providing them with feedback about their job performance will help them learn how to become better employees and it will go a long way in your desire to be a fair manager.

Tip # 5 - Proper screening
One of the easiest ways to prevent fraud is to make sure you have a thorough screening process for each applicant before you hire them. If they have left other companies, find out why they left, did they get fired for fraud? You want to do a thorough investigation of the person so you know who you are really hiring before you just offer them the position.

Not only is it important for companies to pay attention to their employees, they also need to pay attention to their contractors and suppliers. If you aren't checking your inventory often, you could be losing thousands of dollars a year because the suppliers are shorting you. Always look over every shipment before you sign the checklist so you know that you are truly getting your money's worth. Unfortunately dishonesty does exist and employers cannot be to careful when they are dealing with outsiders.

Managing sales on a tight budget

Managing a business can be stressful and frustrating, but it can become tricky and complicated as you need to deal with a tight budget and still have the pressure of getting sales to sustain the business. Sales directly impact your salaries, inventory and literally every business related activity you can think of. When you are on a tight budget, your sales need to be changed around so you can still get the word out there about your products but for a low cost. The staff will rely on the different sales promotions you offer for direction as your distribution team work is completely derived from sales.

]]> Part of managing sales starts with your ability to forecast future sales. To perform correct sales forecasting, there are a few things you need to look upon:

Current economic conditions

Prior years sales

Back orders

Customer satisfaction ratings

Industry trends

Competitors marketing strategies

Seasonal promotions

New product launches

As you gather all of this information and organize it, you can do a good analysis of it to find out what sales promotions have been working and which ones need to be dropped. A lot of managers use the past numbers to base their future sales predictions. While this is a great tactic for good economic conditions, it can be the downfall of an organization during times of peril. When times are tough, you have to start cutting back on your sales budget. There are a few primary areas where you can focus to cut down on the amount of money you spend on sales:

1. Raw materials
2. Vendors
3. Shipping
4. Advertising

Starting with your raw goods, how much are your paying per item and is your mark-up covering the costs? There are a number of ways to reduce your raw materials costs, one way is to try and combine things like your printed materials. Combo runs will save you per item, although you may have to wait a little while for it to be delivered. However, the savings is usually far worth the investment.

Next, talk to your existing vendors about reducing your prices. Talk to multiple vendors to get quotes. This is a great way to make sure your vendors are remaining honest with you and it's a simple way to let them know you are going to work with the company that can offer you the lowest price. If you have worked with the same vendor for several years, they can easily become lazy and they don't continue to give you the best deal out there. Obtaining quotes from other people shows them that you are committed to staying competitive and that you mean business.

Third, take a look at your shipping options. How much are you paying your shipping companies to send out your packages? Instead of using UPS and FedEx consider looking into using the US Postal Service. Their shipping options are normally cheaper and they usually offer the same services as FedEx and UPS.

Fourth, advertising is a big part of your sales budget and it's the perfect place to cut down the budget if necessary. Take a look at the campaigns you are running and how much you are spending on them. Talk to some of your partners to find out if you can split advertising costs by combining your campaign. You might also try online marketing campaigns versus printed campaigns. Once you successfully learn how to do SEO marketing, you can save yourself a ton of money and still get the exposure you need for your small business.

Managing problems

Business managers come across a variety of different problems. Learning how to find solutions to the various problems can be overwhelming at times, but with patience and dedication you can learn how to bust through any brick wall that stands in your place. Here are some simple steps to follow that will help you get you on the fast track to managing problems:

]]> Step # 1 - Identify the problem
The first step you need to take is to learn how to identify the problems that exist. This is the most critical step as you need to take the time to evaluate the different stages in the company where problems are occurring. Talking to your employees to find out if they are having challenges is a great way to find out if there are problems that exist within the company. Once you know where the problems are, you can then take steps toward fixing them. Keep the description of the problems short and simple. When you ask employees what types of problems they see, most of them will give a detailed description of them. Keeping them short is the best thing you can do in order to quickly solve them.

Step # 2 - What is causing problems
Just identifying problems isn't going to be enough; you also need to research the problem to its full extent to find out what is truly causing the problem. It is common to make a quick assumption of what the problem is and then jump to conclusions about solving them without truly researching the problem to find out what the root cause is. When you spend time actually looking into the root of the problem, you can come up with solutions that will fix it for the long haul, not just a short-term solution.

Step # 3 - List solutions
Once a problem has been identified, you need to make a list of all the solutions for it. Do not just write up one solution because it may not be the best solution. We are often quick to jump to solutions and then pick the first one that comes to mind instead of considering all the possible solutions. When you take time to actually write out a list, you will have several different things to brainstorm and test to see if they are truly effective.

Step # 4 - Brainstorm with others
Just because you have a list of solutions doesn't mean you have solved the problem. Talk to other managers about the problem and the solutions you have come up with. A good brainstorming session is a simple way to make sure you have chosen the best possible solution out there.

Step # 5 - Develop a plan
Now that you have gone through the list of all the solutions to solve your problem, it is time to develop a plan to implement so the problem will become history. Hold a staff meeting to introduce your solution to your staff and then talk about your plan of action. You need to make sure everyone is completely supportive of your plan in order for it to work effectively and to stop any future problems from occurring.

Tip # 6 - Stick to it
Once you have a plan and it has been implemented, you need to stick to your guns. If you second-guess your decisions, your employees will second guess them as well and you can easily lose the trust and respect that has taken so long for you to build. Solving problems isn't going to happen overnight and it can take some time before you will see results from it.