Managing your small business

A small business owner is responsible for wearing several different hats. They are responsible for running the day-to-day operations of the business and they also need to establish policies and operating procedures. Employees must look the business manager as the leader of the company. Here are some tips that can help you properly manage your small business:

Tip # 1 - Set the tone
Business managers are responsible for setting the tone of the business. If you come into work with a sour attitude, it will reflect to your employees and it will make it hard for them to focus on their day-to-day tasks. Ruling with an iron fist will also hurt your employee morale and decrease your ability to run a successful business. A manger must have respect for each of their employees. Be careful about critiquing them in front of their co-workers, this can cause resentment. Call them into your office and talk to them about some things they can work on.

Another important thing business managers must be careful about is the way they work. Do you take long lunches often? How many times do you arrive late and leave early? While it is nice to set your own hours and work for yourself, employees will resent you if you are constantly leaving them behind to run the office while you go home to enjoy an early dinner. If you are doing this, your employees may start to do this too and they will start showing up late for work or leaving early. Watch your behavior and be a good example for your employees to follow.

This also comes down to taking too much time off work. While it may be nice to take a lot of vacations, it can become frustrating for your employees if you are always away. Be careful about how much time you take off and be understanding when your employees want to take time off work.

Tip # 2 - Employees
Happy employees are more productive and they also cause sales to increase through their interactions with the customers. Mangers need to watch their employees and their behavior with customers and other employees. If you catch an employee being dishonest, talk to them about it. Try hard to establish a trustworthy working environment. One way to prevent dishonesty is to hire the right employees to start with. Always do a background check on your employees and talk to their references and past employers. If their past employers have any sign of a red flag, move onto the next applicant.

Find ways to make your employees feel appreciated. This can come from doing simple things like saying "please" and "thank-you" to giving them more work if they do not feel challenged. Employees can quickly lose focus of their job if they are fast workers and complete their tasks early. Look for ways to increase their workload if they are fast workers and they need challenges. Always know your employees limits. It can be easy to assign too much work to them and cause them to become overwhelmed and stressed. Hold quarterly evaluations to find out how your employees are doing and to find out if they are satisfied with their jobs.

Tip # 3 - Admit mistakes
When it comes to managing your small business, you need to have enough gumption to admit when you are wrong. If you try a particular marketing strategy and it fails, admit you were wrong and move forward. A good manger should never lie to their staff members or look for ways to place the blame elsewhere. People will respect you more for owning up to your mistakes. Instead of dwelling on your mistakes, learn from them and have an action plan for what you need to do next.