Small Business

Systems to suceed

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by Peter Switzer

Recently I was talking to a packed house of Tupperware salespeople in Adelaide for their national conference and it got me thinking about what home-based businesses (HBB) should be checking-off to ensure they do business professionally.

The rise of HBB

There was a time when HBB were embarrassed about their location of work, because they didn’t look like ‘proper businesses’. However, the age of the computer and the Internet has helped change that and big business’ inclination towards outsourcing (to save on the costs of having employees) has also helped raise the status of HBB. Now we have engineers, architects, business consultants, architects, journalists and other creative businesses taking a big part of the HBB footprint. The official numbers say there are 540,000 HBB but part-time operators aren’t counted. This is a much bigger sector and more important sector than officials recognise.

Enter the coach

So what are some of the important messages for HBB to either look and be impressive, or to grow their operation? Let’s start like a football coach and work on the big issue of getting motivated.

The following list sums up the key drivers for making business happen:

Passion
Focus
Planning
Professionalism
Systems.

KAK knows her stuff

I once saw Channel Nine’s Kerry Anne-Kennerly open a small business event and I wasn’t expecting her to get it right, given her background, but she absolutely nailed it by starting off on how most successful businesses she has encountered are passionate with a capital ‘P’.

In a way, her own success is linked to passion and a healthy respect of the ‘F-word’ — focus.

Not only do you have to get passionate, you have to be focused. Focus makes you concentrate on the main things that will make or break your business. Focus doesn’t let you accept second-rate alternatives. You aim for the best every time.

A healthy example

I recently read about Dave Scott, the champion winner of the Hawaii Iron Man on six occasions. At one stage he was pedaling 120 km a day, running more than 40 kms and swimming 20 kms. But that’s not all. He also washed out his cottage cheese to reduce its fat! He thought body fat was his enemy as he competed against younger athletes, so he went that extra mile, or miles to win.

Plan to plan

Good coaches plan their strategy for training, playing and winning. Great businesses do the exact same thing. Do a business plan. Do a marketing plan. Plan planning meetings. A coach does a new plan for each new team his team encounters and good businesses are always setting new marks to jump over and planning pushed them to do it.

Scott’s punishment plan was a direct consequence of doing a SWOT analysis of his strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. These should be done in business as often as is practical.

Professionalism counts

Next promise yourself to become more professional as the days go by. Everything from your office, your dress, your phone policy, your marketing, your customer service, your bookkeeping and your planning all need to be benchmarked off the professional standards of big business. If you have those goals and you achieve them then big business will be happy to do business with you.

Great sporting teams do SWOT analyses all of the time to ensure improvement. Coaches know if everyone in their team is a professional they will reduce their mistake rates and lift the chances of winning, regularly.

Finally…

Become a systems freak. List the headaches, problems, and frustrations in your business and then rank them from most serious to least important. Day-by-day devise systems to get rid of the efficiency killer, customer disappointer and the enthusiasm robber.

Once problems are beaten by a system you make your business as close as possible to a problem-free business. Doesn’t that sound good? And not only will you like doing business in your business, but others will also like doing business with your business.

Other handy tips

Other more practical hints to make your business more professional include:

Manage your cash in and out wisely — plan this too.
Search for a great accountant — don’t tolerate duds.
Make sure you have all of the right insurance — home-based businesses should tell their insurer that they are conducting a business at home.
Get out of the house and network at business breakfasts, etc.
Take your cards wherever you go and talk about your business.
Use email to contact people all of the time.
Have a ‘to-do’ list to make sure you remember to enact great ideas and to ensure you don’t let anyone down.
Have a ‘don’t’ list — work out what you do that you shouldn’t and keep reminding yourself of what you don’t want to do. For example, if you talk too much and don’t listen, then put “Don’t talk so much!” on your list.
Finally meet your obligations such as tax and exceed your own expectations.

That takes focus. Just think about Dave Scott washing out his cottage cheese!

Work on your business, not in it. To learn how, book a complimentary business assessment today with a Switzer Business Coach.

Important information: This content has been prepared without taking account of the objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular individual. It does not constitute formal advice. For this reason, any individual should, before acting, consider the appropriateness of the information, having regard to the individual’s objectives, financial situation and needs and, if necessary, seek appropriate professional advice.

Published on: Thursday, January 21, 2010