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Are you planning to take on managing a new or existing business? Do you have the skills to run a business? Have you ever been in front of deciding the future of all your employees, customers, and others? These are very important questions to answer, especially when the opportunity comes knocking on the door for a managing position. Many people find themselves trying to guess the best alternative when several situations arise without an action plan or contingency plan.
This article is about some of my experiences while being part of small, medium, and large businesses over my professional life. Some of you will find it interesting how a blog could teach anything about managing a business… Well, it can, and if you decide to read the full article, you might learn a few things.
In general, the following tasks must be done regardless of the industry and size of the business:
- Review your local laws for taxes, permits, registrations, and other legal paperwork
necessary for compliance. Most businesses fail even without getting the first customer because there is a lack of knowledge of what must be done with the local, state, and/or federal government. Remember, it does not matter how great the business is; if there is no compliance, you will eventually be either shut down or pay greatly for your noncompliance. A good manager will either get the knowledge or hire certain consultants to assist with these tasks.
Word of wisdom—If you are new to a job and this is a new industry for you, you can hire experts to assist you in evaluating the company’s compliance status. In this way, you can review all the areas, get up to speed, and learn any matter that you might not know. Remember, this is for your benefit; thus, do not use it for a long period since it could backfire. you want to know, but at the same time you have to do your homework of getting to know the industry that you are in.
- Interview your employees and your peers—there is a wealth of knowledge waiting to be
discovered within your employees and peers. I have found several times that many of the responses and ideas given by employees are a great way to start a managing career. Important—always give credit for the ideas. Make sure that people feel that you take into consideration their contribution. Many managers feel that talking to employees and peers shows weakness or inability to perform supervisory tasks. That is wrong; a nice, respectful conversation about what the company needs to improve as a whole, employee morale, and customer satisfaction, among several others, is the cornerstone of long-term success.
Word of wisdom: It does not matter how many years you have as a manager or supervisor; your employees know more than you think or perceive in the areas that they are involved in. Therefore, talk to them, ask questions, and become interested in what can be done to improve; there is nothing wrong with that. Let’s be very simple: if you can’t talk to your team, then who are you going to talk to?
- Get to know your suppliers— Arrange meetings to either visit or video-conference with your
suppliers to ascertain business agreements and to seek new cost-saving strategies that could be mutually beneficial. Sometimes, your suppliers are part of major cooperatives that can lower
shipping costs or improve material or inventory logistics. Many suppliers do have information regarding other potential clients or business partners that could benefit from your services or goods and can lead to new business.
- Meet personally with your banker— Your banker is one of the most important persons
that you must keep in touch with and become partners in this new endeavor. Familiarize yourself with credit arrangements, interest rates, checking, savings, investment accounts, and other services
that your company might need to keep the business moving forward. There are several services that are provided by financial institutions; thus, you must know them and if it is possible
Negotiate to obtain the best rates for your business. Remember that financial institutions want
your business, and you have to let them know that they have to earn it.
- Check in with your clients— Customers have the final say in several matters about your business. There is no way you can become a better manager if you can’t satisfy your customers’ needs and
expectations. Clients are the buyers of your services or products; thus, you want them to be happy and eager to keep spending their money on your business. There are many ways to obtain your clients’ feedback, such as social media, email, surveys, webpage live chats, and telephone calls.
Word of wisdom: On your company webpage, create a section for clients’ opinions and how the company resolved or improved based on the opinions given. People will feel more interested in providing their observations or opinions if they sense that the company takes action and listens to their feedback.
Do you have different ideas on how to manage a business? Want to share your point of view? Please share a comment; I will be glad to know your opinion.