Archive for the ‘Management’ Category

October 30th, 2011  Posted at   Management
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Action plans are used to implement business strategy so that everyone within the business is on the same page. Though the best business plans can be written based on well developed strategies, if these plans do not include specific actions that are to be taken along with an outline that describes how this will be accomplished, they will remain simply paper descriptions. The actions to be taken must be clearly spelled out so they will be easy to understand and implement.

When it comes to building action plans, certain steps are written into the mix that detail the actions to be taken and just how they will occur. These steps will then be used by business managers to serve as their guide. It will walk them through the various processes involved and demonstrate a clear view of the end result or goals so that they will be visible every step of the way. It is always important when working with others or in teams, for everyone to know and understand the common goal, so that everyone involved is working toward the same thing.

Building a strategy takes time. There are many pieces of information that must first be gathered before a strategy can ever be worked out. Once these pieces of information are available and can be viewed and analyzed, they can be used to form a well-thought out strategy.

Strategic plans can be used in conjunction with one another to perform certain tasks. Strategic plans are broad indications of how a company plans to achieve their mission. This plan is only an indication of the company’s intentions when it has not yet been put into action. On paper, they look great, but in reality, nothing has occurred that has facilitated the necessary steps that would show any progress. What is needed here is an action plan; an important piece of the puzzle for any successful business.

This type of plan will result in the actions that are the specifics that will really make strategic plan a reality. The better business managers plan, the better off they’ll be in the long run. It’s all about putting the words that are on the paper into action. (more…)

October 29th, 2011  Posted at   Management
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NASA engineers are developing the James Webb Telescope and are taking attention to detail to an unimaginable level. This new Cosmic telescope, the latest advance in space exploration, is made up of 18 segments. these segments form the mirror for the telescope. To assure operation in the harshest environment of outer space, the mirror’s segments must not warp in the -415 degree Fahrenheit temps. So how does the relate to effective management?

Think about this engineering phenomenon. The telescope’s critical mirror segments “must hold their shape against warping to within a 25 billionth of a meter!” If not, the telescope will not operate properly in the frigid conditions of outer space. It’s very hard to conceive of a 25 billionth, let alone resisting warping at those extremes.

In business, and in effective management, very few projects or assignments require this exacting a standard. Most well conceived project plans do require a very clear detailed layout covering all the important steps and actions. Effective delegation of project assignments and execution depend on this specific plan.

Few organizations today are achieving anywhere near their full potential. A limited number could be described as representing a high-productivity team. There are many skills and abilities that a manager requires to build and lead a high-performance team. One such core competency is project planning leading to execution management.

The best managers have something near a passion for building a truly high-performance Plan of Action.

From critical complex projects to the important day-to-day work of their business unit, assignments must be well conceived and tightly aligned to bring about the desired results.

What if managers approached their thinking around the Project Plans like NASA engineers designing and building the James Webb Telescope? Once the manager has completed the initial draft of their Project Plan, the manager would then challenge themselves and their key people with this question: “Suppose the execution of our business plan, in order to reach the objective and operate properly, had to meet tolerances withing a 25 billionth of a meter? What would our Project Plan have to look like and what would we need to do differently to execute at this level”? (more…)

October 15th, 2011  Posted at   Management
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We all like that idea of starting our own business. To be our own boss, work when and how we choose, be inventive, get satisfaction form our own work efforts. We all like to do that.

But there are only two ways of getting started in your own business.

Firstly, you can buy an established one which means you need the purchase price or be able to borrow it.

Or secondly, you can start it yourself. But you still need enough money to pay for start-up costs and ongoing running costs of the business until enough income is generated to make consistent profits.

In all cases you need capital funds. It’s easy to go broke and it’s probably the main reason why businesses fail, namely insufficient capital funds.

The best way to preserve your capital funds and make it less likely to fail is to use services which cost nothing or cost as little as possible.

That’s where free online business software and tools come in!

These can literally save your business thousand of dollars if you learn how to develop and use them correctly. And the internet is full of online freebies readily adaptable for your business.

I will cover some of them here that I have advised my accounting clients to use as an alternative to more costly alternatives. These have helped their businesses grow and flourish.

A business plan should be prepared for any business you start. It sets down on paper how and in what direction it’s going to take.

This is the hardest part of starting a business and it’s up to you how much detail you want to document. It can be one page to a hundred page plan. I think for most purposes the shorter the business plan the better.

Free templates and software to prepare a business plan are available online, either from government funded organisations like the SBA. Go to their website and search business plans.

Or from other online sites like Bizgym.

Or keep it simple and write down a “One Page Business Plan”. Template samples can be found online by Googling One Page Business Plan.

Computer security is next and one of the most popular anti virus programs that offer a free version is AVG.

Using this and being aware of spam and websites that contain viruses will save you a lot of lost data and effort in the future.

Your business must also be compliant with taxation laws. For that you must record all your business transactions and keep all source documentation to substantiate the transactions.

So you’ll need an accounting package. This not only keeps the Taxman happy but it’s an invaluable record of your business’s activity and can supply you with reports you can view to see how your business is performing.

Wave Accounting is one of the best free online ones I have seen and though American it can be adapted for other countries that have GST or VAT taxes.

The best thing about it is it’s online, so you can access it from any computer you like and all data is stored online.

For an Australian version of a free accounting software package you can try ‘Freeaccountingsoftware’ site, and it’s called Free Accounting -

Marketing is at the very crux of any business success, so you have to start advertising and make yourself known to everyone as soon as you can.

A website is a requirement for any business these days, so it’s the first marketing effort you try. The cheapest way to create a website online is to build it yourself.

This can be done with a website builder. The easiest, quickest approach here is to get an internet service provider that has a good website builder wizard included as part of the package so you can start building for free.

The best option I have come across is to use an internet service provider like Bravenet. Their hosting cost is $99 per annum and the website builder wizard they provide free is the easiest one I have ever used.

Other free ways to market your business is to sign up to website business directories that offer a free listing. Sign up for as many as you can and if you find one that gets you clients or customers you can even start paying to upgrade for a better listing position.

Some of the well know online business directories are:
Gumtree
Hotfrog
TrueLocal
AussiesRus
Free-Business-Direcories.com
AussieWeb
Aussie Pages
Our Patch
Shopseek.com.au
13Find
Dlook

Even sign up for your free listing in your Yellow Pages and White Pages as they also list your business online now. (more…)


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