Managing Your Home-Based Business
by Phil Hanson
No business survives for long if it lacks competent management. If the abilities to keep and organize business records, prioritize work, delegate responsibilities, carry out tasks, make informed business decisions, and provide customer support and services aren’t part of your business acumen, you’ll either need to learn these skills or hire employees or independent contractors who already have them.
As owner/operator/employee of a one-person home-based business, you’ll quickly learn that self-management is just as important a skill as managing others. Without direction, even the smallest company tends to wander aimlessly.
Managing time in productive ways conserves resources as it maximizes profits. Organize your work so that it progresses smoothly and logically, with a minimum of interruptions. If your business requires frequent automobile travel, consolidate trips, where possible, to save time and fuel. Every wasted motion has a dollar sign attached to it.
Establish policies that protect yourself, your business and your customers. You should have sound policies in place that address such issues as job performance and completion, terms of sale, terms of payment, terms of service, quality assurance, warranties, guarantees, refunds, and anything else applicable to your particular business situation. If you hire employees or sub-contractors, your policies regarding them should be fair while holding them to the same high standards you’ve set for yourself.
Effective management is the lubricant that keeps the machinery of business running smoothly. Efficient management makes for a smoother-running business, which in turn leads to greater productivity and profitability.
And profitability, as you know, is the primary key to long-term business survival.
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