Top 5 Tips for Dealing With Holidays in a Small Business

Thanks to SME Blogs for these reminders. While they meant "holidays" in the vacation sense- this info is solid at this time of year too. Whether your team will be shuffling religious holiday absences or vacation days... It's coming!

Top 5 Tips posts from the SME Blog are always full of hints and tips for small, home & micro business owners.

1. Don’t let it come as a shock to you when an employee is off on holiday. If you are unaware of their coming absence until the day they go away, there is most likely something wrong with your system.

2. Remember that ... a lot of your customers will also be away. Try to take the possible payment slump into account when planning ahead.

3. Always make sure that there is someone who is available who knows how (and is authorised) to perform specific tasks, such as making payments to suppliers.

4. Ask staff if they mind handing over access to their emails to someone else for the time they are away – this will help avoid nasty surprises or annoying your clients by not responding.

5. Train staff to be flexible in their job roles so that when someone goes away they can easily cover some of the work of the person on holiday.

Thanks SME Blogs for the reminders!!!!

Assessing Personnel Needs - Tips

As payrolls have been trimmed and companies have been forced to run lean, many have tried to increase productivity to nearly unrealistic levels. As things start to emerge in what may be a "new normal" rather than lightening-quick recovery, we look at this cross-post from Bolts of Lightening in OED's Community site.

The small business owner should base the firm's personnel policies on explicit, well-proven principles. Small businesses that follow these principles have higher performance and growth rates than those that do not follow them. The most important of these principles are

• All positions should be filled with people who are both willing and able to do the job.
• The more accurate and realistic the specifications of and skill requirements for each job, the more likely it is that workers will be matched to the right job and, therefore, be more competent in that job.
• A written job description and definition are the keys to communicating job expectations to people. Do the best job you can! is terrible job guidance.
• Employees chosen on the basis of the best person available are more effective than those chosen on the basis of friendship or expediency.
• If specific job expectations are clearly spelled out, and if performance appraisals are based on these expectations, performance is higher. Also, employee training results in higher performance if it is based on measurable learning objectives.

The first step in assessing personnel needs for the small business is to conduct an audit of future personnel needs. Ask yourself:

• Can the workload you visualize be accomplished by the present work force? 
• Will more or fewer employees be needed? Consider seasonal patterns of demand and probable turnover rates.
• Can any jobs be eliminated to free people for other work?
• What balance of full-time or part-time, temporary or permanent, hourly or salaried personnel do you need?
• What does the labor supply look like in the future?
• Will you be able to fill some of the jobs you've identified? How easily?
• What qualifications are needed in your personnel?

Develop a method to forecast labor demand based on your answers to these questions. Once your needs are estimated, determine strategies to meet them. Be wary of tightening payroll to the point you eliminate any chance for growth.

Small Business Tech: Managining Mobile & Talking Tablets

The explosion of mobile devices have been a god-send to many small businesses. Employees acn stay in touch when working off site. Telecommuting gets a boost leading to space savings for many firms. Improving efficiency serving clients can readily turn into a sale you may have missed or an upsell simply due to having more info available on the fly.

What this boom of technology lacks in wiring to workstations is often made up in strings for small business owners. Employees may use the devices in ways you did not intend. (Are they keeping connected or Angry Birds leaders?) There also can be a slew of headaches trying to find someone to manage all connectvity so these items actually interface with your current network the first time and then every time there after. Any one who's ever learned of a Windows patch or iPhone software upgrade 1/2 thru a last minute synch knows the things are constantly receiving updates. Multiply that by 2-3 devices per user (smartphone, tablet and/or laptop) and the number of users and you see the time drain.

There is some excellent advice over on PCWorld.com for mobile strategies. They cover some great policy guidelines and plain language buying guides for hardware AND apps. Check it out!

For more small business ideas and articles, visit the OED Community.

Leveraging your natural talents for success.

John Walters of 1-2-1 Business Consulting urges small business owners to leverage their natural talents, and to more effectively leverage the talents of others for greater success.

As a small business owner you face many challenges including managing the “if I don’t do it, it won’t get done” syndrome.

Of course it’s true that as a small business owner you have to take on many diverse tasks in order to become successful, at least in the early stages, from Marketing, Order taking, Production, Invoicing, Accounting and more.

However, I want to challenge you to think a little more about whether you do in fact have to do everything for yourself.  Is there a better way? Can you leverage your skills to be more effective?

Let’s say that you encounter a minor plumbing problem in your home.  Could you tackle it? Perhaps, but the plumber armed with the appropriate tools can do the job much more efficiently, and so it is with many tasks.
You may be saying, so what, I can’t afford to engage specialists every time I need a minor repair or a small job performing within the home or the business. Well, guess what, neither can the other small business owners that you come in to contact with every day.

The thing is that we are all blessed with different skills, meaning that we perform some tasks better than others, and we all have things to do in the business that we would prefer not to do, therein lies the opportunity.
My message is that you should look for potential opportunities to work together with other small businesses in order to maximize your respective talents for mutual benefit.

Let’s suppose that you are a natural at Marketing, but you loathe dealing with the administration aspects of the business.  Perhaps you know another business owner who really struggles with marketing, but is much more comfortable with bookkeeping etc.  Is there an opportunity to use your respective talents to help each other out and thereby become more productive?



Yes, I’m referring to a form of bartering, which has been around forever, and can be an excellent way to leverage your skills in order to be more effective.  And, so the next time you are thinking “if I don’t do it, it won’t get done, I want you to stop and ask yourself:

1. Do I know someone that could perform this task more efficiently?
2. Is there something that I could do for them instead?
3. Is there an opportunity to barter for mutual benefit?

Good luck.

Implementing the above will certainly help to improve your business.  Should you need additional help you should contact “121″.  We have the tools, proven methodologies and experience and we are there to help you.

Find more scheduling and efficiency strategies in OED's Online Community, and via special events located at OEDGlobal.org.

How Do You Prevent Summer Slack Off?

With Memorial Day upon us and some great temps in the forecast, we find ourselves looking at the productivity drain that can also hit small businesses this time of year. From vacations to employees who seem to get sick every time it's sunny and 85degrees on a Friday, things can easily slip. Perhaps you're even guilty yourself of slipping out a little early on Friday. Or Thursday. Well that is a perk of being your own boss, right?

The challenge is that in this economy, every shred of productivity matters. As Small Business turns the corner to recovery, there's really not a lot of margin for waste. Reduced staffing volumes have also added a strain to companies heading into vacation season. So what's your biggest concern with summer here (mentally if not seasoanlly)? What steps will you take to make sure you get time to enjoy your friends and family as much as your employees may see theirs? We'd love to hear feedback on your summer outlook. Share with us here, on LinkedIn or tweet us!

Happy Memorial Day, and thank you to the men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms!