Nine Elements for the Conscious Minded Business Owner
You are a conscious-minded business owner and your small business is about you fulfilling your purpose.
A business is many things and foremost, a business is you; it doesn't exist without you. Your talent within your industry and the years of work you've put into learning and applying your talent is what makes your business. Conscious-minded business owners (people who believe that running their business is part of their purpose in life) is my niche and the more specific you get about what your niche is, the more likely you will be to naturally pull to you the clients who see that what you offer is of value.
Your business is a series of business systems:
1. Product
2. Customer service
3. Systemic systems
4. Team management
5. Time management
6. Marketing
7. Finance
8. Leadership
9. Forecasting and trends
10. Vision and strategic purpose
Being an entrepreneur doesn't mean you don't or can't have fun. When you embrace that running your business is part of your purpose and doing the systems I've listed is part of that business, you will find that you enjoy running your business. You started in your business because you love the work in that industry but it is hard work.
I recently hired a man to trim the trees at my house. When it was time to pay him he told me not to give him a check because he'd end up misplacing it and I'd eventually have to cancel it and reissue him another check. He told me instead, to wait until the person who handles accounts in his office billed me and then send them the check. His passion, his work was the landscaping, the beautifying of the trees. He knew it was important to have a system in place for payment, but he also knew that system wasn't his strong suit.
Being a business owner is about being a leader, a leader who made promises. You promised employees, customers, to yourself, and you promised to fulfill your purpose, and systems are what keep your business running. Over the next few weeks, I will be talking more about leadership and the elements listed above and what areas you may be neglecting.
How do you concretize the elements inside of your business? The bare bones of any business are its products, inventory, their customers or clients, etc. Regardless of your business or industry and whether you sell a physical product or offer a service, those pieces exist, but which of those do you give your attention and how often?
LEVEL 1
Product Do you have a product? Most people think of the product as a thing you sell, a dog leash, a widget, keys, etc. Products are what you sell, which may be your services. As a small business manager, my service is my product. When I first started my product wasn’t very well understood by me and therefore I couldn’t clearly communicate to people who asked, what I did. Now I am able to say the stages, concerns, and specific elements I work with my clients with and people have a better understanding of what I do and in turn, whether I can help them. Confused minds don’t purchase. Products are the physical products or the specific purpose you sell or offer to your clients.
Customer Service It begins from the moment they hear about your business and continues through their use of your product over the years.
Systemic Systems Systemic Systems is the operation of your business, how does your business work? Do people call in, do you meet them in person, is there a brick and mortar store or is your product delivered? The systems in place that allow your service or product to get to your clients are your systemic system. A plumber has a system for what happens when someone calls them. There are things in place that take the call from a finished and delivered product and service.
LEVEL 2
The following three are what most small business focus on most.
Team Management Someone on your team that is responsible for a part of your business. There is a person who manages your website, your phone, your client interaction, your office furniture, etc. How you manage your team will make a difference to your business.
Time Management How you spend your time and your team are a large part of your business. All the time you spend on your to-do list, your finances, are part of being mindful how you spend your time.
Marketing If you don’t market, people don’t know about you. Some people think of marketing as selling and they don’t want to be salespeople, but your business may not grow if you don’t do the work to make sure you are putting who you are, what you do, and what value you offer, to the world. If you don’t tell people you exist you don’t have the permission to serve them or to make a difference in the world. From sales to branding, to social media and networking, they all fall under the umbrella of marketing.
Finances Working capital and cash reserve help you to be able to run your business.
LEVEL 3
Trends and Forecasting The trends in your industry and the things to come are what business owners have to stay aware of. Are the times and ways business is conducted in your industry changing? Are the times and technology dictating how your clients now interact with your product or how you offer your service?
Vision and Strategic Plan You had a vision, the forethought of what you wanted to create and you started a business. I challenge you to take a look at the original vision and plan and update it.