All business organizations recognize that it is important to manage costs and overhead. But business organization costs can sky rocket out of control if everybody doesn’t observe the plan, or unpredicted events lead to cost spikes. If you are conditioned for times of hardship or cost spikes, you will have the extra cash that is necessary and may scarcely even feel the impact if it is a short term problem. But these extra costs can take place just by a series of small cost increases like a rate increase in the electric bill, plus a fuel surcharge for deliveries due to rising gas prices. So, how can you prepare for these spare costs when they hit your bottom line? Sometimes just a simple modification in your current price structure can handle the costs; however, if you continue to do so, even your most loyal customers may look for greener pastures. You can combat this by planning ahead and planning smartly. Adjusting for business costs is exceedingly crucial to the endurance of any business. You must make sure that you set your prices accordingly in the beginning to make sure that you are producing enough spare to handle rises in supply costs, utilities, and other overhead. There may be times when there will be items that are simply out of your control (natural disasters), but even then a solid plan can reduce the blow to a business if they have laid out a contingency plan. During these times you still must pay your employees, pay benefits, taxes, and of course Every the other day to day operation costs. Even So, small actions like a portion of income being set into a “rainy day” type of account can help make or break some businesses. In order to keep track of business costs, many businesses look to a business coach that can help layout out a strategy that can keep the business gainful even during the worst. They will always suggest working with a professional within the office that has some kind of an accounting background or the stronger option is to hire an accountant to handle these things for you. Never make a major fiscal decision without first conferring with an accountant or the books to make sure that your business can afford to do what your plan is purposing to do. In the end a smart financial plan will (in most cases) trump virtually any short term hardship a company may face. Plan for the best, save for the worst.

Talent management techniques are crucial in achieving the best in your business success. With a little effort you can acquire and develop these skills. It may be a plus to have a intuitive affinity for getting along with people, however there are a lot of skills you can do that will make this process easy.

Forging relationships: Begin by remembering staff’s names. Speak to staff; get eye contact during a conversation. Show respect, and be sure to pay attention to the other person’s point of view, regardless of whether you agree with them. Paying attention to what others say is one of the most important people management skills in your arsenal. Welcome any contributions from your co-workers.

Keep your word: Keeping your promises is crucial. When a promise is not kept, it will ruin trust, and people won’t offer you their best if they do not trust you. Everytime you make a statement or make a promise about something, do be sure that you can deliver or don’t bother giving your word at all. The truth is, when you can’t be counted upon, you can be certain they will act in a similar fashion.

Feedback is essential: Feedback should be a two way process. Talent management skills mean keeping an open mind to all feedback. If you are able to demonstrate accessibility and openness, you show that you respect other people’s views, and they should value your ideas. Frank discussion in addition promotes fresh ways of thinking, ways of accomplishing the goals of the team, and develops the bonds of an excellent team. If team members have a voice, every employee takes an interest in the outcome.

Encourage all sorts of communication: Good communication is the key to dealing with staff with skill. Be approachable, employ listening skills, be open-minded, and encourage each of your team members to express their views. Inspire team members not only to communicate with you, but also with each other. The exchange of ideas is important in the creative process, if the employees communicate efficiently, it is easy to discover any issues before they may present as problems, and corrective measures may be put in place before things get out of hand. Developing these techniques will require some work, yet the rewards are worth it. By inspiring a good team dynamic and developing effective listening techniques, you can achieve a successful business.

The state of the economy demands that it is easiest to ramp up profits by reducing expenditure, not a growth of income. Which brings us to the benefits of business performance management software.

Obviously, everyone is aware that getting the best from your company requires a knowledge of in what areas your staff work best, and a knowledge of how to customize your routines to match that. While this information is useful, it isn’t too painless to obtain. Just tracking staff evaluation and identifying development in that performance is a huge task. You first put employee performance management systems in place so that you can appraise all work done by each member of staff. Analyzing all of this information comes next. Before it’s ready to use setting goals and checking future progress you have to know what the raw information translates to. With performance appraisal software, all you need to do is study the different analyses and factors to pinpoint the ideal targets and subsequently keep track of the employee’s advancement. Thus you ease a significant demand on your time while probably receiving more precise information as an added bonus. It is also possible, of course, simply to use the software to track raw information like performance review forms and to examine these items yourself.

And improving the efficiency of your staff is simply one of the improvements you can make using performance appraisal software. Both suppliers and clients can be studied using the appropriate software, giving you still more performance management tools. For example, when looking at suppliers you can pinpoint their weaknesses like poor delivery times, high damage rates, and so forth. Clients are assesed in terms of a different metric, and once again this information can be used to help your bottom line. This information is useful in minimizing expenses and boosting profits. Who wouldn’t want to take advantage of that? As well as this, the better understanding of your market will allow easier planning of your marketing. Analyzing both your market and your sources is smooth sailing with performance management software. It renders employee performance management a breeze and much more effective in addition to helping encourage staff members by setting precisely outlined goals. All in all, it’s clear that the potential of this system is endless and depends purely on your own creativity and ability to use what you learn.

Many human resource managers believe that, as long as every last member of staff has enough health and safety training, they are well prepared for an incident. The reality is that, regardless of the industry you’re in, a basic education in health and safety regulatory affairs simply is not adequate. Equipping your employees, choosing the right supervisior and facillitating frequent practise are fundamental to the safety of staff. Anyone in a supervisory capacity has a greater function to carry out than just general supervision. Your selection of supervisor is required to see the importance of health and safety instruction and be able to get other people excited about it.

In addition to following any relevant legislation, the role of a supervisor includes checking up on employee performance too. This is a tough task. To accomplish this the supervisor needs to possess in depth knowledge of both the industry best practice and the product not to mention a high standard of knowledge of up-to-date regulations with regard to safety, risk assessment and first aid.

Simply having basic training in health and safety isn’t enough for your employees. They need to gain practical experience of risk assessment and the identification of hazardous areas. They additionally need insights into the steps necessary to remedy the situation as well as understanding what to do when something unforeseen happens. Not until these procedures have developed into routine are workers totally protected. Education is useless if you don’t provide safety apparatus. Without the appropriate supplies or alternatively should they see that equipment is broken only after a crisis has occurred, even the most advanced training is not going to help them.

Maintaining your equipment on a regular basis is essential. When anything will not meet the relevant legislation, be sure to get it mended as quickly as you can and return it to the right location.

Health and safety training is vital to the safety of your employees, however they must have the proper apparatus, the chance to practise, and a supervisor who has infectious enthusiasm. Then following health and safety legislation will become established in your business culture not something for staff to remember constantly.

Success in business depends heavily on the efficient management of people. People management may be acquired and studied. It can be a plus to have a intuitive affinity for people, but there are numerous skills you can learn to simplify the process.

Forging relationships: Start by using a person’s name. Encourage conversation; make eye contact as you’re talking. Be respectful, and be attentive to the other person’s opinion, regardless of whether you are in agreement or not. The development of listening skills is one of the most effective things you may do to develop your people management skills. Exhibit an interest in what they can contribute to the team. Live up to your word: Don’t make promises you can’t fulfill. If you can’t keep your word, the delicate bond of trust is violated, and nobody will give you their best efforts without trust. When you make a statement or give a promise, make sure you can keep your promises or don’t bother giving your word at all. To be frank, if you can’t be counted upon, you can be certain they will act in the same manner.

Be open to any comments: It’s a two way street. People management skills mean being open to all feedback. Being accessible and receptive proves that other people’s opinions count, your thoughts will be respected in return. Encouraging open discussion also opens doors to original ways of doing business, new ways of fulfilling goals, and strengthens the team. When team members can express themselves, each member of staff takes an interest in the results of the project.

Communication is the key: People management skills boil down to the same concept – good communication. Be accessible, listen intently to other people, be open minded, and give team members a chance to express themselves. Employees must be inspired to talk to each other not only with you. The growth of a business depends a great deal on the open exchange of opinions, and when the team members communicate well, it is much easier to find issues before they might become a problem, and measures can be put in place before things get out of hand. A little time will be necessary, nevertheless the payoffs far outbalance the effort needed. Through inspiring a good team dynamic and developing effective listening skills, you can easily achieve a successful business.

Many managers think that, so long as each employee has sufficient health and safety training, they are adequately prepared for any situation. Realistically though, training in safety legislation and risk asessment simply is not adequate. You must supply your staff with a capable supervisor, the right equipment, and the chance to practice.

An individual in a supervisory job has a larger function to play than just overseeing the floor. The supervisor you employ is required to realise the importance of health and safety education and have the ability to get everyone else feeling enthusiastic.

In addition to enforcing health and safety legislation, the role of a supervisor also often includes supervising staff performance. This is a hard job. The supervisor is advised to have broad knowledge of both the industry best practice and the product as well as a high standard of familiarity with up-to-date regulations involving safety, risk appraisal and emergency assistance techniques.

It’s just not adequate to send any employees to a health and safety course. To effectively spot a hazardous area they require practical experience. They have to know how to eliminate problems not to mention how best to manage if anything goes wrong. Not until these procedures have developed into routine are staff totally protected. The right safety equipment is equally as essential to the your employees’ well-being as training. When employees discover they don’t have gear they need, or even learn that gear is broken in a crisis, then all the training there is to offer can not help them.

You must schedule regular inspections to ascertain if you possess everything you require and to check it is working correctly too. Should you have a fault with your safety gear, get it mended or call out a maintenance professional as swiftly as possible. Your staff must get appropriate health and safety education, however they need good quality gear, regular practises, and an educated supervisor who can get the workforce to be enthusiastic about being healthy at work. When you follow this advice you will find all the safety regulations be a natural component of life in the workplace rather than something troublesome everyone has to attempt to think about constantly.

I get asked that question a lot. In fact, after “how do I start a business?” it’s probably the most asked question by new clients. I decided the best way to describe why you might decide to write a business plan is to tell you a few stories about a client of mine. The name and business are fictional. We’re going to call him David and he’s going to have a mechanic shop. The stories I’m going to tell you over the next few months are a combination of things that have happened to me and to some of my clients.

David’s smart. He’s got a memory like a steel trap. And he’s ambitious. He wants to start a small mechanic shop with the inheritance his dad left him, and he’s been very busy trying to get it started. But he’s also young and in a bit of a hurry. The way he sees it, he doesn’t need a business plan and anytime he’s asked about it he just taps his head and says, “I don’t need one. I’ve got it all up here.” Besides, he likes freedom. He’s a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of guy. He doesn’t want to be tied to what some piece of paper says.

His mother-in-law, Ellen just shakes her head. She’s owned a bookkeeping service for the last twenty years, which she started because she wanted to be able to stay home when her kids were small. But David thinks, of course she’d see it that way. She’s a bean counter and everyone knows how they are about details. Besides, he’s already let her talk him into incorporating his business. The way he saw it, he didn’t need to waste his money on it, but it was done. No way was he going to waste any more money on getting a business plan.

A few weeks later, David opened his shop for business. What a day that was. He’d been too excited to sleep the night before, and it ended up being an awfully long day because he didn’t have any customers. Not a single one. He’d spent the day cleaning the shop and organizing his tools and sometimes just staring at the phone, trying to will it to ring. Oh well, he thought, what can I expect? The shop’s brand new and nobody knows about it. Someone will call tomorrow. By the end of the week, with no calls except from friends and family (who he was beginning to suspect his mother-in-law had told to call), he was starting to worry. He was also starting to run out of cash.

He barely scraped together the cash for his lease at the end of the sixth month. He didn’t think owning a business would be this expensive. Besides, he’d figured he’d have lots of customers by now, but the truth of it was he didn’t have enough to keep him busy for even half a day. David decided he’d better go see his banker. It shouldn’t be too be much of a problem to get the money, he figured. He had a good credit rating.

When the usual “how are you, I’m fine” was over, David got right down to business. He didn’t need much money. He figured $10,000 should do it. “Sounds good,” Shaun said when he was done talking. “Let’s take a look at your business plan.” And when he said, “Oh I don’t have one. I’ve got it all up here,” she smiled and said, “We need to have one before we can proceed with a loan. Come back and see me when you do.”

As much as he hated to do it, he knew he had to borrow some money from someone. When none of his friends could help him beyond a few hundred dollars, he approached his mother-in-law. “Well,” she said, “I can do that for you, but I have one condition. I want to give me half an hour of your time to listen to why I think you need a business plan.” David agreed. He was getting desperate. Here’s what she said:

• Almost half of small business startups fail in the first year.

• The main reasons they fail is because they lack management, lack planning, have insufficient financing and lack marketing.

• You can address all those reasons with a business plan:
  • Business plans help with lack of management with financial analysis, guide your decision-making, and outlining specific goals.

  • Business plans help with lack of planning by outlining the means to meet specific goals.

  • Business plans help with insufficient financing because financial institutions and private investors won’t lend you any money without one.

  • Complete business plans include a marketing plan addressing lack of marketing.

• There are other reasons for writing a business plan:
  • Business plans help you monitor your progress.

  • Business plans give you something to compare your end of period results with.

  • Business plans help identify weak areas where you can improve.

  • Business plans help you avoid making the same mistake over and over again.

  • Business plans help keep you on track.

  • A good business plan includes a feasibility study, so you should know before you start whether your business can succeed.

  • Many self-help books proclaim goals are more easily met if they’re written so business plans help you identify and reach your goals.

  David was convinced. He accepted his mother-in-law’s offer to help him write his business plan. After it was done, he went back to the bank and got his loan.

  So, how is David’s business doing? I’m not going to tell you anything today beyond that he’s still in business, but I will tell you more, I promise. We’re going to use David’s business as a case study with more articles about him every month. Stay tuned for more stories about David’s business and find out how he’s doing.

  Eve Jackson owns and operates Details Small Business Solutions, a company dedicated to helping small business do big business with communication and image consulting. Details SBS designs corporate identity packages, press kits and websites. We write business plans and copy for press kits, websites and direct mail sales letters. You can view our website at http://www.DetailsSBS.com and contact us at info@DetailsSBS.com.

Water is a precious resource but so often it is hard to get businesses to conserve it unless it is profitable for them to do so. In fact many environmental issues are like this. Yes it is the right thing to do many times, but if it costs too much, many businesses will hesitate.

Well one business-marketing student is definitely thinking outside the box. Her concept is simple, use the waste wash-water at the carwash to water the landscape, pressure wash the facilities and even flush the toilets. And why not it makes sense using a series of filters and an RO unit as she states. Paula Chavis has a plan and in this plan she will use market forces to get Car Wash Owners who do not recycle their water to start conserving.

So, lets look at this great plan; In many cities water costs for carwashes are only about $250 per month so it is not a significant cost considering a full-service or flex car wash has lots more in labor, property payments, soap and coupon packages for advertising.

So, in many regards the cost savings in water, speaking purely of money of course, not on civic duty to our environment, it may be a very big savings or a worthy investment unless it is a very high-volume car wash or the region is under severe drought and the carwash is under mandatory regulation to submit a plan to local regulators on how they are saving water you see?

Paula’s specialized system could be leased but if lease payments are more than their water savings cost then the ROI Return on Investment simply is not there. Thus my suggestion for a PR campaign to go with it you see? Now of course I am speaking of the United States market not anywhere else. I would bet in places where water is more serious then your system becomes even more valuable you see? Consider the challenge of helping businesses to help the environment.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

What is Five S?

Five S is a component of lean manufacturing that involves
organization and cleanliness, and then using standards to
maintain what has been accomplished. The term “Five S”
represents the five stages of a Five S program:

Sorting (Eliminate broken or unused equipment, tools and
supplies.)

Systematic Organization (Put everything in its proper place.)

Shine (Clean up on a regular schedule.)

Standardize (Make the above three steps easy to accomplish.)

Sustain (Take steps to maintain what has been accomplished.)

Five S involves common sense practices and is not very
complicated. But until the 5S System was created, many
businesses ignored these basic principles.

What Will Five S do for me?

We often put off cleaning up and getting organized because it
seems to be taking away from the time we use to get “real” work
done. However, the truth is that having a clean, organized work
area improves productivity, safety and profits. It does this in
several ways.

(1) By reducing wasted time spent looking for the right tool or
materials–thus efficiency and productivity are improved.

(2) The work environment is simplified resulting in improved
quality and productivity; reduced daily or shift startup times;
and reduced maintenance and downtime.

(3)Employee morale improves, which also results in improved
quality and productivity.

The bottom line is that your customers are happier and your
profits go up.

How does all this happen? That’s what we’ll be talking about in
this article.

Who Can Benefit from Five S?

All types of businesses and organizations can benefit from Five
S. Manufacturing and industrial plants come to mind first, as
they often realize the greatest benefit from implementing the
Five S’s. However, any type of business or organization, from an
oil refinery to a church–from trucking companies to
schools–can benefit from Five S.

Step One – Sorting:

Sorting is the first step in making a work area tidy. It makes
it easier to find things when they are needed and frees up
additional space.

Start by sorting through everything in each work area. Keep only
those items that are necessary for the tasks done in that work
area. Any tools, equipment, materials and supplies that are not
frequently used should be moved to a separate, common storage
area. Items that are never used should be discarded.

Don’t keep things around just because they someday might be used.

The result of the sorting process will be to eliminate (or
repair) broken equipment and tools. All unused items and
materials, and obsolete manuals, drawings, fixtures, molds,
jigs, scrap material, and waste are disposed of.

Step two – Systematic Organization

Now that only necessary items are in a work area, the next step
is to organize, arrange and identify them. The objective is to
have everything in a work area arranged for efficient and
effective retrieval, and return to its proper place.

Storage areas, cabinets and shelves should be located close by
and properly labeled. Frequently used tools should be easily
accessible and workers should be able to return them to their
proper location with little thought. For example, put shadows or
outlines on tool boards, making it easy to quickly see the
proper storage location for each tool.

We typically focus on things from about waist level up, so make
a point to look at the floor. Paint floors to make it easier to
spot dirt, waste materials and dropped parts and tools. Outline
areas on the floor to identify work areas, storage areas,
finished product areas, etc.

In an office provide shelves for frequently used manuals, books
and catalogs. Label both the shelves and the books so they are
easy to identify and return to their proper place. Using color coded labels makes it easy to see which items
belong on each shelf.

Systematic organization is not limited to individual work areas.
Your overall facility should also be systematically organized.
This includes the use of easy-to-understand labels and signs.
Don’t just put things away. Everything should be properly marked
and identified, making it easy for employees, vendors,
contractors, inspectors, and emergency response personnel to
identify their location, hazardous materials, piping, valves,
control panels, major equipment, doorways, minor equipment,
instruments, storage areas, offices and files.

The objective of systematic organization is to have a place for
everything and have everything in its place, with everything
properly identified and labeled. This means there are two
important parts to Systematic Organization – putting everything
in its proper place and setting up a system so that it is easy
to return each item to its proper place.

Step Three – Shine

Once everything, from individual work areas up through your
entire facility, is sorted and organized, it needs to be kept
that way. This requires regular cleaning. To go along with the
theme of Five S’s this step is called “shine”.

There is more to cleaning than just “cleaning”. This step also
includes inspecting. While doing daily cleaning it requires
little additional effort to also inspect the machines, tools,
equipment and supplies in a work area. Regular cleaning and
inspection makes it easy to spot lubricant leaks, equipment
misalignment, broken tools, missing tools and low levels of
supplies. The result is that problems are identified and fixed
before they impact the work flow. If these minor problems were
not addressed while small, they could lead to equipment failure,
unplanned outages or long, unproductive delays while new
supplies are delivered.

When done on a regular, frequent basis, cleaning and inspecting
generally will not take a lot of time, and in the long run they
will save time and reduce maintenance costs.

Step Four – Simplify and Standardize

To ensure that the first three steps in your Five S program
continue to be effective, the fourth step involves simplifying
and standardizing.

One of the hardest parts of Five S is avoiding old work habits.
It is easy to slip back into the old ways of doing things.
That’s what everyone is familiar with. It feels comfortable.

A good method to help people adjust to the new way of doing
things is to make the new practices as simple as possible and to
use standards. Do this by developing a work structure based on
standard procedures that supports the new practices and makes
them into habits. It’s also important to remember that standards
are not static and unchangeable. As everyone–workers,
supervisors and managers– learns more, update and modify the
standards and continually make work practices and processes
simpler and easier.

Step Five – Sustain

The final step in Five S is to provide training and have ongoing
maintenance of the standards.

Don’t expect to clean up, get things organized and labeled, and
have people cleaning and inspecting their areas every day–and
then have everything continue to happen just the way it should
without any follow-up. Life doesn’t work that way.

There needs to be a formal system for monitoring the results of
your 5S program. Based on the results of that monitoring adjust
the standards to make improvements. Then provide continued
training about the standards. When there are changes–such as
new or relocated equipment, new work areas, new procedures, new
products–that will affect your Five S program, make adjustments
to the standards to accommodate those changes. Then provide
training that addresses those changes.

One of the major benefits from Five S is that it improves
safety. A good place to include Five S training is as a part of
your safety training. This ensures that everyone receives
up-to-date training on the current Five S standards for their
work area on a regular basis.

Five S is a common sense, easy to implement method of achieving
improvements in everything from safety to your bottom line
profits. The next step is for you to move ahead with a Five S
plan for your company or organization.