Small Business Uprising: How To Build, Grow And Operate Small Business

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Small businesses are the backbone of the economy. It employs more than half of the total workforce in every country. It contributes about a half of the gross domestic products. In addition, small business owners have a high level of trust in all the surveys in the consuming public. So, small businesses are the key to the success of every country.

This article is for those people who are responsible for the success of a small business. For business owners who want to grow their business and increase the profits consistently and the owners who might be getting their business ready for sales, so they can make them more valuable in the marketplace. It is also for managers and executives who are fully or partially responsible for the success of a small business, and it could be for those people who are considering buying a small business or starting one. Everybody knows that a business plan is essential, let’s better talk about ways to make sure that your company is running well, structured well and growing consistently.

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Why Do You Need to Start a Small Business?

I suppose everyone who was going to high school, had a first job in a small business, just like everyone was using a cheap writing service during college life. But whether your first job was in the local delicatessen café, the auto parts store or the sporting goods store, as a life progressed, we had an opportunity to manage a small business.

We did a research and questioned a lot of successful entrepreneurs of the reasons they decided to go in a small business or what did they want the small business to accomplish for them? All the answers fit into one of these four categories: freedom (to do the work that they were doing for somebody else in their own way, to spend time with their families, to explore other things in their lives); a sense of accomplishment; money (they wanted to be responsible for their own income); and fun.

Most of the business owners we talked to agreed that this is what they wanted. But very few of them accomplished all four of these. And the primary reason appears on the surface. Building a business is a specific skill set that most people do not have time to learn. It is like driving a car that is not tuned up very well. It spits, it butters and you got to have periodic maintenance. You get where you are going, but it is not a very fun drive and it takes you much longer than you should. So, let's talk about the pieces and parts that go together to make a smooth-running business you can operate.

Four Skills Set

So, there are a set of skills and things you need to have to run your small business successfully: effective and efficient operations, consistently increasing profits, growth (nothing is static, you either are shrinking or growing), quick and accurate response to the market (because it changes). So, how to accomplish these four things?

Employees

The number one key to success is employers. If you are a small business employer, your employees are probably the biggest expense of yours but they are also the biggest asset. The employees are the people who touch everybody else that you do business with, internally and externally. How well those interactions are going to affect the success of your business. Remember, the employees need to care about the product and services that you offer. So, it all boils down to fit. You have got to get the right people that fit with what you have to offer.

Hiring a wrong person can be very expensive and very frustrating process. They need to fit the job requirements, they have to be a good match with the purpose of your business and you should have a management style that focuses on things that help people become successful as individuals. A management style that teaches, coaches, mentor if it is needed, that can guide people in the process of doing their work is your number one concern. These are all the things you have got to think about and put together when you are designing a recruiting and hiring process.

Structure

The interesting thing about all human beings is that we desire two things which are directly opposed to one another. One is freedom and the other is structure. We all need to know the rules of the game we play in. Can you image driving down an interstate freeway that did not have any structure? No lane markers, no off ramps? All good businesses have a very well thought-out. What do I mean by that?

First of all, it is clear and complete job descriptions. People need to know what is expected of them in the job. Secondly, it is clean and complete policies and procedures. There also should be measurements that are related to the results. Take, for example, athletics. A 250 hitter achieves a certain level of results, a 350 hitter does better. Think over the same type of standards of measurements within your small business.

Money

What else should be considered when you are building and growing a successful small business? How about money? The main reason in business is to make money so you can make payroll, do research and development, take care of your family and contribute to worthwhile causes.

The key factor the most businesses fail is they just have not got enough startup and operating capital to keep them going until they get into a point of profitability. You are not going to go the same road, are you? Cash flow management is the most important within a business. What is coming in and what is going out, how are you using.

Consider also a risk management. You do not want to do things that are going to jeopardize the success of your business. So, you need permits, licenses, there may be fees you have to pay, regulations and compliance you need to follow. We know it is a big hassle, but you need to learn about these things and how to take care of your business within these requirements.

One extremely important ingredient, one of those pieces and parts we have mentioned before, is committed and engaged leadership. Whoever is running the show, whoever is the leader of the business has to be a daily example of what the business is all about.

Yes, that is a long list of what to consider in order to start or run a small business successfully. But the thing is you do not have to be very original to succeed, you do not have to invent anything new. You just need to offer the world something you love a little more intensely than most people do.

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