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As a business owner, you know what it’s like to lie awake at 2 a.m. Maybe it has happened when you are excited and full of new ideas for your business. More often, it’s because you are worried about issues you will face the next day. Sometimes, it’s because you just woke up with the solution to a problem. I’ve experienced all those emotions about my businesses over the years. Awake at 2 o’clock? is where I share them with you, and hopefully help with answers that will let you sleep.
John F. Dini, CExP, CEPA
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Small business owners are the Hunters of the 21st century. We are 3% of the US population, and yet we create over half of all American jobs. As Hunters, we may not be inclined to manage by the numbers or stick to systems. Are you a Hunter or a Farmer?
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How prepared are you to exit your company?
The Assessment breaks down the four major categories of exit readiness; Finance, Planning, Operations and Revenue/Profit.
Tag Archives: business ownership
Empowerment Requires Encouragement
We all want employees who are empowered to think. That doesn’t always turn out the way we hoped. Last week the news feeds carried a story about a Girl Scout in San Francisco who set up her cookie table in front … Continue reading
2 Responses to Empowerment Requires Encouragement
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When a Salesman isn’t a Salesman
A business owner decides to beef up his company’s sales talent. He forks out a hefty salary for a “proven performer” from another industry; then…nothing. The salesman (or woman) is glib, professional and hard working. The owner devotes more resources … Continue reading
2 Responses to When a Salesman isn’t a Salesman
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Excellent article and very true.
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The days of the order-taking IBM salesperson of the 1980’s are long gone. While sales people can and should be well compensated, the majority of it should never be because of a hefty salary. Sales compensation may need to take into account a spin-up period, but most of the compensation should be commission or profit sharing, not salary. Order taking can be done by computers or employees in Accounting.
David Basri
http://www.pointent.com
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Four Generations’ Embrace of Technology
Technology is pervasive in the workplace. That isn’t a news flash; it’s just reality. When we have an IT or Internet malfunction, my employees are probably less than 20% as effective without their computers. They will catch up on some … Continue reading
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Measurement Isn’t Necessarily Management
“You manage what you measure” is axiomatic in business ownership. “Employees respect what you inspect.” Understanding performance and productivity by comparing it against past performance, industry norms or internal benchmarks is useful, but measuring something doesn’t mean that you are … Continue reading
4 Responses to Measurement Isn’t Necessarily Management
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I would agree that putting too much credence into deep numbers analysis is counter-productive. Mark Twain’s quote that, “There are three kinds of lies. Lies, damned lies and statistics.”, comes to mind.
However, over time analytics can indicate trends in employees. One who consistently performs below other employees in whatever KPIs are being measured, needs remedial action. Trends can indicate employees who have a propensity for too much, or too little, risk. And so on. . . .
While it is no substitute for management, experience or intuition, there is a role for analytics.
David Basri
http://www.pointent.com -
You assertion that “you manage what you measure” maybe accurate in the extreme of over measuring and producing an avalanche of data that hide the reality of a situation but “you can’t manage what you don’t measure” seems to be a bigger problem with small businesses.
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Yes. The quantitative stuff that’s easy to measure is often not the important qualitative stuff to measure.
When you measure something in your business…you’ll probably get the behavior you expect, and then some…
• Is the measurement of “sales time with customer” getting higher sales? Lower sales? Or, more sales of easier-to-sell stuff?
• Is the measurement of “customer service time,” driving faster service, or more errors and irritated customers?
• Is the measurement of ancillary sales creating an erosion of the core brand?
• Is the measurement of errors, increasing the inspection costs of a process?
• Is the measurement of an already low “bad debt” cost driving policies hurting customer relations?Measurement of stuff in your business can be good. Just be careful about what you measure, and how it’s implemented. Be sure to ask…
• What’s the goal?
• How much will it cost to measure it?
• How will it help the customer and the sale?
• And, what will be the unintended consequences?
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Employee “Rights” in the Workplace
The 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the “Due Process” amendment, is one of the most-litigated sections of that document. It is also the only one that specifically abrogates rights, broadly removing the right to vote or hold … Continue reading
Hi John,
I think few business owners would call micromanagement a good thing, if you put it in those terms. The trouble is finding the balance between delegation that keeps your business strong and creates a product you can continue to be proud of and realizing that all of this does require some amount of letting go. I’ve left this comment over in the BizSugar community as well where Christi Brendlinger was good enough to share this post. Wonder if you or she or both could share some guidelines with our community about exactly how you go about striking this difficult balance.
It’s a great question, Heather. I think there may only be a state of imbalance. Either you are giving employees too much leeway, and suffering the occasional setback because of it, or you are trying to avoid the setbacks, and reining them in. The “balance” lies in determining how much of a mistake a company can afford in the name of learning.