Get Your Bife Back And Keep Your Business
I am originally a research marine biologist and was doing this when my then husband had an entrepreneurial spasm and decided to build and sell computers.
This was absolutely the classic case of a technical guy with no business understanding and an ability to sell buying himself a job.
Inevitable I was dragged in and became more involved as I tried to prevent us losing money and I ended up managing the business when he worried himself into a breakdown.
Like so many small business people we worked almost around the clock as we grew to a $5million turnover and 17 staff. So close to round the clock that I ended up with a mattress in my office so I got some sleep.
We could not go on like that so I studied quality assurance and implemented an ISO 9001 quality management system or AS3902 as it was called then. Wow! This revolutionized our lives. Much of that growth to $5 million turnover came after I put in the system. We stopped having errors from people who were doing their best but were run off their feet, we had a really good feedback system to sort out why things had gone wrong and we saved a heap of money by having really clear documented contracts and contract amendments And better than all, we had well trained staff who followed procedures and this gave us TIME. The system also reduced the risks so that we were not worrying about whether staff could make mistakes that landed us with legal issues that could put our house at risk.
Small business owners reading this Tknow only too well that raising the money you need to grow your business generally means you have ended up borrowing from yourself and it has certainly got harder over the last eighteen months.
Some of you are like we were and also like clients who tell me they have sold or mortgaged their houses to fund their business growth and you fully understand the fear of being only one lawsuit away from losing everything.
And you know, as we did, that a well meaning employee or contractor could easily make an error and trigger a lawsuit.
It was the classic case of a technical guy with an ability to sell and no business understanding buying himself a job. I became increasingly involved so that we did not lose money and I ended up managing the business when he worried himself into a breakdown.
Like so many small business people we worked almost around the clock as we grew to a $5million turnover and 17 staff. So close to round the clock that I ended up with a mattress in my office so I got some sleep. It could not go on like that so I studied quality assurance and implemented an ISO 9001 quality management system or AS3902 as it was called then.
This revolutionized our lives. A lot of that growth to $5 million turnover came after I put in the system. We stopped having errors from people who were doing their best but were run off their feet, we had a really good feedback system to sort out why things had gone wrong and we saved a heap of money by having really clear documented contracts and contract amendments. And better than all, we had well trained staff who followed procedures and this gave us TIME.
The system also reduced the risks so that we were not worrying about whether staff could make mistakes that landed us with legal issues that could put our house at risk.
Those of you who are small business owners know only too well that raising the money you need to grow your business generally means you have ended up borrowing from yourself and it has certainly got harder over the last eighteen months.
Some of you are like we were and like clients who tell me they have sold or mortgage their houses to fund their business growth and you fully understand the fear of being only one lawsuit away from losing everything. And you know, as we did, that a well meaning employee or contractor could easily make an error and trigger a lawsuit.
If this is you, you probably put it into the "much too hard to think about" basket and go on working your butt off.
BUT......
Wouldn't you love to discover the peace of mind and extra time that I did back in the computer shop days?
We built a wonderful beach house with a stunning view on top of a cliff and went there every weekend and even took holidays. We managed three weeks in New Zealand and yes, the business was still there and making money with no dramas while we were away. What a change!
Even if you are more established and not on this treadmill, you've still got the time pressure and that overwhelm.
You've got targets to meet, meetings to go to - and they so often run over time so that you have less time to get out that report or proposal and you end up late home sacrificing precious time with your kids.
Imagine how you will feel when you have the recognition of an international standard for you business! Can you imagine being congratulated by your clients and your suppliers and being envied by competitors who still think that it is too hard for them.
When Hagen Stehr of Clean Seas Aquaculture first got his ISO 1400 he was congratulated by his Japanese clients with full page colour adverts in the paper and since than his company has grown so that itis now listed on the stock exchange. Imagine how proud he felt and just look at how his business has grown since I helped him implement his systems!
You will have recognition from markets and regulators and the ability to access tenders and contracts out of your reach without those standards
And the big one is greater efficiency and reduced stress! Can you imagine having staff who no longer make needless errors and what is even worse, covered up errors that come back to bite much worse than if they had admitted it up front.
You know you can have this and you will be surprised at how easy and time effective it is when you keep it simple. This is the way to make your business truly sustainable
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,jean cannon
,quality systems
,quality
,iso 9001
,procedures
,business growth
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