|
|
|||||||
| Home Page |
|||||||
Small Business Owner Concerns![]() "Regardless of company size, the concerns of executive management are all essentially the same." Employees/Human Resources - staffing and allocations, payroll, benefits, and management. Work environment - facilities and equipment, corporate culture. Systems - implementing business processes productively, and staying abreast of technological developments for competitive advantage. Regulations - complying with rules as established by government and industrial concerns. Time Management - scheduling and devoting time to the proper set of priorities. Financial Resources - managing and planning cash flow and investments for optimal return on investment. General Planning & Strategy - both short term and long term, including an analysis of the market and competition. At the end of this session, we discovered that the concerns of small business owners are essentially no different than large corporations, except on a much smaller scale. The only difference was that the small business owner has to move faster than his corporate counterparts simply due to the size of his operation. For example, he doesn't have time to read voluminous business plans and financial statements. Instead, he requires summary reports which get to the point in a couple of pages. He needs good, sound supporting advice to make his life easier. This got me thinking about the amount of time and money corporate executives invest in managing their company's affairs. True, some things require considerable time and effort to investigate, such as researching new products/services and checking market conditions, but most of what is done is what I refer to as "meatball" type analysis which should be easy and relatively inexpensive to prepare. Let me give you an example; a couple of years ago I was working with a Fortune 500 company who had contracted with another firm to produce a Business Systems Plan. This took several months to perform and resulted in a substantial document over three feet thick (I kid you not) costing the company $1.5 million. I was asked to flip through the document and give an opinion. It only took me a couple of minutes to discover the authors had reused narrative from other client projects in the document and that most of it was superfluous. But the fact that it was incredibly thick and printed on some pretty impressive looking paper, gave the company the feeling they had gotten their money's worth from the consultants. Interestingly, the company never acted on the information contained in the document simply because it was so voluminous and they couldn't find their way through it. In reality, a ten page report could have satisfied the company's needs, but I guess you cannot charge $1.5 million for a ten page document can you? The point of all this is that the size of a company really has no bearing on the concerns of those charged with running it. They are all essentially the same. Nor does any business owner have the time or inclination to be devoured by detail. Although detail is important to substantiate claims, summary reports are more effective for supporting the needs of business owners. They simply want accurate and reliable information to act on regardless of the form it takes, but preferably not three feet thick. If you would like to discuss this further with me, please do not hesitate to send me an e-mail at timb001@phmainstreet.com
Rate this Article:
Current: 0 / 5 stars - 0 vote(s).
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/management-articles/small-business-owner-concerns-287496.html About the Author:
Tim Bryce is a writer and management consultant located in Palm Harbor, Florida.
Related ArticlesBasic Business Skills Required Parenting Management Managing from the Bottom-Up The Dichotomy of Systems Development Management Micromanagement Screamers Who Really Assumes Risk? Understanding Effectiveness Got a Question? Ask.Ask the community a question about this article:Frequently Asked Questions I have a business with my mom, she is in financial troulbe and I am afftraid. what can I do? Im interested in opening up a juicy couture store ... Changing the name of my LLC Certain Type of Mango Butter Incense Oil sharia The cellar restaurant, blacksburg va. History Latest Management ArticlesMulti-cultural Workplaces: 7 Ways to Make Them Work Are You the Worst Leader in the World? The Ultimate Leadership Strategy How to Learn from Your Leadership Mistakes The Philosophy Of Six Sigma Merging Six Sigma And The Balanced Scorecard Six Sigma: Phases Of Benchmarking Six Sigma Team Recognition And Rewards More from Tim BryceRecognizing the Peter Principle A Corporate Policy for Personal Electronic Devices Socialistic Management System Design Backwards Stepwise Refinement When You Hit a Wall, Go Around it What Young People Want & Need Why We Resist Planning |
|||||||
|
Article Categories
|
|||||||
|
|
|||||||