Blog

The state of our ‘Business health’ is as important as our own.  

A smart Business operator will undertake regular checks of both! 

In the following, we examine the Business!

The health of your Business is reliant upon and impacted by the ‘state’ of key parts, you could say these are the vital organs of a small Business! 

You can see why undertaking a regular Health Check is critical to the ongoing life, success of your or any small Business. 

 In the following we examine these vital parts: 

1. Business Reflection 

2. Business Planning 

3. Goal Setting 

4. Systems and Processes 

5. Staff Performance 

Smart Businesses recognise the importance of taking the time for Business reflection as an opportunity to do just that, reflect, review and revise. Examination allows for any changes or improvements that are needed.  Simply put, there are risks if you don’t take the time to reflect and plan!

Business reflection is important, offering a number of benefits.  

• Benefits, such as providing the opportunity to step back, take ‘stock’, to see if you, we, are on track or not. This can be said of both the Business and the individual.  We can all learn from our mistakes, and failures. Lessons learned that can be built on.  
• It is also a way of keeping yourself, ourselves accountable.  Who doesn’t want to improve their Business and own performance.  It’s the chance to grow and improve and be open to new opportunities that otherwise may pass by. 

 If you a small Business operator you will understand how easy it is to be taken-over and engulfed by the everyday business of running a Business. Life gets ‘frantic hectic’ and you can lose sight of the bigger picture. 

Is that you? 

Try these, 5 ‘Easy’ Steps to take to effectively reflect on your Business  

1. Revisit your Goals.

Revisitng your Goals is the opportunity to ‘take-stock’, critique, and determine where you are in achieving your goals. Are you on track! Have milestones been reached? Analyse, measure performance, acknowledge celebrate gains, and wins and learn from losses.  

2. Business Planning 

Reflection and planning provides benefits, such as, allowing you to prepare for the now and future. Continual planning gives you the focus to get the job done. Importantly it fosters critical thinking and a disciplined approach to conducting yourself and the Business. 

It also allows you to examine your strengths and weaknesses and use those experiences to consider other opportunities while recognising the risks. Without reflection and planning you can find yourself, your Business going down the wrong path. 

3. Goal Setting 

Without Goals we can wander along without direction or meaning. The same for our Business. The answer is Goal Setting.

Business goals are pre-determined set-targets that an individual or Business aims to achieve in given time. Progress is monitored by measurable actions, milestones or levels. Goals may be set as short, medium and long term deliverables.

It makes sense to set SMART GOALS! 

Yes, SMART is still the framework for effective Goal Setting.

S: specific

M: measurable

A: attainable

R: relevant

T: time line

SMARTER Goals - Read our Blog - How to Turn your SMART goals into SMARTER Goals

4. Systems and Processes 

You might say, the heart pumping a Business!

A system is a combination or group of parts, core elements, forming a complex whole, implemented to help in running a Business more efficiently.  For example, the methodical way goods and services are provided to your customers. The system is the what, for example, what value do you provide?

Processes are all the things you do to make a system work smoothly and efficiently. It’s a sequence of activities, events that enable people in a Business to do what they do. Processes are the ‘how’! The how do all these parts work together to deliver outputs!

A Process Management system is a method used to plan, monitor and manage a Business process. By following specific steps, it allows us to get a better understanding of customers' requirements and determine the most cost-effective way to meet them.

From this you can see why Systems and Processes are vital for a healthy Business.

5. Staff Performance

That is how a staff member fulfils the duties of their role, completes assigned tasks and  behaves in the workplace.  

Employee performance is the key to the success or failure of a Business. Their performance keeps a Business alive or not. 

Performance management is an important activity for both the Organisation and the employee. Its aim is to bring out the best in all employees and align it with the Business goals. Make it part of the Business culture.

Conducted annually it is an opportunity to evaluate an employees performance, allowing Managers to reward those performing well and identify those underperforming and provide support. 

Working to improve employee performance is an ongoing process involving evaluation, measurement and planning. Foster a relationship that underpins this thinking.

There are various Performance Mangement tools, importantly adopt and implement what best supports your Business and employees.  Having an effective mechanism in place has benefits for all concerned. Select what works well to bring out the best in all concerned!

• Performance Appraisals
• 360-degree Feedback
• Personal Development Plan (PDP)
• Reward & Recognition Programmes 
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)