INTO THE GROOVE

Fine-tune your biz by getting into the good habit groove.

When you started your own company, your focus was on doing anything and everything to get it off the ground. Most likely, you spent day and night building the business, solving problems, working overtime to please customers. Now, you’re proud to say that your venture is a success. But in all the hustle and bustle, you’ve likely let some small but critical details fall by the wayside. Unfortunately, says entrepreneurial expert Ty Freyvogel, those nagging little business practices that so often get overlooked are the same ones that can keep you a step (or two, or ten) ahead of the competition.
“Being a really successful business owner is all about forming good habits,” says Freyvogel, founder of EntrepreneursLab.com. “If you don’t keep up with certain tasks, tasks that you probably think of as non-essential, you might get lucky and avoid a major catastrophe. But then again, you might not. And is that really a chance you want to take?,”suggest Freyvogel.

Freyvogel says there’s no time like the present to start developing habits that will help you run a more solid business. He’s created a checklist of business management habits that will help you keep a tight rein on your business and pull ahead of the pack.

Here’s Freyvogel’s checklist of fifteen good habits that every business owner should develop:?

Review all your systems from top to bottom. Carefully examine what is working and what isn’t. Decide where the problems are and figure out what can be fixed. You might be able to fix them yourself, or you might need outside guidance. Maybe you need a computer expert to help you use the technology more efficiently or maybe you need a financial expert to improve the way you do your books.

Review all vendor contracts. Take a look at how much business you are doing with each vendor. Are you getting the best rates based on how much you are working together? Is the relationship mutually beneficial for you and for them? If not, don’t be afraid to make a change. If you’re happy with your vendors, on the other hand, take the time to tell them. “Let vendors know that you want to create a great relationship with them,” says Freyvogel. “They will appreciate that you are taking the time to make sure that they are happy in the relationship, too. Let them know that you want to be their favorite customer!”

Determine who your best customers are. You may be surprised to find out that your best customers aren’t who you think they are. Examine all your customers through a profitability lens. “Just because you always seem to be doing something for certain customers doesn’t mean they’re the most profitable. I often find that my needy customers and my most profitable customers are two different groups. When I tell my employees about the distinction, they are always surprised. Of course, you should treat all customers well, but when you find out who your best ones are, you’ll want to really give them the VIP treatment.”

Touch base with your best customers. Be sure to tell them you appreciate their business and ask if there is anything you can improve on or do differently to help them grow their business. “I send letters to my customers,” says Freyvogel. “It is a quick and easy way to let them know we care about their needs and to encourage them to give us constructive feedback.”

Hold annual performance reviews. Discuss with your employees what they can do to help the company run more smoothly. Also, take the opportunity to find out what they feel most passionate about in their work, and ask if there is another part of the business in which they’d like to play a larger role. “I’ve always found that performance reviews are a great time to ask my employees, ‘What can I do for you?’” says Freyvogel. Use the opportunuity.

Engage your employees as partners. The best people to help you solve problems, particularly those involving customers, are the ones who experience them on a daily basis. That’s right. Your employees are a (possibly untapped) wellspring of ideas on how you can make your customers happier. Hold a meeting designed to get them to share those ideas. “Listening to and implementing your employees’ suggestions is a great way to make them feel like valued business partners,” says Freyvogel. Do a “spring cleaning” at least once a year. Purge your office.

There’s no need to hang onto all of that stuff that you either don’t need or that doesn’t work anymore. Your employees will like working in a cleaner environment. “I am a firm believer that our mental processes are influenced by our external environment,” says Freyvogel. “It’s depressing to be surrounded by clutter. Clean up and everyone may enjoy a boost in energy and creativity.”

Review your marketing campaign. You should always make time to take a look at which marketing efforts are driving business and which are not. Do not hesitate to make changes if you think your current efforts aren’t paying off. “A great marketing campaign is such a valuable way to develop your business,” says Freyvogel. “It can be disappointing when you realize something you have been doing simply isn’t working. Stay positive and come up with a better way to spend your marketing budget.”

Overhaul your website. In the same way that retail stores move around their floor sets, you need to make changes to your website to keep people coming back. Make sure all of your information is updated, and post any articles that have recently mentioned your work. “Set your company’s website as the homepage on your browser,” suggests Freyvogel.

Take a look at your business cards. Chances are you are handing out your business cards to all kinds of people: your customers, your vendors, potential customers, everyone. Make sure all of the information is updated. Are all numbers and email addresses current? Does the layout (colors and design) match that of your website and other stationery?

Review professional magazine subscriptions. Are you really reading all those magazines that come each month? Chances are at least some of them are getting piled up somewhere in the office (to the detriment of your de-cluttering efforts) or are simply being thrown away soon after their arrival (to the detriment of your local landfill).

Update your minute book. If you are trading as a corporation, there are certain rules you must follow. One is that you keep a minute book that documents what is discussed at your annual meetings and any other important information about your business (such as a change in your address). There’s a good chance that as a small business owner you could find yourself involved in litigation, and if your minute book isn’t updated, you could be in big trouble. If an opposing attorney brings your minute book into play and discovers that it hasn’t been updated in accordance with rules that corporations must follow, he could say that you are trading as a sole proprietorship.

Consider technology upgrades. If you need new computers or a new phone system to help things run more smoothly, don’t hesitate to make those upgrades. “A new computer, phone system, or other technology upgrade can make a huge difference in the daily lives of your employees,” says Freyvogel.
Review insurance policies. Often insurance policies are set up and then put to the side, forgotten, until something happens. Then, too many business owners discover that they are not adequately covered. Freyvogel suggests that you carefully review all of your policies at least once a year.

Meet with your accountant. Before tax time (Freyvogel suggests the beginning of the year), meet with your accountant to plan your taxes. Discuss with your accountant what you should do with excess cash and take a look at anything you can write off. Conduct your own reseach to learn as you grow. •

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