What is Business Process and Why is it Important?

   

Starting a new business is exciting; but it can also be hectic and at times even a bit frustrating.  If you
can master five basic process management, systems and organization tools, it will make things a lot easier for you.  Remember that investing time and energy into developing and maintaining sustainable business processes and systems that keep your day-to-day activities organized sets you up for success.

Start by developing your Business Operations Manual.  Make a comprehensive list of your administrative and operational procedures; and then outline what is required to carry out each procedure.  Include tasks and information on topics such as client intake, marketing strategy (both traditional and social media activity), networking, billing, time keeping, systems,
backup (detail on this to follow), vendors and suppliers.  Ideally if you were to hand the manual to someone, he or she could select any process and carry it out from start to finish based on your documentation, so don’t leave anything out.
Once you have your systems and procedures documented, you need to formulate business documents and templates to support them.  For example, contracts/agreements, invoices, and time tracking forms should be ready before you have your first client
interaction.  As you take on clients, your documents should also include step-by-step guides for the support services
you provide those clients.  Having documented steps and templates to reference when it comes time to work on a task will ensure you don’t miss anything, which not only saves time but can help you to avoid errors.
Business resources are just as important as business documents.  Create and maintain a database to track your system access, memberships, affiliate programs and passwords.  Be sure to include the name of the system/organization, URL, login, password, costs and expiration date.  For security reasons it is a good idea to password protect this file.
Your business documents and templates are essential for managing your business; therefore you need to ensure that you back them up regularly.  The system for this does not need to be complicated – a disc with everything on it is an easy solution, but
does require you to set a schedule and hold yourself accountable for getting it done.  You also might want to look into
automatic backup software or cloud storage.  Regardless of what solution works best for you, just remember that
losing your important data means losing billable time for clients as you recreate those critical documents.
Lastly, be sure to re-visit and update your systems and processes regularly.  In the beginning, quarterly reviews are recommended but once your business is up and running smoothly, yearly reviews are sufficient.  Set a reminder on your calendar if you need to.  With any luck you will create systems and processes from the beginning that can sustain growth and only need tweaking as your business grows.
One final thought.  We all get caught up working “in” our business rather than working “on” it, but developing tools to keep your business organized will not only eliminate some of that tendency, but serve as a skill to attract new clients.   Creating systems and processes that are easily repeatable and sustainable as business increases should become a top priority and a best practice.
Are you a virtual assistant needing to set up your business processes so your day-to-day operations are efficient and not overly time-consuming?  The VA Resource is where you can find Professional, Customizable, and of course Affordable business templates, documents and tools that are exactly what you need in order to dedicate your time to prospecting and managing billable client projects.  The clock is ticking so don’t
lose another minute!
Katie Bauer is the owner of The VA Resource – www.thevaresource.com , where you’ll
find unique, easy to use and extremely affordable business documents and tools
that are essential whether you are a new Virtual Assistant or an experienced VA
looking to organize your business processes.

Master Your Time, Master Your Income!

Yep, this subject has really gotten my attention. I am so glad I finally picked up Dan Kennedy’s “No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs,” after meaning to read it for quite some time. You’ve gotta love a time management book that’s short enough to read in a couple hours or less!
Here are three gems from Dan…why not try them out this week and see what happens?
1) Absolute punctuality is absolutely powerful. As a professional speaker for nearly three decades, Dan has shared the stage with some of the most successful people on the planet, including Colin Powell and Henry Kissinger. The one discipline the top achievers all share is punctuality: being where you are supposed to be, when you’re supposed to be, as promised, without excuses. This provides personal power for a number of reasons – it demonstrates your integrity, it’s a simple way to impress others, and it speaks volumes about your self-esteem and self-discipline.
I’ll admit, this is one area where Dan and I differ. Especially in social situations, I’m not one to get stressed out about being late…plus, I find that when I am on time, I often find myself sitting there alone because the other people are late. Well, that might just prove Dan’s point: punctuality stands out, in a good way. I think I’ll give this approach another try, by integrating it with the next tip:
2) Make the most of “Odd-Lot” time. Although Dan is a fanatic scheduler who looks for efficiency when setting up meetings and business trips, he still has to sit in traffic from time to time or wait in offices or airports. In the car, he listens to books on tape, both educational and entertaining. He keeps files of articles torn from magazines that have caught his eye and carries them with him on trips; once an article is done, he generally throws it away and lightens his load as he goes.
I always have a notepad handy to jot down ideas and make a note of copy that I think is good. When I’m waiting to pick up my kids, I use that time to make these notes or just “ideate” on things that would help my business. Who knew you could be more patient and more productive at the same time?
3) Improve your work environment and hit peak productivity faster. Take a look at where you’re working: is it somewhere you’d be proud to show the world? Do you feel comfortable there? Dan is a big believer in psychological triggers and packs his home office with images that remind him of qualities he wants to attain. He has several clocks positioned around the office to remind himself of the passing of time, and he has been using Asian Feng Shui principles since they first caught the attention of Western business.
Sometimes it’s challenging to work in a home office, no matter how tidy it is or how ‘Feng Shui compliant’ it might be! One way to get to a more productive place is to literally get up and go work in another place: at a coffee shop, a shared office, heck, even a park bench might work. Some people even take train rides just to have an uninterrupted place to work, and I’ve read of one entrepreneur who occasionally rents herself a hotel room in her own town when she has a bunch of work to do. As Dan says, if they can’t find you, they can’t bother you!
All in all, what makes these so powerful is that they are 100% in your control. When you start paying attention to how you spend your time and making small changes, great things start to happen. You may get the feeling that you’ve been given a big helping of the most precious, irreplaceable resource there is: time.
Author Resource -> Copywriting guru Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero has been helping entrepreneurs and copywriters get their marketing messages razor sharp since 1999. Get free access to 5 tips to turn your “blah” sales message into red-hot copy that ROCKS… at  http://redhotcopy.com

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Online Ondernemen is geen goochelen

"Online Ondernemen is geen goochelen. Het is geen magie. Het is zeker ook geen 'snel rijk' verhaal. Het is gewoon hard werken, maar op zo'n leuke manier dat niet veel Online Ondernemers het over 'werken' zullen hebben.

Wat dacht u voor de full time online ondernemer van een woon-werk verkeer van 17 seconden? Alleen dat zou bij velen hun dag al snel 2 uur langer maken. Geen files, geen ergernis. Ook dat is één van de voordelen van online zaken doen.

Internet is nog altijd flink in beweging. Skype, Hyves, Myspace, YouTube, in enorm korte tijd wisten ze enorme aantallen Internetters te binden. Hoe we denken over Online Marketing is soms net zo snel aan het veranderen. ALLES is mogelijk op Internet, als het al niet echt zo is, dan geeft het toch zeker wel het gevoel dat het zo is."



Dit zijn de woorden van Tom, één van de eerste Nederlandse internet ondernemers die succesvol op het wereld wijde web zijn inkomen heeft opgebouwd. Zijn verhaal kan ook het jouwe worden. Lees verder hier