Things to Consider When Watching How Your Business Grows

People these days are usually more tempted to start up their own business for various reasons. One reason is that they can work for their interest while making a lot of profits in the process.This is a profit that hopefully comes with a higher amount of money as compared to a salary they will otherwise earn while working for an employer. But once you have started your business you must ensure that a few things are set in order that can help you see how your business grows.These are the things that you need to pay close attention to:* Make sure that you know how much your business is worthwhile in relation to the profits it can make. You cannot expect to expand a business without knowing the worth of your company.* As a business owner it wouldn't hurt to know a few things about accounting (at least the basics) because you will be able to keep track of the cash inflow and outflow. You may not always have the time to do this on your own, and at this point the best idea is to hire a professional accountant to do this for you. Choose an experienced accountant who is always updated with the latest legalities related to bookkeeping.* Speaking of accountant and their expertise, make sure to include advisors to keep track of your business growth. Sometimes (if not always) people from outside may have a better perspective on things as compared to you, the one who is always in the core of the matter. These advisors can point out at those things that can help improve the activity and increase profits.


* Don't think that a business, once starting it, won't need further investment, money that you won't always have available. This is the moment when applying for a credit or a loan may be the best thing to do. One piece of advice: always check with the lenders and borrow only from the trusted ones who also offer good loan plans. You don't want to pay all the money you make for paying off the loan.* Always make sure that you save some money in a separate account for emergencies that may occur in your business. This is an important part of the things to consider while watching the business grow. This account should never be touched unless your business needs it urgently.* Keeping all your business records in a good order, especially the financial ones will help you stay updated with the company's needs and what it requires to keep on thriving. Have a team of trusted professionals to assist you with this, is by far the best approach.

The Characteristics of a Good Digital Agency

As opposed to the passive style on operating a delivery business, you can directly go out and find about businesses that will help you to be engaged all the time and likewise make money on consistent basis. Like a good courier driver who considers his customers value and importance of punctuality, you can know more about the organizations you want to do business with to have a greater profitability margin.Delivery of Court FilingsThe legal documents filings usually have same day and tight deadlines. Serving this business area requires a disciplined driver for courier, who is familiar with the locations, abides by the law, and finds the shortest routes. This is due to the fact that the courthouses are always too busy to send and hand over hundreds of documents by themselves, and thus this calls for outsourcing of delivery on daily basis. The high profile clients in this business sector includes law firms, the huge companies with many lawyers which usually have to dispatch hundreds of law documents every day, and these documents are to be handled with great caution. The drivers for courier in this business sector should be aware of all the local requirements related to the legal documents, if they should be filed, stamped, or returned to the dispatcher within a defined time period.Passport DeliveryAn alternate business area that can keep numerous courier drivers busy throughout a day is the passports processing. Providing for the needs of the individuals who need their passports processed and dispatched can work both ways: you can get the requirements for passport (verification of identity, police and security status, photographs) and deliver them to the assigned government office (normally the foreign affairs office), or you can brag a contract with passport issuing organizations to give you the completed passports for their delivery to individuals customers. This is really an exceptionally lucrative business as a large number of individuals every day give their passports for processing or renewing, and this is precisely a business type many companies would dream to do.


Serving the ConsulateJust like the deliveries of passports, servicing to the regular needs of a consulate in your region of operation can give you loads of revenue, especially if the courier driver of your company is familiar with the GPS enabled tracking devices and knows all the shortcuts and routes. Mostly the consulates process a lot of documents that are needed to be picked up and dropped at different locations. There is another opportunity for you, as different documents have different fixed period of delivery, therefore you can bargain with the charging fees for different time frames.

Do You Really Know What Project Management Is?

Stupid title I know, but it got you here didn't it!Everyone knows what Project Management is, don't they? don't you?.. Do you?So tell me why so few people are able to demonstrate how to pull a project together and deliver to a clients requirements in a structured and organised way? Hmm.. and successfully..Lots of question marks appearing here and that's not what I wanted but it is the way I see the world of Project Management when I look back on my experiences and forward at the challenges still facing us today.Project Management, in the simplest language I can muster, is;The start to finish deliver of a specific piece of work which will result in a customer getting at least what he/she paid for, if not more so.No it's not. That's a definition of a project, loosely but pragmatically. Where's the "management" bit gone?Aha, that's the real challenge here isn't it. In most projects that struggle, you will already have all the key elements that make any project "a project", requirements from a customer, funding and a schedule. These elements are often shown as the classic triangle of Cost-Time-Quality. Just in case you are confused by the word "Quality" let me dispel many a confusing discussion - Quality is, loosely, the process or method by which the product or service delivered is aligned to the customers requirements. I.e. they got what they asked for, and paid for.I asked for a red roof, not a green roof. Just because it's a roof doesn't mean I'm going to pay you for it. It hasn't met my requirements. Where's your Quality Controls gone?More on quality another time. It's too deep a discussion for now. However, having the basic elements only make a project "a project", they aren't in themselves critical success factors.In recent years I've been hired to provide consulting services on large projects that were not strictly roles as a Project Manager. I've been asked to set up a governance structure and project delivery framework and "oversee" the project delivery as an independent consultant. Yes that is supposed to in bold type. It is almost the definition of a Project Manager, don't you think?The framework or structure against which you can apply an approach in an orderly and repeatable fashion, to deliver something for someone, is known as a "Methodology". That something that is delivered by a project methodology is always "CHANGE". However you look at it, projects are about change by their definition and in practice.Can you see where I'm going with this? No, oh well I guess I'll carry on for a bit more then...When you instigate a program of change, a project, then you need a starting point or reference as your base, a set of requirements, and a target or destination state - usually the vision of the final product or service - let's call that the deliverable.Hang on a minute.. aren't the Requirements and the Deliverables the same thing? So we're starting at the end? So How?["So How" is a phrase I've adopted from my darling wife, who is not a native English speaker. It provokes so many questions that the only answer I can ever give her is a blank stare most of the time. Try it sometime, it's a great response to many situations.]


One of the biggest challenges I find my customers have with change is just knowing how and where to start. Yes, they can see the future and know where they want to get to, and most of them know where they are today, but many of them just don't know how to get things off the ground. You need a process and a map, and a good set of tools.A decent Project Manager will have a tool box. That tool box is his "Methodology". It has processes and procedures and templates and all sorts of other good stuff that he's picked up, or stolen, over time. It's tried and tested and he knows he can fix pretty well any problem with something from his tool box.Without his trusted tool box he's "flying by the seat of his pants" and that's not a good thing. Not for the smallest of changes or projects. At best he'll find the small projects surprisingly stressful, at worst he'll fail to deliver. Let's not even think about the larger more complex projects if he's not got a good set of tools with him.As with any tools, if you don't know how to use them, it's often safer to not have them in your hands at all. Methodologies are the same. And this IS THE POINT I'm trying to make here. How many project managers do you know, or have you heard of, that have some form of project methodology training or certification, and are still struggling to deliver projects, or failing at every turn? I know a lot, and the supply is being refreshed daily.Too many training organisations teach to pass a test and don't teach to do the job. Too many companies put value in accreditation's without understanding if the individual is competent at practical delivery.I spent many years renovating old cars. It was my Hobby. I read books on panel beating, paint spraying and welding. I knew it all. I bought the tools and set to work. Until I developed the techniques, skills and experience and became competent, could I say I was able to deliver, and then at a very average standard. I screwed a lot up on that journey.Competence comes from developing skill and experience and practicing techniques. Not from paper certificates or classroom sessions. Competence can be accelerated by practical knowledge transfer and expert guidance - also known as coaching, by experienced managers or instructors. I haven't yet found an organisation that is able to take a normal person and turn them into a competent project manager. This is where we fail as an industry.So have I answered the question "What is Project Management?"... Nope.That's tough then. You'll just have to wait for my next installment.I'd love to hear back from you on your views and experience with project managers. There's so much change going on everywhere and it always seems to cause so much more stress and pain than it should. Why?

What To Do When Your Top Producers Lose Engagement

As a leader, it is sometimes hard to recognize when top-producing, independent, A-Team members disengage. Why is it so difficult to see these problems with your former superstars?Your top talent are the people who push back against micromanaging and who generally thrive without much supervision. They are your reliable people, the people you have confided in, and your go-to people. This makes it tough to diagnose when they turn sour because you trust them, and you don't want to believe that they are considering leaving you for your competition.From their perspective, it is like a dating relationship that has run its course. Once you decide to break up with someone, you suddenly find all kinds of things about them that irritate you that serve to reinforce your decision that breaking up with them is the right thing to do.Once your former star starts to believe that they are smarter than everyone else, that they operate better alone than with your team, and that the organization is not benefiting them, your best players suddenly become your biggest problem.How do you know when your A+Team is now barely earning a D-? What are some of the warning signs that your superstars have lost their dedication and energy?

They stop communicating.

They are surly.

They invent reasons to blame the supervisor, the boss, and others.

They start to criticize the organization unfairly.

They believe small, external mistakes are an evil plot against them.

They believe the worst about their co-workers.

They withdraw.
What can a manager do?First, recognize the signs. If you see a change in behavior, attitude, or production, address it sooner rather than later. Try to get to the root of the problem. Are they thinking about another job? Are they unhappy with a policy change? Are they disgruntled because of a miscommunication?Second, if your suddenly-surly team member refuses to communicate with you, bring in a third party to see if they can help discover the issues that are bothering your employee. Your really smart workers, though, who have already made the decision to leave you will likely not confess what is really going on, but some will.


Third, go for honesty. If your employee is up-front with you, you can clarify miscommunications or policy changes that may have caused hurt feelings, anger, or made someone feel unappreciated. An honest conversation reduces uncertainty, builds trust, and paves the way to move forward.Fourth, document what you are doing to help them get back on track. This clarifies what is going on for you and helps in case that person ultimately decides to leave. The military uses a term called MFR - Memorandum For the Record, a short memo that details events, usually on the day those events happened. It is printed out and signed by the people who were in that meeting so everyone is clear.Fifth, remember that one bad apple really does spoil the bunch. Fix them or fire them, but do something sooner rather than later. If you and your management team cannot fix the attitude and the problem, letting them go may be the best option for everyone.Brian Tracey advises, "Fire quickly and hire slowly." Maybe you don't want to lose these talented people. They are smart and clever and you liked them. But it may be time for them to be smart and clever and liked somewhere else.Yes, it is sad to lose quality people. You, as the leader, likely feel that you failed them. Great leaders do not like to give up on people. Great leaders tend to believe that with enough, well, leadership, anyone can be motivated and molded to be fabulous employees. But that sometimes is just not possible. The team member has to WANT to be part of the team, and that means supporting the organization and its mission and goals.You are genuinely upset that they lost loyalty to you and the company. But you must act. To NOT take action with someone whose attitude and performance has become unacceptable brings down everyone else and weakens the organization.Fix it and move on.

Lessons in Leadership From the Military

People love articles written by military generals, admirals and such on the secrets of their leadership. I spent 6 years in the army as a private and eventually corporal equivalent, giving me a very different experience of leadership. I saw both incredible leadership and terrible leadership during my enlistment, and I eventually got the chance to put what I had learned to the test in my final couple of years when I was put in charge of people. One thing I believe to be true is that you can read all the books and take all the courses on leadership, but it doesn't hold a candle to actually learning on the job by experiencing other's mistakes and successes. Based on my experiences as a subordinate and leader in the military, here are what I believe to be some of the most important facets of leadership.1. Know and care about your peopleI will never forget the day I came back to work after my wife suffered a miscarriage. The senior officer in charge of my division came up to me while I was heating my lunch and said "Pete, I'm really sorry to hear what has happened. If you need time off or anything else, you let me know. Family is the most important thing in this world, compared to that none of this shit matters." "This shit" that he was referring to was national intelligence and security. In that moment, not only did he not address me by rank, he told me my family was more important than something that affects 25 million people. That was the greatest piece of leadership I ever experienced and made me feel valued more than any other time I've been working.Would you ever say something like this to your employees? Do you care about them and their life, or do you see them as merely another cog in the machine?2. Never rely on your rankThere is a saying in the military - "respect the rank, not the person that wears it". I can confidently tell you that everyone who said that during my time in the military was a terrible leader that didn't deserve their rank and had no clue how to treat people. This way of thinking is completely backwards - if you aren't worth respecting, why should having a rank change that? The best leaders don't rely on positions, titles or rank, they rely on their interpersonal skills and reputation to compel people to do what they need. If you're relying on your position to compel people to do what you want, you've already failed as a leader. As William Wallace said in Braveheart "men don't follow titles, they follow courage". People follow others because of who they are, not what they are.3. Don't be a bureaucratThis is actually on Larry Page's list. You might think the military is bureaucratic with all the paperwork, but it isn't. The paperwork is really just there because it's a large organisation and they have a lot of things to keep track of. Day to day, there wasn't extraneous paperwork or accounting for absolutely every little thing. Contrast this with office jobs I have worked. On a file I've been expected to print out every piece of correspondence and put it on there, in addition to forms. It also wasn't enough that I printed out the form and emailed it to the relevant person, I had to print out that I had emailed it to that person. I was told that "if you get hit by a bus tomorrow, we need to be able to pick the file up and know what is happening". My thought was "if I get hit by a bus tomorrow, you can bloody well deal with it, I'm sure the customer will understand". That was just about the most offensive thing that's ever been said to me, can you imagine being told that your death really isn't that important, but a client's file is? Not to mention the fact that in an age where we have everything on computer, the concept of huge paper files is redundant and a massive waste of paper.4. Don't micromanageThis goes hand in hand with the above and should really be just common sense by now In the army I held a security clearance and was often left in charge of monitoring a 1.5million square kilometre area. I was trusted to do my job and if anything unusual came up, to use my best judgement and take the appropriate action before someone higher up the chain arrived. In civilian life, as you can see above, I've been expected to print out every interaction. Competence isn't assumed, it must be continually proven. The best leaders give their subordinates the what, and let them work out the how. The only thing that matters is results - if you don't trust your employees to get the job done properly then why the hell did you even hire them?


5. Show some love for your peopleBy far the most effective leaders I had showed love for their subordinates. When you sit in an ivory tower (or your office) every day and only interact with people to give them orders or feedback, they don't know you and they won't like you. Believe it or not there are still people in leadership positions that walk past everyone in the office without so much as a "good morning". They talk only to other people in leadership positions, which can cause serious trust issues from the people lower down the chain. How can they be sure you care about them if you won't even speak to them? The best leaders in the military are the ones that will go out every day no matter how busy they are and mingle with their troops. Sometimes it's a quick and simple "how you doing?", other times they'll ask about your family or something more in depth. It shows the troops that you care and take an interest in their life, which is important when you expect them to trust your orders.6. Your troops eat firstThis is one that the private sector just doesn't seem to get. An officer never eats before his troops do, because they are the ones out on the front lines risking their lives. If they return to see him all nice and clean and having some chow, how happy do you think they're going to be? Officers eat last because if nothing else, it shows the troops that they are important. In the private sector I see the reverse - those higher up in management command huge salaries and get large bonuses, yet when it's time for those lower down on the front lines to get a raise, the line "the company isn't doing well enough to give you more than a 2.5% raise" is trotted out. People can smell that sort of bullshit a mile away, especially when they are after a reasonable raise to feed their family, while the managers are making 5 times that in bonuses alone.7. Stand up for your subordinates when things go wrongThe sign of a good leader is how they treat their subordinates when something goes wrong. A good leader will rightly discipline a subordinate when they have done something wrong, but will stand up against everyone demanding their blood when they have not. I have seen section leaders happily throw their subordinates to the wolves not because they had acted wrongly, but because there was a perception that they had. I've seen entire sections dealt with this way when they had in fact done the right thing, because it was an easy way for a superior to score career points. When you watch it happen it's rather sickening. The chickens would always come home to roost, however, as the trust of their subordinates evaporated and their position became untenable following such events.8. Don't be disproportionate with your feedbackKeeping feedback even is a really important part of having a good relationship with your subordinates. You can't constantly nitpick work but not reward the little things done well. I am not a fan of rewarding people based simply on doing their job, BUT if you are going to punish the small wrongs, you need to praise the small rights. Likewise, if you are really going to go to town on people for doing something wrong, you need to make a big deal when their work is really good. When there is balance, there is harmony. Too much praise and it will lose meaning, too much punishment and people won't want to work for you.

Are All Janitorial Companies Insured?

Insurance coverage from one janitorial company to the next can vary significantly. Sometimes, certain companies don't require the same level of insurance, and sometimes they try to reduce their costs by avoiding certain coverage. If the latter is the case, you probably don't want to work with that company as it seems they are willing to cut costs indiscriminately, and this may ultimately reflect on the work they do.Nevertheless, answering the question "are all janitorial companies insured" can be complicated, so let's take a look instead at the types of coverage you should expect from your cleaning company?Business Liability InsuranceWhen a janitor or one of their employees damages something in a client's home or office, they need business liability insurance to cover it - or they'll be out of pocket for the costs. Minor damage is obviously not a major problem, but if your janitorial company accidentally breaks a computer or other major equipment, the costs can run into the thousands. Can an uninsured janitorial company afford these costs? Possibly not. More importantly, the costs of lawsuits can far exceed the cost of damage, so you want to make sure your janitorial company has a valid business liability or general liability insurance plan. These types of coverage also cover the costs of injury to a janitorial staff member while working at your office.Property InsuranceYour company and your janitorial service provider probably have a lot of equipment and supplies that need to be protected. On site, you may have office furniture, computers, chairs, phones, and other equipment. Your janitor probably needs vacuums, cleaners, brushes, and dusters (to name a few), that you may or may not supply in order for your cleaning services to be properly completed. Property insurance with a limit equal to the value of your office equipment will help you protect said equipment in case of damage. In addition, this insurance should be structured such that your janitor can work in multiple sites (unless they are contracted to clean in your offices only). You may want to get this insurance yourself, or insist that your janitorial company is also covered.


Building CoverageBuilding coverage is important if you own the business where your office is located. While it is unlikely that a janitor will have this coverage, building coverage protects you against damage from the elements including fire, tornado, hurricane, or storm. However, your janitor will probably want to invest in business income and extra expense coverage which will cover income and equipment loss in case of problems like illness to the service provider or lost, damaged, or stolen equipment. Anything that impacts the ability of the insured to earn income (providing that item was covered elsewhere in their insurance) will allow the service provider to recover lost income. For example, if a janitorial company owner falls ill and cannot provide regular service, lost income would be covered. In addition, if a fire occurs at a location and destroys all the janitor's cleaning equipment, the cost of the equipment and any lost income would also be covered.Ultimately, insurance helps protect the office manager/owner and ensure that cleaning services are provided with no unexpected costs to the office. In addition, these insurance policies will ensure that the janitor can continue to work or receive income in case of an unexpected accident. Not all janitorial companies are covered by all types of insurance, so it's up to you to consider your needs and check that your janitor is covered appropriately.

Social Media and Project Management

In their infancy, social media networks were predominantly used by the public to communicate their personal news to each other. However, social media is now a vital part of running a business. Most businesses now use at least one social network platform. They use these to promote their business, market their products or services and to keep clients and customers updated with their latest news and information. They are also used in-house for the purpose of collaboration and communication.As such, using social media is part of the role of a project manager. It is also a relatively recently added topic on project management courses as the need for project management training in this area is now recognised. If social communications are part of your role, then you may be wondering what the future holds in this arena.Networks
As social media is constantly changing, it is difficult to make too many predictions about the future. What can be said, is that managers are spending more time than ever developing networks through planning, creation, and management. However, some people still prefer to use traditional methods of communication. Therefore, it is important to link both online and offline projects and give an equal amount of input to each and making sure they have the same relevant data. A social project manager is now expected to be able to manage both face-to-face and online collaborations.Accessibility
As a result of the greater diversity in most workplaces and the anti-discrimination laws in place. Customers and clients will also come from a range of backgrounds and some may have a disability. For this reason, the role of a social project manager is to ensure that information is accessible for everyone and this may entail using a variety of media. It is essential to take into account all the needs of your users. It is possible that you may need specialist IT support with this so that you can implement the use of different platforms and tools.


Interoperability
This refers to the way that you can link the different social networks you use by sharing information, links, photographs and videos from one site to the next. This practice is still in its infancy at the moment and further developments to interoperability can be expected. The aim is for social project managers to be able to manage all their accounts from a single platform. There is a growing interest in this type of dashboard product. However, there are still plenty of current products to choose from that allow social managers to enhance their collaboration and communication.Although the future is unpredictable, it is guaranteed that social media will play an ever increasing role in business. If you are not yet in the role of project manager and you aspire to become a great project manager, then you might find it beneficial to undertake some project management training with a specific focus on using social media in the workplace. It is likely that you will learn skills that will be invaluable in the years to come and particularly helpful for making remote project management work well.