Business Solutions
|
business process (biz'
nis pros'
es) |
best practice (best prak'
tis) |
|
1.
a description of tasks and outcomes
associated with a business activity. The
business process is often drawn,
depicting tasks, roles, resources and
actions to be taken according to the
business needs.
2. a
cookbook for running a business and
reaching business goals defined in
an organization's business strategy |
1.
a management idea which asserts that there is a
technique, method, process, activity, incentive or
reward that is more effective at delivering a particular
outcome than any other technique, method, process, etc.
The idea is that with proper processes, checks, and
testing, a project can be rolled out and completed with
fewer problems and unforeseen complications |
Predictability
is a virtue that is often overlooked and therefore undervalued.
As managers many of us thrive on crisis and the thrill of
solving the next problem. Often we do this because we
believe it makes us necessary to the success of our business.
However, our collective goal as business owners is to have our
businesses operate smoothly and profitability without us
there. You cannot accomplish this goal without well
designed business processes.
If you would like to
determine if you should consider re-evaluating your business
processes take a moment and ask yourself a few simple questions.
|
1. Does
my business seem to have at least one daily crisis? |
|
2. Do I
tell my friends "My people are idiots! I don't
know what my staff would do if I wasn't there every day? |
|
3. Do
you ever wonder why you need all the staff that you
employ? |
|
4. Do you wake
up at night trying to figure out all of the things you
need to get done in the morning? |
|
5. Do you
honestly believe that you can go on vacation for two
weeks and not call your business to find out how things
are going? |
|
6. Do you
often have to intervene in resolving customer or vendor
issues? |
|
7. Does the
same business event often result in different outcomes? |
These problems are
generally symptomatic of businesses that do not have well
designed business processes. The lack of optimized
business process often causes management intervention for
common and simple problem resolution. The job of senior
management / ownership is to grow the business. Having to
routinely deal with these types of problems takes your focus
away from your primary job. How many times have you said
to yourself, "There just aren't enough hours in the day to
deal with what I really need to deal with"? If you're
wondering why your business isn't growing here's a large part of
your answer. The vast majority of people that we speak to
want their business to grow and not be the proud owner of a
marginal business. If that's what you want for yourself
and your business it's time to get serious and at least consider
operating your dealership in a new way.
For most of us 95%
of the problems we address on a daily basis are the direct
result of poor or non-existent business processes. We rely
on Sally or Bob to "know" how to handle a problem correctly. However,
employees require a known structure that allows
them to proactively identify a potential problem and react to
the problem with an appropriate solution. These solutions
become part of your Best Practices/Standard Operating Procedures
and you now have a known and prescribed way to handle everyday
problems. If you're a crisis junkie have no fear, there
will be more than enough large problems for you to handle such
as how you are going to get financing to expand your new
building.
Most of our staffs
are well intentioned and want to do a good job for us.
However, if you have not given them the appropriate structure
and environment to work in they will attempt to improvise
solutions which potentially means that every time a problem
happens you will get a different solution. Because
employees don't have the requisite knowledge or experience to
solve all problems they will often
create an inappropriate solution to a problem which then causes
a new and bigger problem for YOU to resolve. These
employee improvised solutions cost you time, money, and often
customers.
We have frequently
observed that businesses with poor business practices attempt to
solve problems by hiring more staff thinking that the problems
are caused by lack of staff.
If you haven't created appropriate processes you have now
created the worst of all worlds. More payroll expense
bleeding your business and more people "making up" solutions.
Our team has been
involved with the evaluation and creation of business process
for dozens of years. We can partner with you and your
staff to create reliable processes that eliminate the chaos,
allow you to focus on other aspects of your business, and
improve your profitability.
|
