Management System = BUSINESS Growth

So you may be wondering what is with the title of this article Management System = GROWTH.   So there is so much talk out there whether its in the marketing fields, finance fields, sales fields with regard to GROWTH, but something businesses forget about as part of this is their systems.  In order to have growth, your business needs great marketing and sales strategies but you also need GREAT systems to support your business and mitigate your Safety and Environmental Risk.

Have I lost you……just stay with me and I will explain.

Safety and Environmental Management System

Safety systems are important in any size business, but most small businesses think “Its a nice to have” and they don’t need it.  They have been ticking along for X amount of years with no issue.  Yes that is great, but with a small business your client base is also small so your risk and exposure is also low.  With growth comes more clients, more exposure and more risk.  So without a great Management System, that is embedded into your business, how are you going to protect your business with regards to your Moral Obligations, Legal Obligations and Business Drivers (fines, injury costs, insurance premiums) in relation to Safety and Environment??   The Answer = MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Management Systems also serve another purpose during GROWTH and that is to show that your business is committed to mandatory Safety and Environmental Legislation when submitting tenders.   All government agencies and most large businesses require during their tender process for businesses to be able to demonstrate their commitment to their Safety and Environmental obligations.  If you are unable to do this, no matter how great your service, your product or even your marketing strategies, you will be knocked back for lack of commitment to your mandatory obligations.

I read an article recently that quoted for every $ you spend on safety the return is between $3 to $4…… be it through reduced incidents, positive publicity or just winning that great contract!!…….

Safety isn’t expensive, its priceless

Quality Assurance Management System

Quality assurance didn’t die in the 90’s like a lot of people think.  When I ask business do you have quality assurance procedures I get a very blank look.  But when you ask further they do have something in place, but they didn’t realise this forms part of a Quality Assurance Management System.  A better word I think is BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.  So its purely about how to do something and having this well documented for the next person to follow.   Whether your business is 1 x person or 100 x people its again important to have a great Management System to support the business processes.  Some examples of things you may have documented are

• Invoicing procedure
• Account payable procedure
• Social Media Procedure
• Client Management Procedure
• Human Resource Procedure
• Then task specific procedures or instructions on things such as stocktaking, product manufacture, welding, product supply etc.

So where do you start???

The best way to start is to get people within your business to write down what they do in a day.  This way you are then able to form a tasks list and there is often an overlap between positions.  Once you have a structure you can then work on developing each individual procedure for the task/process.  This is sometimes the hardest part, but if you just write how you do something and then have someone else try and follow it, that’s the best way to test the document.  Remember any Management System is all about continuous improvement.  You may not get it right the first time, or the second time, but eventually it will be a great document that will evolve with your business as it grows.

Its really not hard, its just having the time to sit down and start working out what you do, and what you need.

So if you are a startup business, or a business looking for growth, the only way to manage during a growth phase is to have processes documented. Please don’t be a business that ends up crashing and burning during a growth phase because you didn’t have systems in place.

If you would like to grow your business, and want to make sure that you have systems in place to support this growth feel free to contact me to discuss further, 0413 917722 or send me an email on cheryl@zeroexposure.com.au. Website www.zeroexposure.com.au

As part of networking groups I am part of I also have some great connections with finance professionals, marketing professionals and tender writers that too can help you grow your business