It is a well-understood axiom of the business world that there are two ways to improve the bottom line of the business. Stated simply, those two ways are to make money or to cut costs. Now no business can cost cut their way to profitability.
But by the same token, waste and excessive internal costs for any business can eat away any profits that business is enjoying. So to get ahead in a competitive business environment, both methods must be employed.
When a business turns its eye to cost cutting, there is a stated or unstated business objective that the business owners will discover significant bleeding of revenues that are going on within the systems of doing business.
So if those systems can be improved to eliminate that waste, the business would literally make money from the inside out because the overhead of the business would drop so dramatically.
The usual progress of such a cost saving campaign by a business is to find “the low hanging fruit” first. By that we mean that in order to satisfy the demands of management, middle management will identify superficial savings in hopes of satisfying the requirement.
Hence switching from disposable cups to mugs or cutting back on break room amenities often go on the chopping block first.
Sadly, while there may be some superficial savings to be found in such places, the significant introduction of efficiencies for any business lie at a deeper level and take a more in-depth process of locating problems with how things get done internally.
The methodology of finding these “money pits” within a business is often called “Process Improvement.”
The concept of process improvement is to diagram a particular business process from inception to completion and document the stages it goes through, the handing over of authority for the process and to pin point places where inefficient methods are causing excessive cost in executing that process en route to the final stage of process completion.
Routinely, the areas of business structure that most often identified as being candidates for a process improvement examination are…
* Excessive overhead between departments. Departments within a business are notorious for taking on the atmosphere of a fiefdom and becoming resistant if not suspicious of other departments in the same company.
When that happens, department managers will introduce paperwork and unnecessary processing to cause “work” to move to his or her department from another or for completed jobs to continue along their path.
This excessive overhead can be costly at the department level and bog down the business as a unit enough to actually reduce the profitability of the organization.
* Communication problems. A business process moves through the organization as each department or entity adds value to the process through to the completion of the job.
However if communications between departments or people along the process chain are flawed, a process can grind to a halt and wait for hours if not days before the missed communication is discovered and the work is put into the cycle to be completed. This slow down or break down in communications can be a tremendous drain on the company.
To correct the problem, modern tools of communication should be reviewed so each significant person along the chain is quickly made aware of work that needs to be done and can signal to the next agent that their step is complete and that the process is moving to the next stage.
* An inefficient IT infrastructure. Out of date computer programs that are not integrated with each other cause needless work to be done to take data from one system and moving it into the next computer program only to be entered again at the next stop along the chain.
Standardization and integration of data and systems will introduce huge efficiencies to the process.
By streamlining the process of moving a business requirement from inception to conclusion, we can remove much of the inefficiency and waste that has become inherent to that process.
We can introduce up to date integration designs both at the IT and process level to quickly move the process from one department to the next upon completion.
The outcome is a streamlined organization that is no longer “bleeding money” due to inefficiencies and as such is making money “from the inside out”.
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Solid Time Management For Net Marketers
There are an endless number of ways an individual can get organized and make the most of their time. Here is the very simple method I use to keep my day to day efforts on track.
I have created a daily checklist that covers all my basic tasks. Here is my list, and a brief description of each component.
1. Administrative Duties – First thing out of bed, I check all admin email accounts and respond to every message. This includes member/downline support, answering question…
time management, internet marketing, home business
There are an endless number of ways an individual can get organized and make the most of their time. Here is the very simple method I use to keep my day to day efforts on track.
I have created a daily checklist that covers all my basic tasks. Here is my list, and a brief description of each component.
1. Administrative Duties – First thing out of bed, I check all admin email accounts and respond to every message. This includes member/downline support, answering questions from prospects, confirming received payments, and any other vital correspondence that needs to be taken care of.
I continue to check my email every hour throughout the day, so no response gets neglected.
2. Promoting – The next thing I do is work my advertising strategy. This includes posting ads to safelists, surfing or buying credits at some of my favorite traffic exchanges, monitoring any pay per click or banner campaigns I have underway, and checking my tracking stats.
I also try to spend a little time each day looking for new advertising options to test.
3. Networking – Working my leads, participating in forums, swapping links, approaching new contacts; this is what it’s all about, right? I can’t allow myself to slip into robot mode, where I just sit and click all day.
I have to spend time every day networking with other marketers. This is how I learn, grow, and profit from my efforts.FREE INFORMATION
4. Development – This component covers making improvements to my website, composing my newsletter, building new banners, writing new ad copy, etc.
11 Secrets To Better Time Management For Entrepreneurs
Why is it that the Bill Gate’s of this world are rich and famous? What secret do they know that the rest of us don’t?
If you study their lives closely, you’ll discover the rich and famous have certain habits that attribute to their success. Successful people are very careful about how they spend their time.
No matter how you slice it, we all have 24 hours in a day, so the key lies in learning to use our time wisely. Below are some ways you can dramatically increase your production.
Time Management for Entrepreneurs
Why is it that the Bill Gate’s of this world are rich and famous? What secret do they know that the rest of us don’t? If you study their lives closely, you’ll discover the rich and famous have certain habits that attribute to their success.
Successful people are very careful about how they spend their time. No matter how you slice it, we all have 24 hours in a day, so the key lies in learning to use our time wisely.
Below are some ways you can dramatically increase your productivity through more effective use of your time.
1. MONITOR HOW YOU CURRENTLY USE YOUR TIME: If it seems like your day slips by all too quickly, try creating a log of your daily activities.
Once you see where you are spending your time, you can identify and focus on the activities that provide the greatest returns for you personally and financially.
Start your log by writing down what time you wake up, get ready, and begin work. Calculate how much time you spend on individual activities such as email, phone calls, and client work.
=> FREE TIME TRACKING TOOL: Here’s a personal time survey to help you discover how much time you spend on various work activities: Personal Time Survey Tracker
How many times have we heard the saying “we learn from our mistakes”. I have to agree with this saying, and also that the lessons we learn hardest we learn best!
I have learned a lot from my mistakes, sadly (for me) most of them were made before the Internet existed as the fantastic networking tool it is today.
Today it is possible to read articles or join a forum and get great advice (and not so great advice) from forums.
While it is great to learn from our mistakes, it I…
Business basics, business,
How many times have we heard the saying “we learn from our mistakes”. I have to agree with this saying, and also that the lessons we learn hardest we learn best!
I have learned a lot from my mistakes, sadly (for me) most of them were made before the Internet existed as the fantastic networking tool it is today.
Today it is possible to read articles or join a forum and get great advice (and not so great advice) from forums.
While it is great to learn from our mistakes, it is better to learn from the mistakes of others, or by ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’ as Newton said.
These are my ‘business mistakes’ I have learned from.
1) Keep your monthly fixed costs as low as possible, and make your number one priority to arrange an equal amount of regular income on a regular monthly basis to cover this amount.
If there was one piece of advice I would give it would be the above, as more businesses go bust due to poor cash flow than anything else!
2) Thoroughly research and work in your mind and bounced off other trusted people, your idea. Market test it as much as possible while keeping the idea as quiet as possible.
3) Get a business plan on paper (not the sort the bank or enterprise agencies use as they are by and large a load of rubbish (although you will need this for the bean counters).
(1) above, and set in stone a solid plan for achieving this. After you hit break even continue it on to the next target, and so on.
I just used the magic word there, ‘target’. you MUST be sales orientated in business as the owner, if you are not then you are failing in your main duty which is to ensure the continued existence of the business.
4) Do NOT care what others think about you, i.e. what car you drive etc. ALL of this will change if you stick to the plan and keep your focus on short term targets and longer term goals.
I just tripped another magic word in business ‘ Focus’ .
5) Keep your focus, decide what the targets are, work out how to get them, and focus on doing that. If you need £1000 a month to pay the bills, then this is what you MUST do.
If you lose focus of your core objective, you are going to lose out big time, and end up failing.
If you doubt the power of focus, then try this test:- Get a friend to hold 3 tennis balls in their hand Get the friend to throw all three at you in one go Try to catch the balls Repeat three times. I bet you will not catch many, if any at all.
Now get them to throw them again, and this time focus on catching one ball. Repeat three times Now you will have caught one ball three times. FREE INFORMATION
It is true in business that you must focus on the core objective, just as with the balls once you catch one, you move onto the next, until you have achieved all your goals, or at least your most important ones.
Of all the skills needed to succeed, I would say focus is up there with the top 3 along with enthusiasm and determination.
SETTING OBJECTIVES AND DAILY ACTIONS PLANNING TO REACH YOUR OBJECTIVES
Planning is the base of execution and it is practically hard to accomplish anything without it. Serendipity does exist but it doesn’t happen to everyone!
You need plan for everything that you do in your life, even for a normal day that you spend. You setup alarm to wake up in the morning so that you can hit gym at this time and reach office by this time and so on and so forth!
Therefore, it is of prime importance to develop a plan to reach your objectives.
We all are living on this planet with some objective. The trick of achieving objectives is to focus and put in steps in place to achieve them.
This can only happen once you identify what is important and worth your time and effort!
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Objectives set the pulse of your life. You live to achieve them! They vary from person to person and can be short or long term.
It can be starting your own business, building wealth, becoming rich or could be short term like losing weight, attaining promotion in your existing role etc.
If you don’t know how to set goals then you should follow SMART technique which stands for Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Achievable, Result Oriented and Time bound. Your objectives should be SMART for you to head towards them.START TODAY TO LIVE WITH MORE NOT LESS – BUILD WEALTH NOT DEBT
If your goals don’t excite you to achieve them then they are not set correctly. Your objective will excite only if you are looking forward to the results.
Modify your daily actions to include activities that will lead to your objective
You gradually head towards your goals.
You never achieve them overnight. Hence it is necessary to devise the daily action to reach your objectives. For instance, if your objective is to lose 10 kgs in two months then you must start with your diet plan and exercising schedule.
Daily routine will help you achieve them. Create the roadmap and then start following it. A cheat day means extension and delays to your objectives, so do those misses, only if you have an appetite to delay!
It is ok to resort to tactical fixes in the short run especially when you have a strict deadline. But in long run, tactical solutions never bear fruits.
This holds true in all objectives, it could be concerning your life, the project that you are working on or anything which involves planning.
SETTING OBJECTIVES AND DAILY ACTIONS PLANNING TO REACH YOUR OBJECTIVES
Objectives set the pulse of your life. You live to achieve them! They vary from person to person and can be short or long term.
Modify your daily actions to include activities that will lead to your objective
You gradually head towards your goals.
you never achieve them overnight. Hence it is necessary to devise the daily action to reach your objectives.
For instance, if your objective is to lose 10 kgs in two months then you must start with your diet plan and exercising schedule. Daily routine will help you achieve them. Create the roadmap and then start following it.
Hold yourself accountable
You are the owner and driver of your objective. Whether you are working for yourself, your company, you should monitor regular progress of your goals.
This will help you in ensuring if you are on track of achievement or not. Every Friday take a backward look at the week that passed and ask yourself if the week was productive or unproductive.
If it was productive then you are reaching where you want to but if it was unproductive, refocus on the goal and identify the blockers. Identify what you need to incorporate additionally to cope up for the week that passed.