I believe in sharing goodwill.

I believe that community starts with me.

I believe that my company is here to serve.

I believe.

What do you believe?  What are you doing about it?

Where ever we start out, we start out with an idea or a dream.  We want to do something to serve some purpose.be it open a company or companies to make as much money as possible, or to reach the top of the jungle gym.  It all starts with a dream.

Here's a video from a dreamer - a dreamer that failed again and again and again.until he became the best:

Now.keep it movin'!

Aepiphanni Business Solutions is a Strategy Consulting Firm dedicated to serving the needs of business leaders and executives. We specialize in helping people get into business, and stay there.  We welcome clients in the personal and professional services industries, including restaurants, catering and event planning.  As always, we welcome your comments, thoughts, questions and suggestions.  If you are seeking a business assessment, or have further questions about creating your strategy or developing your vision, please give me, Rick Meekins, a call at 678-265-3908, or email us at info@aepiphanni.com.

Labels: Attitude, Business Startup, Business Strategy, Extraordinary, Focus, Management and Leadership, Mission, Rant, Recession Buster, Strategic Planning, Vision

Do you find yourself almost re-inventing the wheel every time a certain thing is due ? maybe getting your bookkeeping in order right before tax time or order office supplies for the company?

Have you gotten to the point in your business where you realize you need to start handing things off to other people, then realize that you?ve simply been operating on auto-pilot, making training much more complicated than it needs to be?

What?s missing in your business is process.  Peggy Duncan, productivity expert, says that if you are going to do something more than once, you need to create a process.  Additionally, if the process isn?t working, you need to adjust it!

When creating processes for your business, it?s often a case of working backwards from your goal.  You look at what you want to have done, say, mailing an envelope to someone. 

• Write the letter
• Fold it to fit into the envelope
• Get an envelope
• Put the letter in the envelope
• Get a stamp
• Get the address
• Put the stamp on the envelope
• Write the address and return address on the envelope
• Get the envelope to the post office

Rather obvious set of steps. 

But what if there are no stamps, or no envelopes?  Where is the letter?  What post office should I use, or is there a local mailbox?

Many times, when processes are created, certain basic steps are skipped ? simply because they are taken for granted.

So, reviewing the process, we might want to add some of the details

• Write the letter a letter about a specific topic to a certain person that contains the following information.  They font we use is Arial, font size is 12 points, color is black.  Ensure that the letter is properly formatted using the template we?ve created
• Have the letter edited by your supervisor.  This is important since very communication we make in the company is part of our branding.
• Make any necessary corrections from the supervisor
• Print the letter out on a specific type of paper.  If we are out of paper, please check the supply closet for extra paper.  If you notice that the supply of paper is low, please let your supervisor know
• Go to the mail room, where you will find envelopes, a postage scale with postage rate information and stamps, among a number of other items.
• Get a standard letter envelope and the proper amount of postage out of the supply closet.  If you are not sure what the amount is, you will find postage rates on the form next to the scale.  If the scale is not in the post room, please alert your super.
• Fold it to fit into the envelope in a c-fold format so all ends fit together ? (see diagram)
• Put the letter in the envelope with the addressee?s information facing up, but still behind the fold (see diagram)
• Write the address at the center of the envelope, the return address on the upper left corner of the envelope and the stamp on the upper right corner of the envelope(see diagram)
• Place the letter in the mail bin on the table in the mail room.

?or something to that effect.  Videos might work even better, if you?ve got the resources.

Building your processes DOES take time.  However it gives you some basis to make improvements in your business.  Seeing how things are done ? writing it out ? often makes you ask the questions, ?why do we do that?? or ?There?s got to be a better way.

Review your processes, periodically, to see what works and what makes sense.  Maybe there is a way to reduce the cost of the process.  Maybe certain parts of a process need to be handed off to other people who might be better or cost less.  Maybe there are certain steps you need to add or omit, or maybe there is a way of redesigning your office to make it work better.

Processes are essential to efficiency in business.  One precautionary thought ? don?t get so tied up in process that your business comes to a standstill. You?ve always, always, always got to keep moving forward.

At Aepiphanni Business Solutions, we are a Small Business Consulting Firm dedicated to serving the needs of small business owners. We specialize in helping business leaders and executives organize, plan and develop strategies for their organizations. We are committed to our clients' success. 

If you have further questions about creating your strategy or developing your vision, please give me, Rick Meekins, a call at 678-265-3908, or email us at info@aepiphanni.com.

Labels: Business Development Strategies, Business Growth Strategies, Business Process, Extraordinary, Management and Leadership, Small Business Consulting

For more info on Tony and his work, check him and his book out at www.60secondstrategist.com.  Take the quiz ? see what your Strategic Quotient is.

At Aepiphanni Business Solutions, we are a Small Business Consulting Firm dedicated to serving the needs of small business owners. We specialize in helping business leaders and executives organize, plan and develop strategies for their organizations. We are committed to our clients' success. 

If you have further questions about creating your strategy or developing your vision, please give me, Rick Meekins, a call at 678-265-3908, or email us at info@aepiphanni.com.

Labels: Business Decisions, Strategic Foresight, Strategic Planning, Vision

I responded - ?Of course not.  We don?t waste water just because we have it.?  While without the results he had expected, he triggered a very wise thought.

A long gone saying I remember from my childhood was, ?a penny saved is a penny earned.?  I suppose it took me about 35 years to figure out what it meant.  But it embraced the concept of saving money, or in essence, preserving our resources, no matter how small or insignificant they seem to be.

The extension of that thought is with your business: as a result of the changes you?ve had to go through in order to operate your business, how many of the new habits or practices will you continue once the economy begins to prosper.  Some recession busting practices that might make sense to carry forward include:

• Having virtual meetings
• Working virtually
• Outsourcing non core activities
• Holding webinars in lieu of short training sessions
• Using the internet as an effective advertising medium
• Building strong referral networks
• Demonstrating value
• Doing what you do - better

I suppose that if there are some good outcomes to a recession, ?cleaning out the junk? has got to be one thing on my list.  What I mean by that is getting rid of all of the expenses ? reducing costs ? of things that weren?t core to the business, or part of your organization?s brand.  That might mean selling extra equipment, getting rid of company cars and other non-essential benefits and going out and buying your own coffee.

Now, ask yourself ? that is, if you intend to keep your business thriving through the recession, ?where can I find my pennies??  What are the small things you can do that will add up over time?  There are lots of them.  Here are a few:

• Use both sides of the paper (recycle)
• Don?t print documents that you can read and save on your computer
• Turn your non-essential computers off at night
• Have a company like cBeyond do a free evaluation of your phone system ? they might be able to save you tons of money
• Manage your employees? hours.  If you let half of your team go and are paying the other half overtime most of the time, was that really the best option?  Can you bring some back as contractors?
• Use your team to help steer the company.  You be the leader, have them provide the ?go!?

Happy collecting!

As always, we welcome your thoughts and feedback.

At Aepiphanni Business Solutions, we are a Small Business Consulting Firm dedicated to serving the needs of small business owners. We specialize in helping business leaders and executives organize, plan and develop strategies for their organizations. We are committed to our clients' success. 

If you have further questions about creating your strategy or developing your vision, please give me, Rick Meekins, a call at 678-265-3908, or email us at info@aepiphanni.com.

Labels: Business Decisions, Business Growth Strategies, Business Path, Management and Leadership, Recession Buster

Labels: Small Business News