Latest Articles
- How to Get the Most Out of a Business Health Review with Your Accountant
While working with my clients and as Program Manager of the Entrepreneurial Assistance Program I have a common theme presents itself. How do I figure out how my business is doing? As a business owner I need to know the answer to this myself. So when I meet with my accountant, I want to give him the most up to date and accurate information. Thus providing the data he needs to help me make sound financial decisions. Your accountant can do this for you but they will need “information”.
- Planning For Success
So why is planning important? Without it you will waist a considerable amount of money, time, and resources. You can’t get where you want to go if you don’t know where you want to end up. Working with clients I usually find businesses that have grown ad hoc and call me when their inefficient back office operations are hampering growth. By developing a business plan you can prepare for growth and potential risk or problems. Therefore you are responding to your environment not reacting. Also, having a solid plan gives you a tool for making decisions.
- 10 Key Factors in Choosing Customer Relationship Management Software (CRM)
One of my favorite topics we teach in class is how to compile information that can be used to make smart business decisions. What usually comes up during class is many start-ups and existing companies know they need a tool to help them with collecting and using information but do not know where to start. This article’s focus is the ten key factors to help you choose the right Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software for your company.
- 10 Tips for Creating a Data Goldmine
I have been working with many clients who have their information in a database but are unable to get the information they want or know where to find it. Usually the culprit is a series of issues that come together to create the perfect storm of inefficiency. The tips below will help you to prevent this storm and maximize the information in your database to increase productivity and profits.
- How to Make More Money in 2012 with Data Driven Decisions
I have mentioned in many of my articles about metrics. Things we use to measure success and how far you are from reaching your goals. Data is much more than that – it is a valuable tool to make solid business decisions. It also helps you to save as well as make money. Below are some of the metrics you can use to help grow your bottom line in 2012.
Reducing piles of resources on your desk
I was just holding a training seminar this morning and the issue of too much paper came up. They have a limited amount of space and certain resource materials they need to hold on to that piles on their desks. I suggested a bookshelf above the desk and have this information in binders on the shelf.
You would arrange the binders by type or subject. This would be your own library. Most importantly, the name of your subjects should be something that comes to your mind immediately. That will be what pops in your head when you look for the information.
For example, I tear out newspaper and magazine articles that I may use as reference material for me or my clients. There is no need to keep the whole magazine or newspaper if all I am interested in is the article. Now I have to organize them. I use a 3 ring binder, sheet protectors and tab dividers. I arrange the articles by subject each in their own sheet protector. Then I label the tab divider with the corresponding subject. Now I have a system that only takes up a couple inches but holds multiple subjects.
Keep resources that you use frequently. Also have your most frequently used resources together. This eliminates having to look in more than one place. They should also be placed somewhere that is easy to reach from your seat.
One way to determine if you should hold onto a resource is how recent or up to date is the information? If it something that is dynamic and changing, you may want to put the site in your favorites to get the most up to date information when you need it. Just be careful not to create an electronic pile and use the folders to organize your sites just like the binder.
Another question to ask - What is the worse thing that will happen if I throw this out? If an item is difficult to replace or find again, keep it. If not, then you probably do not need to hold onto it. You need to weigh the amount of time and effort maintaining this information with the time replacing the information. Most likely the later would be less time consuming. Again, this does not apply to frequently used resources. This would be for the just in case stuff.
How do you organize your resource materials?