Business Philosophies – Great Management Theories
When developing business philosophies for your new small business, make sure that you don’t make it too simple or to the point. Many small businesses create slogans that become their mottos and plaster it everywhere. There’s nothing wrong with that approach, just be sure that you don’t disqualify aspects of your business that you could possibly grow into or that there may sometimes be an exception to the rule.
When examining your business philosophies, keep in mind the future. It’s true from the get go that you must start out small and work your way up. In business school, we were taught that the simple formula for small business is that you can’t boil the ocean. Dream big but start small. Know what philosophies you want to move your company towards and have a plan of attack for them when that happens.
This still begs the question of us, what are business philosophies and what are yours? The easy definition is that it is the guideline you hold yourself and your company to, both personally and professionally. You know what the answer is so it’s just a matter of whether you can answer it directly or indirectly. Write down the standards that you will hold yourself, your employees, and your company to. Make sure that you leave it somewhat open ended to account for the exception to the rule as well, though. For instance, if you bake custom cakes, your philosophy may be to always try to have a cake layout back to the customer within 48 hours. But now what happens if you are booked to the hilt and there’s no possible way to get it done within that timeframe? You have allowed yourself the ability to tell the customer you are under a dramatic load and it will take you 3-4 days to get them their custom design layout back to them. You were honest and upfront, that’s more important.
When developing the business philosophies you will be judging yourself and your business against, it’s important to keep all of this in mind. The most important thing to do is to build a relationship with your customer to help you gain word of mouth reputation and open the door for recurring business. By developing philosophies geared towards honesty and integrity instead of simplicity, you will be setting the example for others to follow. Understanding your customers and your customers understanding you are two key parts of business today.
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