What are Business Operations?
Welcome to Part 2 of the Business Foundation Formula. The second prong of this formula is your Business Operations. Business Operations focus on the actual running of your business. One key starting place is your organizational strategy. You MUST be organized. And you must be organized from the get-go. The key to a thriving business is being able to find information quickly and easily. Quickly and easily! I would start with your filing system. How are you storing information? Most people are doing things digitally these days. That’s fine. But have a system for it. If you’re using Google Docs or Microsoft Office it’s very easy to go in and create FOLDERS for yourself. Whatever topics are relevant for your business, make a folder. Could be things like, Clients, Finances, Services, Products, Inventory, Policies, Documentation, Payroll - whatever makes sense for you. Create a folder and anything related to that topic, put it in there. ALSO, I would encourage you, no, implore you, to make new folders (yes, even of the same topics) year after year. Again, be able to find your information quickly and easily. This applies to your email as well. Yikes, we get a lot of email! In your inbox, you have the ability to create tabs for yourself. These work very much like your digital folders. Find the icon that allows you to “Create New Folder” - and label it as a topic or person that you correspond regularly about or with. Create these tabs every, single, year. THEN, you receive an email, respond accordingly and can select “Move to …” and put it in its proper tab for future reference. Clearing out your inbox will bring you so much relief and sanity - I promise it’s worth it. Some people are like, “well my inbox has 1275 emails, I can’t possibly go through all that.” And you’re right - there’s no way. BUT, you could very likely bulk delete any email that's 2 months or older. (Full disclosure - it’s possible you could delete something important, but odds are low so try to maybe at least skim as much as you can prior to deletion.) Once you’re down to within the 2 month window, ideally, that should make it easier to go through and separate into tabs. DO IT! DO IT NOW!
Now you have your beautiful tabs for email, you have your lovely digital folders - you’re in good shape! At this point, you should determine, if you have a team, who has access to these items? Who needs to be able to utilize this information and grant universal access to your team as appropriate. That could be done by sharing, giving selective passwords, and setting an expiration date. Be mindful about who you’re sharing this information with because the more people that have access to it, the more liability there will be.
Another important aspect in this prong is documentation. You know how systems are your way of doing things? Yea, you need to write them down. So many entrepreneurs have everything in their head. It’s overwhelming and not sustainable. Once you’ve figured out your processes, type them up and save them in the appropriate digital folder. You’ll start to accumulate different docs as you go along and eventually, these will be compiled into handbooks and manuals. But you want to write literally everything down. Anything that is done on the daily, that you want done consistently, that you want done efficiently, write it down. Taking payment, responding to emails, answering phone calls, booking a client or appointment, giving a refund, sending an invoice, ordering supplies, shipping a product, unloading products or supplies; any specific tasks. All of it. Write it down.
Another facet of documentation is your policy creation. Do you have specific internal or external policies? You likely do, and if you don’t currently, you will soon. Things like cancellation policies, late fees or no shows, returns and exchanges, refunds, any particular health and safety guidelines, etc. Anything that could negatively impact you, your business or people that participate in your business. You’ll want to have these up on your website for all to see.
Software, Payroll, Vendors
There’s another section of Business Operations that I like to call your “tangential operations” because you may or may not need them depending on your business model. But they are: software, payroll and vendors.
Let’s start with software. Do you need one? This will really depend on your business model. But if you think you might need one, ask yourself these questions:
What do you need it to do for you?
How will you schedule your services?
How do you track sales and revenue?
How do you receive payment?
How will you ship items or mark an order complete?
What if you need to make reservations?
Are you allowing a client-facing portal?
Can clients cancel on their own?
Do you need an app?
No matter the type of business you have, be specific in your software needs. There are tons out there, so you’ll have to do some research. And if you know anyone in your industry, ask them what they use and if they like it! Always good to get practical feedback.
Next, is if you plan to work with third parties or vendors. If so, you’ll want to make sure to have an agreement or contract in place for those interactions. You want to clearly establish parameters and expectations for both parties. You’re responsible for this, they’re responsible for that. Here’s the pay structure, here are the termination clauses. It can be formal or informal, that’s up to you. You might also consider contacting a business lawyer to get their feedback as well, just in case.
And lastly, how are you planning to pay people (if this is applicable)? What framework will you use to monitor that? I would suggest that if you can use your bank to do this, do so, because that will eliminate having to use another third party and keep things more efficient for you. Otherwise, Gusto, ADP, and Paychex are all viable options (I’m sure there are several others out there as well…), so it just depends on you. It will also depend on the size of your team and if you’re hiring employees or independent contractors. You’ll need to think about benefits, weekly vs bi-weekly pay, sick pay and PTO, etc. Google your state's laws around this stuff or again, seek out an accountant or biz lawyer for more guidance.
So there you have it. Your two main prongs for creating your Business Foundation!
Your Business Identity + Your Business Operations = Your Business Foundation
Your Business Foundation needs to be solid because you will build and grow and thrive by putting everything else on top of this. And again, as you move through time, some of these things may change as you grow, that’s cool! You just need a base to start.
