It’s your business so everything should be done your way? Maybe…or maybe not. Carol raises some interesting points in her recent post on the Nextiva blog, “5 Things to Consider Before Allowing Personal Beliefs to Drive Small Business Operations.” Carol begins:
“Many years ago, I learned some lessons about negotiating deals by watching how my dad managed to sell an interesting piece of furniture from our old home at an unimaginably high price. The information I gleaned is timeless, I incorporated it into my personal belief system and I will probably use it forever.
Unfortunately, not all personal beliefs have that kind of staying power, particularly within your small business. Some concepts become outdated and others are too personal to use within a diverse community of employees and customers. Think twice before you incorporate these 5 belief-based concepts into your small business.
#1. Your work ethic
Your own work ethic may be based on a day’s pay for a day’s work, but the old concept of the 8-hour work day is not necessarily as valid as it once was. Employees are no less-dedicated just because they have leave early to handle a home-repair issue or care for a sick child. In fact, they often remain accessible long after the 8-hour mark when they answer your calls or texts while they are eating dinner with their families or taking a nap on a Saturday afternoon.
Times have changed and the old-style time clock seldom reflects an employee’s true value and dedication. You expect flexibility from them and you need to be equally flexible in return. If you want to retain good employees — and provide the levels of quality and service that your customers demand — don’t let the time clock or other old-fashioned rules define the work ethic that you expect.
#2. Old processes and procedures
Even before your company’s opening day, you undoubtedly developed a painstaking methodology that included everything from how to develop products or services for customers to how to get paid. You developed detailed record-keeping systems, figured out how to maintain appropriate inventory levels and you probably even devised the perfect sales pitch to bring business to your door.”
You can read the rest of the post here.
