There are a wide variety of ways to put together the operations of your business so that it functions effectively and efficiently. The model that works best for you will be related to your objectives, what your product or service is, and your personal operational style. However, there are a number of functions that every business needs to address simply as part of doing business. Here are some topics that you need to know about to keep your business running with minimal effort:
Financial Management
The bookkeeping and accounting systems, recordkeeping, taxes, collecting
money, insurance, budgeting, and managing risk are all part of keeping your business
financially solvent. While many people consider this the most painful part of running a
business, it needs to handled well if you are going to stay in business.
Legal Management
You don't need to have a lawyer in house, but you definitely need to make certain that all the
operations of your business are legal. Some of the issues to consider are business licenses,
determining the correct legal form of your business,
alliance agreements, copyrights, trademarks, patents, contracts with suppliers, and employment law.
Management of the Business as a Whole
Someone needs to be in charge of keeping the business functioning on a day-to-day basis and
planning for its future. The manager, CEO, boss - whatever you want to call that function -
sees that the business objectives are met. Planning, organizing, staffing (human
resources), directing (leadership), and controlling are the traditional realms of management. Learn
what those functions really involve.
Marketing
Marketing involves getting the message out to customers about your product or service. The
traditional nomenclature in marketing are the four P's: product, price, promotion, and place
(distribution). Each of these functional areas involves a lot of coordination and planning to
arrive at the best advertising, public relations, and sales package to best present your
product or service to the customer.
Office Management
You have to have a place to operate your business and the proper equipment to accomplish its
tasks. Putting together the right space, furniture, and equipment to make your business operate
efficiently is something that needs careful consideration.
Production
Whatever your business, you are producing something that you hope to sell. That means you need
to have a production process in place that will help you make certain that you have a quality
product when you need it, produced the way you planned it. Lackadaisical production is costly.
There are some standard production models that can help make this part of your business operate
efficiently and economically.
