Business Operations, Time Management, and Growth – What’s The Secret to Success?

Think about it – you’ll never know how complex it is to run your own business until you actually do it.

Perhaps you were used to a 9-5 job where everything you do is concentrated in one job description. Then you entered into entrepreneurship without really knowing the full extent of how to run a business and make it grow. And now that you’re a business owner, you’re living a jack-of-all-trades kind of lifestyle – you’re taking care of one thing on top of another – sales, marketing, supply chain, logistics, and more. Is it really possible to manage every aspect of your business and come out alive at the other end?

First of all – how are you managing operations? If your operations are a mess, you can’t expect things to sail smoothly into the sunset. So, let’s be honest – you need to fix that. And you need help.

Meet Alicia Lozano – our very own operations consultant here at AAH – who helps us keep everything in check and tells us which area needs urgent attention. Alicia is a stickler for keeping everything organized – and she insists that keeping a proper organizational system in place is crucial in all types of businesses, big or small.

What are the fundamentals of successful business operations? Alicia breaks it down into these 4 entities that each area of your business must have: business system, process, policy, and procedures (SOPs). For your better understanding, here’s a short explanation of each:

• A business system is the main umbrella that covers processes, policies, and procedures in every aspect of your business. For example – having a separate sales business system versus a marketing business system.
• Processes are activities that fall under a business system. For example – marketing processes involve promotions, advertising, and so much more. Human resources involve recruitment, onboarding, and training.
• Policies are your set of guidelines that must be followed for each process and procedure in your business.
• Procedures or SOPs are the step-by-step actions that you or a team member must take to accomplish a specific process.

Alicia shares her expertise a little further in her recent guesting at the Seller Round Table podcast with Amy. The bottom line? It’s always one step at a time. Watch the video below as step #1: