Guide to Stay focused, your business depends on it!

Opportunities/Distractions Should Fall near Your Business Model

It would be a neive statement to make that you should not seek and act on opportunity as it (and does) arise. Even large, sustained businesses find success in pursuing opportunity outside of their core, but make sure these opportunities are inline with your existing setup. Apple’s recent extension into the phone market was a great example of this, chasing an opportunity without deviating from its core (a hardware manufacturer). But, you aren’t going to see Apple start selling produce just because an apple grower gave them a great opportunity. Its just too much of an extension. It is easy to get caught up on a tangent that takes resources away from your core business, and if it doesn’t work out, you may wind up with two hurting business segments. Play to the bumps in the road, but stay the course.

I recommend: If you don't already have one, consider assembling a Board, a group of respected people in and out of your industry to bounce ideas off of.  Or, you can consider using a website, such as yourSBR.com as your sounding board.  Whats great about that is you can get anonymous, unbiased advice.

Hire a Bookkeeper

Lets face it, no one is paying you to do your books, and odds are, unless your small business is an accounting firm - you probably know as much about bookkeeping as pigs know about flying. This tedious, detailed, and business critical process can be successfully handled by a professional bookkeeper, allowing you to have on-hand an accurate snapshot of your business, and giving your accountant the vital, organized information he/she needs to help make key business decisions with you. Most small businesses will probably only need part-time help, so the cost may be as little as a few hundred dollars a month, much less than the 15 minimum hours you should be spending on your books. To find one, you can start by asking other business owners or even your accountant who they recommend. Remember, your bookkeeper will know all about your financials, so make sure you are very comfortable with their knowledge of your financial situation (hiring the spouse of a friend always makes things com

I recommend: A good bookkeeper will want to settle your previous years and start fresh.  Consider TaxACT for online preparation to get you square with this past year and allow you to move on with a clean slate.

Get a Cleaning Crew

With the exception of one or two person operations, a cleaning crew is another relatively inexpensive timesaver. Especially for office environments, where the size of the facility is proportional to the number of employees, the cost-benefit is unbeatable. Ego’s aside, as an owner, you do not want to find yourself with 2 hands in the garbage of your secretary, and asking him/her to do it crosses that line of responsibilities. Even at once a week, its always good to give everything a good and thorough wipe down!

I recommend: Your cleaning crew may or may not provide supplies... and if they do, they may add a markup to them.  Be prepared for when they come by purchasing the basics like C-Fold towels, garbage bags, etc.  Global Industrial is a no-frills online wholesaler.  Worth a look.

Invest in a decent Phone System (or look into a Virtual PBX!)

A phone system keeps you focused. How? By giving you the flexibility to manage the communication that goes into and out of your business. Expecting an important call but cant afford to take any other call? Caller ID solves it. A solid voice messaging system will allow you to broaden your size appearance, or oranize calls into sales, service, leads, etc. Phone systems even offer the ability to forward calls to you when you are out of the office, making you always accessible. If you are just getting started, then spending $5k or more for a phone may be a stretch, so take a look at a Virtual PBX. This is more or less a ‘hosted’ phone system, and probably better than any phone system you will ever own! The fees are minimal and monthly.

I recommend: A simple way to get started with a feature rich plan is by getting setup with a simple VOIP system (like Vonage, SunRocket).  These full featured virtual carriers have all the bells and whistles and start at about $10/month.  If you haven't heard of SunRocket, check 'em out!

From there you're going to have to search for virtual pbx online, and finally - if you're ready to make the investment, shop for an installer like you would a contractor... ask around and interview and get pricing from at least 3.  It is a high-markup industry and you can wind up paying way more from the same thing.  Also, let them do the install.  While yes, you can run a few wires across the office, they do this everyday and keep it nice, neat, and expandable for future use.