Blog Archives

Emergency Preparedness

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Tiffiny Fayerweather — No Comments ↓

Are you and your staff prepared for an emergency? Sure, you have your emergency evacuation paper taped to different areas of your office, but what if other situations arrive? Emergency planning and training directly influence the outcome of an emergency situation. Having a written procedure and plan can mean the difference between chaos and control.

I found some information on the National Fire Protection Association web site. Here are a few items from their list:

Emergency Escape Procedures and Emergency Escape Route Assignments.
Procedures for Employees Who Remain on Site after the Alarm Sounds.
Procedures to Account for Employees
Procedures for Reporting Emergencies.
Contacts for Further Information
Alarm Systems
Procedure for media attention

To Batch or Not to Batch

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Linda Fayerweather — No Comments ↓

Batching or grouping like tasks together in Lean processes is discouraged. Why? Because often when we group tasks, we end up not finishing anything. I’ve seen this on more than one occasion in offices where someone started cleaning the supply closet. Everything got taken out but an interruption happened and it was never finished and thrown back helter skelter into the closet. Typically, a project like this would be better done shelf by shelf or drawer by drawer or one flow processing; not batching. To decide if you will be more productive batching or not batching, try it yourself. Now, here is the challenge, identify in your office and life what enhances productivity by batching or not batching.

How do you identify some of the tasks as to Batch or not to Batch? How about invoicing? Or newsletter? Or laundry? Or cooking?

How Independent Contractors and Employees Differ

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Tiffiny Fayerweather — No Comments ↓

If your business is getting a little too much for you to handle on your own, you may need to make the decision on whether or not to hire a full time staff member or an independent contractor.

Before making your decision make sure you understand the differences between the two. Here is just a few items to consider:

Control over work
Ability to sub-contract/delegate
Basis of payment
Equipment, tools and other assets

Whatever decision your business decides to make, be sure to understand the laws and regulations before you hire. Mis-classifications of an individual as an independent contractor may have a number of costly legal consequences.

Get the Post-Holiday Motivation Back

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Tiffiny Fayerweather — No Comments ↓

If motivation and engagement seem to be a little less than stellar with your staff members, your office may have the post-holiday blues.
Combat the post-holiday blues by getting your staff back on board with your company’s vision and goals. Your staff needs to believe in what your company is trying to achieve. Get them to [Read More]

Posted in Business Culture, Business Management, Employee Management, Goals, Personal Improvement, Uncategorized

Separation Process

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Tiffiny Fayerweather — No Comments ↓

In business people come and people go. Sometimes it’s voluntary and other times, not so much. Either way your business needs to have a plan of action to keep from missing any steps.
No matter what the reason for separation an exit strategy should include a checklist. Your checklist should include items belonging to the business [Read More]

Posted in Business Management, Business Planning, Customer Service & Culture, Employee Management

Building Business Budgets

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Linda Fayerweather — No Comments ↓

Business owners often have a love hate relationship with budgeting. The Fortune 1000 would not think about joining the next fiscal year WITHOUT a budget, so why is it so hard for the smaller business to do this time honored process. Here are the three areas I see that cause owners to get stuck.
1. Forecasting. [Read More]

Tagged with: 2013, budgets, forecast, goals, plans
Posted in Benchmarking, Business Planning, Goals, Uncategorized

Ask Changing Lanes – What are the basic parts of a business plan?

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Linda Fayerweather — No Comments ↓

Question: What are the basic parts of a business plan?
Answer: Oh, yes, the business plan which is often called the biggest term paper you will ever write. Well, that is if you are getting financing from someone other than your family or self. And yes, this is detailed, vetted and a lot of work. Below [Read More]

Posted in Ask Changing Lanes, Business Planning, Planning for Business

What Your Birth Certificate Says about Your Exit Plan

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Linda Fayerweather — No Comments ↓

As a business owner, your age has a big effect on your attitude towards your business and how you feel about one day getting out. Here’s what research has shown:
Business owners between 25 and 47 years old Twenty- and thirty-something business owners grew up in an age where job security did not exist. They watched [Read More]

Tagged with: birth certificate, birthers, boomers, sellability score
Posted in Business Culture, Business Management, Business Planning, Economics, Selling, Uncategorized

Is Now the Time to Sell Your Business?

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Linda Fayerweather — No Comments ↓

Have you been thinking about selling your business but just can’t decide if now is the best time? Do you find yourself repeatedly analyzing the economic situation and wishing you had a crystal ball? The signs are mixed on the horizon. If you’re still up in the air and can’t quite decide whether or not [Read More]

Posted in Business Planning, Organization, Planning for Business, Selling, Uncategorized

Start Planning for 2013

Posted on November 6, 2012 by Linda Fayerweather — 1 Comment ↓

By the end of this week, the Holiday Music will begin. I like to think of this as the planning season to help create a stunning 2013. To make the most of a planning season, first stop obsessing about WHAT has happened and put your plan in place for what WILL happen.
We increase our chance [Read More]

Posted in Business Planning, Goals

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