Organic Business Strategies

Strategies for Getting Back To Basics

Staffing – Your Biggest Asset or Your Biggest Liability

Tags: change, strategies

If you think about it, your staff can be your biggest asset or they can be your biggest liability.  While I am sure that all of you are aware of this, I think it’s something that we lose sight of from time to time.  We’ve all hired that person that really wants to do a great job but for some reason they just can’t seem to get it.  We keep working with them in hopes that they will eventually get it but it just doesn’t happen.  We question whether we are training them in such a way that they do not understand what we want.  Is it our fault that they don’t understand?  It can be, but usually not.

The question then becomes, what do you do?  Do you continue working with them or do you let them go.  No one likes to fire people but it is a necessary evil.  Sometimes it seems that continuing to work with that person will be easier than going through the process of interviewing, hiring, training, etc.  Let’s face it, in some cases it is easier.  It is not, however, the best thing for your business though.  Any employee that is not at top of their game is not doing your business justice.  They are in fact a liability to your business in more ways that you may realize.

This employee influences and teaches others.  If the problem is that this employee keeps performing tasks incorrectly, they are teaching others to do it that way also.  This then takes on a life of its own and before you know it, everyone is doing the job incorrectly.  Retraining is far more difficult than training.  If the problem is attitude or work ethic, he or she is influencing the rest of your staff.  While they may not feel the same way the problem employee does, they are now upset because you keep them on your staff.  They are upset that they have to put up with him.  Now you are at risk of losing your good employees, the ones that you consider assets.

Don’t sacrifice losing your assets, your great employees.  Cut your losses and get rid of the problem.  It is not worth dealing with them any longer than necessary.  Don’t keep someone on your staff for any reason other than they are a great asset to your business.  Let’s face it, any business but especially a small business, cannot afford to have people that are not great assets.

Are the people you employ great assets?  Let’s talk about it.

Keeping Your Suppliers Honest

Tags: change, moving forward, relationship

Individuals and families are not the only ones that have suffered in this economy.  Most businesses, big and small, have felt the pinch as well.  We all need to evaluate the way we do business to insure survival.  We need to be willing to change, to try new things, to think “outside the box”.

One of the easiest areas to evaluate is that of your suppliers.  It is very easy to settle into a routine, develop a good relationship with suppliers and trust that they are looking out for our best interest.  The fact of the matter is that those suppliers just simply increase prices for their regular customers by “X” percent periodically, while new customers are enticed with discounts, promotions, etc.   We see this happening in our personal lives all the time; satellite TV, cell phone service, bundling, etc.  It is up to us to keep everyone we do business with honest.  The longer you have done business with a vendor, the more important it is to check up on them.

Ok, now let’s look at one of your largest suppliers.   Find another supplier or two that can provide you with the same products.  Compare the prices of all the items that you purchase from them.  Speak with each of these new suppliers to find out what kind of deals they are willing to make to get your business.  Are these suppliers going to be able to save you money?  If so, you have a decision to make.  Either you switch to the new supplier or go back to your current supplier to negotiate new pricing based on the information you received from the prospective suppliers.  If you are receiving excellent service from your current supplier, it would be worthwhile trying to negotiate new pricing with them.  If the service is not what it could be, then making a switch to a new supplier would be recommended.  Remember, change can be a good thing.

Now it’s time to do the same exercise with the rest of your suppliers.  Many of your venders may be small in the grand scheme of things but evaluate each one anyway.  Saving a small amount of money with several vendors can add up.  This exercise actually can be a lot of fun, especially if you find one or two areas of your business that you can save money in.

Let me know how this worked for you.  Were you able to save money?  I sure hope so.

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