Posts Tagged ‘Standard Operating Procedures’

Welcome back to “What Can An Online Business Manager Do For Me?” Last week I shared with you how an Online Business Manager (OBM) shows up for you in your online business my managing your virtual teams.

This week:

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Managing Your Operations

• Review of the key systems needed to run a business, including customer service, billing, communication, back-ups, marketing, follow-up and delivery
• Creation of processes, tools and players for key systems within the business
• Implementation of automated business tools & software to manage various systems
• Creation and maintenance of your Standard Operating & Procedures (SOP) Guide
• Management of all client payments and collections process
• Management of systems access and login information
• Ensuring there is an effective backup system in place for all information (including the business owner’s computer!)
• Establish decision making guidelines for team members

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If you have any questions about working with an online business manager, please feel free to schedule a free 30 minute consult with me.

Copyright 2010 | International Association of Online Business Managers
Used with Permissions

Building a strong foundation for your online business is critical to its long term success.  A business can only grow so far.

The role of the Online Business Manager (OBM) is to ensure that all business systems, procedures and tools are in place and functioning smoothly.  This will bring peace of mind to the business owner knowing that everything is under control and the business can handle taking on more projects and clients to grow their business.

A great first project for your new OBM is the creation of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) manual.  Many small business owners can see the benefit of having one, but just can never find time or inclination to create one.  Usually it is quite a relief to the business owner having someone take on the project of creating one.  Tina Forsyth mentions in her book; “Becoming An Online Business Manager” that a business is really not grown up until it has a SOP.

A good SOP solves many problems such as:

• What happens if there is an emergency and you cannot pay as much attention to the business as you normally would.
• An SOP saves you time and money, because all procedures are documented and systems are automated.
  • Less time (time is money) for training new team members.
  • Less time searching for important information related to repetitive tasks and projects.
  • You will typically pay less for an automated system than for a person to do the same task.
  • The busy business owner can actually take a vacation and not worry about what is happening at the office.

As you can see from the few examples listed above having an Online Business Manager adds value to your business by getting your operations under control and creating a strong foundation so that you can grow your online business to new heights.

Watch for the release of my new eBook next week, “Growing Your Online Business to New Heights with an Online Business Manager”.  As an additional gift and resource to you for downloading the eBook, you will receive my 7-Day eCourse, “Are You Ready for an Online Business Manager”.  Each day of the course walks you through important questions to help you determine whether your business is ready to hire an Online Business Manager.

Scheduled to be released next week!

Today, I want to share with you an excellent way to keep on top of the operations of your business.  Most small business owners have reached a level of disorganization in their business and regret it when they are under pressure to meet critical deadlines.   This state is not because they are necessarily disorganized people, but just very busy people, and perhaps think that some day they will sit down when they have time and document everything. Read the rest of this entry »