This week:

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

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

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!

What is an SOP?

An SOP is an operations manual that provides a business with structure and efficiency.  Many of the day-to-day administrative processes in your business are repetitive and should be reviewed regularly.  SOP’s are a set of written instructions that document a routine or repetitive activity followed by a business or organization.  The development and use of SOP’s are an integral part of a successful quality systems as it provides individuals with the information to perform a job properly and facilitates consistently in the quality and integrity of a product or end-result.   An online business manager can add value to the company by challenging the efficiency and reliability of procedures that the company has been using or not been using.

Advantages of SOP?

Many business owners and their teams resist taking the time to create an SOP because of the perception that time and money can be better spent on the most immediate tasks and projects.  Team members may be resistant to the creation of the document because of the time consuming nature of capturing a company’s procedures and turning it into a document, as well as insecurity on the part of the team member.  In reality, there is little need for the team member to feel insecure because the smoother the operation of the company the more opportunities will open up.

Are you are a business owner who is serious about your business and implementing cost cutting and time saving measures?  Are you ready to grow your business to new levels? These are some important questions to ask yourself.

1. When was the last time I took a real vacation?
2. What would happen to my business if I needed to be away from it for an extended period of time, such as sudden illness or family issues?  I can’t sell what is in my head.
3. Would the business run seamlessly in my absence?
4. Would I still have a business to return to?
5. What would happen if the people that worked for me suddenly left?  Would I know exactly what to do to keep the business running and cut down on retraining time and cost?

Finally, some essential elements to make an SOP effective would be for it to be well written, easy to understand, used regularly and accessible to everyone in the business.   Creating and sharing documents in the online world has never been easier with wiki spaces and is a perfect online collaborative tool for creating online SOP’s.  A Wikispace, in simple terms, is a group of web pages with “edit” buttons on them. You can collaborate with anyone you choose on your wikispace. You may want a place to keep information about your organization, or to easily manage your team’s schedules. Wikispaces is simple enough for anyone to use, but has enough sophistication so that you can be creative and get things done.  Please feel free to click on the quick video below for the simplest and most fun explanation of how to use wiki spaces.