Management and its Functions.

Management is to solve problems and ensure the smooth running of the business. The most important functions of management are planning organizing, directing and controlling.

Planning is to determine how the present objectives and mission has to be accomplished. Planning involves the overall objective of the organization as well as how to achieve the present target. Planning has to be through and should include solutions to the problems that may arise later. Planning should be very clear and has to aid decision making.

Organizing involves the division, coordination of tasks. It also involves the flow of information as well delegation of responsibility. A good manager should know what his subordinates are capable of and assign the tasks accordingly.

To recruit people and select the right people for various tasks, training them, and evaluating them, is also an important part of management. They should be grouped into teams that are capable of achieving the goals set for them.

You have to direct and motivate people to accomplish the tasks. Effective communication and leadership are essential. It should help the organization to accomplish its goals. The individuals should also be helped to achieve their career objectives.

The processes have to be controlled, so that the plans are executed to get the desired results. It is also necessary to see whether changes have to be done mid-course. If there are any problems, remedial measures have to be taken.

Planning a New Business

Are you willing to take risks? Do you have the capacity to organize? Can you get along well with others? Can you face adversity? You should have may more skills to start and be successful in a business venture of your own. You should also have management skills. You should have sufficient experience in the field you are starting the new business. You should be able plan and execute the plans well. You should be able to hire the right kind of talent to run the business in fields, where you don’t have the expertise.

If you are starting a new business in partnership with others, it would be a good idea to get the kind of partners who can complement your expertise. For example if you have technical knowledge, it is better that your partners have experience in finance and marketing. It is better to demarcate the areas of responsibility and take care of the business.

Henry Ford said “find a need and fill it “. If you have to start a new business the first question you have to ask yourself if the service or the product you are offering has a market. As the market already has people catering to its needs why would anyone want to buy the service of product from you?

Does your product have features that are different from what is being offered in the market at present? Unless it offers advantages over other products already available in the market people may not buy the product.

You should make a through and detailed plan. You should plan as to how you financing the business. What part of the funds will come from you and your partners? What would be extent of finance you require from banks and financial institutions?

Would you like to start a partnership firm? You should also examine the idea of staring a limited company.

Succeeding in a Small Business Venture

Not every business that is started succeeds. Many of them falter and close down. Some businesses which are started with ample capital and resources don’t do well. Certain businesses which are on shaky ground when they are started, pickup and do well.

A small business started with limited resources cannot cater to all markets. So focus on a specific, specialized market. As you get along you would become an expert in the field. Do what you can do best. Catering to specialized needs, you will be facing less competition.

A small business will have both advantages and disadvantages over a large business. You might find it unnerving to take on big competitors. One of the advantages of a small business is that you can give personalized service to your customers. It is possible to respond immediately to any problem.

As a small business cannot afford expensive advertising, you may have to depend on your existing clients to refer you to potential customers. Building up a good reputation is very important.

It is possible to make, tailor made products for your customers. You can give personalized attention to their needs and fulfill them. Impress upon the customer that you are giving utmost attention to their needs. Once you establish a rapport with the customer, they will desist moving towards your competitors.

Innovation is also very important. Keep abreast of technological advances, incorporate them in your product.

Any entrepreneur will have to be open to new ideas and quick to adapt them. You have to be self confident and be able to sort out problems as and when they arise. If your plans are not working you should be able to devise alternate plans. You cannot be an expert at every thing. You should recognize your weak points and see how best to overcome them.

Qualities of an Entrepreneur

Are you desperate to start a business of your own? Passion is one of the qualities required for an entrepreneur. Not every one can succeed in business. Quite a few businesses close down after trying to run for a while.

One of the most important qualities to succeed in business is common sense. Common sense can be described as the ability to judge things on the basis of past experience and acquired knowledge.

Self confidence is the key to any entrepreneur. An entrepreneur should have faith in his own ability. He should be willing to work hard. He should be willing to put in the extra effort.

Specialized knowledge in the field of your business would be of immense help for you to succeed.

You should be very passionate about what you are doing. Bjorn Borg said he is earning a living from his hobby. You should love what you are doing. It is only then you would not feel the strain of the extra hours you are working.

You should dream or visualize, the result of your effort. Imagining things and constantly striving towards your goals will give you the result. If you get this into your subconscious mind then it will drive you relentlessly towards your goal.

You should have a larger goal and smaller goals which would be steps in the attainment of the larger goal. You should have a plan and strive constantly towards its attainment. This does not mean that you have to stick to your plan with mulish obstinacy. As you gain experience mid course corrections in the plan can be made. But the ultimate aim should be achieve the goal at any cost.

Attention to Detail

Paying attention to detail could be the difference between success and failure in business. One shop sales man was approached by a lady who wanted to buy a shirt for her son. She did not have the size. She told the salesman that her son was about his size and requested him to wear a shirt she had selected. The salesman was wearing a jacket which covered his crumpled shirt and only the collar of his shirt was pressed. But he had to remove the jacket, which exposed his wrinkled shirt.

How many times we have been caught in a similar dilemma. Unless we pay attention to details we might be caught on the wrong foot. Your dress, your manners and your approach should always be well tuned.

You should think of the occasion. A sales meeting or a board meeting you should dress according to the occasion. The first impression is extremely important. You should realize you will not get a second chance to make the first impression. If you are not suitably attired the clients might think that you are not suitable for the job.

One a sweltering hot day President Charles De Gaulle met one of his minister’s who was in his shorts. A highly conservative De Gaulle stared long and hard. Then he asked his minister “monsieur, where is your hoop”

You should not offend the people whom you are going to meet. It is possible they may feel that you are not the person they want.

Your suit should be well pressed and your shoes well polished. The cloths you wear and your haircut should suit you image. Wearing clothes that are not tailored according to the current fashion might make you look outdated.

Even your car is an important factor in building up your image. An obsolete, outdated and not well maintained is car sure to tarnish your image.

Starting a New Manufacturing Unit

Starting any new business venture is not easy. It is particularly so with a manufacturing unit. It involves both manufacturing and selling the product.

Henry Ford said “find a need and fill it.” That is what he did when he started the Ford motor company. First you have to identify a product that can sell in the market. If you are making a totally new product, it has to be determined whether the market will accept the product. You may have a great new idea or a product. Selling the product could be the major stumbling block.

If you are a new entrepreneur you should ask yourself whether you have the expertise to manufacture the product. Of course you can get people who have the expertise. In certain ways it can be said that people who have the ability to organize will succeed in any field.

Theoretically, to start any venture, it can be said that every ingredient is available. Finance can be obtained from venture capitalists and banks. Machinery required can be bought. You can hire people who have the technology and expertise to manufacture and also the people or companies to sell the product. To bring this all together you have to be an excellent organizer.

It is the capacity to organize that makes the difference. A person with good organizing capability can go far.

Planning is extremely important to start a new venture. It has to be meticulously planned. The steps are

• To identify the product
• To get the technical expertise
• How you are funding the project
• Land and machinery
• Manufacture of the product
• Marketing
• After sales service

Each of these points have to investigated in detail.

Business Leadership- Qualities of a Good Leader

A leader in any field has to set an example to others. More so in business, he has to be a role model. He should inspire confidence in others. He should be cool and unflinching in a crisis. A leader should be supremely self confident. He should be able to recognize the talent of his subordinates and should harness it to the growth of his organization.

A leader has to be a good listener. Communication is extremely important for the smooth running of any business. The leader should be easily accessible. He should device new ways and means to communicate with others. Without good communication skills, it is impossible to become a good leader.

A leader has to be a fast learner. He should also be a skilled manager. He should be able to spot talent and nurture it. He should be able to take risk.

Honesty and integrity are extremely important for any good leader. A leader has to be pragmatic has to change with the roles he has to play. A leader has to know what is going on and should be able to sort out any problem his team ia facing. He has to instinctively know the necessities of the team and try to fulfill it.

The leader should choose team members who can complement each others skills. The leader has to fulfill the needs of the employees as well as that of the management.

A leader has to look after the needs of his team and stand by them. A leader should not get discouraged by criticism. He has to listen to various views and take the best decision in the interest of the organization.

Angry Customer – Ways to Mollify

Anger makes a person unreasonable. He stops thinking rationally. To start with, you have to listen to an angry customer empathetically. If the customer wants to talk to your superior, you should ensure that he does so. The first job is to ensure that the customer cools down.

Handling an angry customer is a part and parcel of business. It is possible that the customer is still angry even after you solve his problem. One airline customer was furious that his late night flight was cancelled. He had to take the next morning flight. He vented his frustration on the booking staff. They arranged for his stay in a good hotel room. He was still angry. He said he would be having dinner at home, if the flight was according to the schedule. They gave him free food coupons. Some what mollified, he said he would have been with his wife but for the airline. The booking clerk told him “Sir, I think we have to draw a line somewhere.”

An important thing to remember is that the customer is not angry with you personally. But he is angry with the situation he is in. In the angry state, he might be feeling insecure. It is quite possible he is taking out the frustration with his wife or boss on you.

Don’t ever argue with an angry customer, for that matter with any customer. The customer will feel that you are rubbing salt into his wounds. You have to see that the customer vents all his feelings and cools down. The customer should know that you understand his problem. You should take the responsibility to solve the problem. It is possible that you may have to call in the experts and it might take time to resolve the issue. You should call the customer and inform him on the progress, if you cannot solve the problem immediately.

In case of any delay in the finding solution, the updates on what is being done will mollify an aggrieved customer. Ensure that the customer has your direct contact number.

Once the problem is resolved the customer will feel that the company really cares for its customers. Of course there are customers who can never be satisfied. But if listen to the customer carefully, take responsibility to solve the problem and ensure follow up till the problem is solved, you can ensure that the customer will not knock at your competitor’s door.

Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is very important for the success of any business. Building up customer loyalty takes lot less effort and money than looking for new customers. Satisfied customers bring in more buyers by spreading the information about your product.

Very good example of this is new movies. Good movies bring in more audience by the people who have seen the movie, than by rave reviews.

You have to adopt different strategies, for different markets. Some markets are price sensitive. Price is the all important factor. You have to ensure that you are selling your product at a competitive price. In some others the uniqueness of your product is very important. As we are already aware that brand name is the all important factor for certain products.

For certain products after sales service is very important. You must have experienced the frustration when your washing machine or refrigerator breaks down and the service person does not turn up when you call him. For such products you have to ensure that immediate attention is provided and the problem is solved.

If your product or service is poor, the customer who is dissatisfied will go round complaining about your service. Try to get a feed back on the products you have sold. If there are any problems try to sort it out immediately.

A visit to a customer or a phone call just to enquire how your product is working goes a long way to ensure customer satisfaction. Most customers do not complain they simply go elsewhere.

One of the biggest mistakes that the companies are making these days is that they make it extremely difficult to complain. You have to dial a number go through several menus before you can talk to an operator. A human touch and personal attention wherever possible goes a long way in satisfying a customer.

First Impression in Business

It is always to be remembered “first impression is the best impression”. First impression creates an indelible mark on a person’s mind. I always judge any painting, furniture or even any dress on how I feel when I look at it for the first time. This also applies to a person you meet for the first time.

In business it is very important to create a good first impression of your product or your company or even yourself. Your dress, your manners, your behavior will all have effect on the impression you create in the minds of your colleagues or employees. You have to set an example for others to follow. Your manners, behavior, attire, your business card, your briefcase are all a part the impression you create.

Your conversational skills, particularly your listening skills make a strong impression of yourself. We all know about the boring person who clutches your sleeve to catch your attention. He is the person to be avoided at all costs. Cultivate a soft, well modulated voice.

You have to keep an eye contact with the person you are talking to. A joke is always a good icebreaker. Bob Hope said that it takes a lot of effort to be funny. It definitely is worth the effort. People who are light hearted and funny are always sought after. You should never make any denigrating or sarcastic comments about other people. Never ever get into an argument with a person; you have met for the first time.

Your appearance is also of great importance. I believe in the kind of attention to detail in paid in the armed forces. They insist that each and every part of your uniform, whether it is shoes, belt or buckle has to be immaculate. The goes a long way in creating that good first impression.

Your choice of words and the way you convey them should create a very good impression of your culture, education and upbringing.

Business Advertising

Advertising is an extremely important part of any business. Various kinds of advertising mediums are available. Television, newspapers, magazines, bill boards are some of them. You should choose the kind of advertising suited to your needs. Advertising could be expensive. At times substantial amounts of money are spent on advertising campaigns with little results.

Well established companies spend huge amount of money on advertising campaigns. Advertising may push up the sales of products that may neither be the best available nor the cheapest in the market. By constant advertisements they make the customers believe it is the best available product. By advertising it is possible to make an inessential product look absolutely essential.

Professional advertisers understand the human psychology extremely well. You are constantly bombarded with colorful brochures, newspaper and television advertisements, which hail the exceptional qualities of their product. Finally the buyer succumbs to purchase the product.

Multinational companies are masters in advertising. They continuously and constantly bombard the market with multimillion dollar advertising campaigns. They have professionals who can understand the market and the customers very well.

Advertising is not just limited to media blitzing. Promotional products like caps, pens, diaries etc. are used to great effect. A desk diary or clock with the name of the company embossed is an effective way of advertising. It constantly reminds the target customer.

Internet advertising is also very effective way of advertising your product. In the print advertisement the web address can be mentioned asking people to visit the website. The website would then give exhaustive details of the product.

Advertising should be well planned and executed. If not it would be a total waste of money. A combination of different forms of advertising would be advisable to target the market.

Stress Management

Stress at work is inevitable. Hard to achieve targets, overbearing bosses are some of the reasons for the increased stress in work place. There are some of ways of reducing stress at the workplace.

When you feel stressed out talk to a colleague, share a joke. Humor is one of the best stress busters.

Exercise is another stress reliever. Take a walk. Few minutes out side the building, a change of environment will do wonders to relieve your stress. If you have a park next door it is even better. You can jog in the park for a few minutes.

Have a cup of coffee, drink a glass of water. Relaxing few minutes away from the work environment will invigorate you.

Another great stress buster is a short nap. This is possible for people who work at home.

Yoga and meditation are great stress busters. Meditation takes your focus away from the cause of stress and helps you to relax completely.

Pets often are great stress busters. There is nothing like having a dog at home. Even a pet cat or a budgerigar would be of help in reducing stress.

Go away on a holiday with the family, to a holiday spot. The fun and frolic will help you rejuvenate.

Several small girls in a class were shown two pictures. One picture was that of a person chopping wood and the other was that of a person reading a book. They were asked to identify who was at work and who was relaxing. All except one girl identified that person chopping wood was working and the person reading was relaxing. The teacher did not know the father of the girl who had identified the person chopping wood as relaxing, was a scientist who chopped wood for relaxation. And she was marked wrong.

It all depends on an individual as to what relaxes him. You have to identify what relaxes you.

If nothing works if you still think your job is stressful you can consider an alternate job.

Time Management in Business

Are you always sort of time? Do you often have the feeling at the end of the day that you have not accomplished enough for that day?
Time management is the key.

Any successful business needs very good time management skills. You can accomplish difficult tasks which look like a mountain that cannot be climbed by breaking them up into smaller tasks.

Make a list of all tasks that have to be completed over a period of time. Allocate a time frame to complete them. And try to stick to that time schedule. Reward yourself for completing them.

Don’t put off any task. The primary reason to procrastinate is that the task could be unpleasant. Try to complete the unpleasant task first.

Write down what you do everyday. At the end of the day analyze the list. You will be able to find out where you are wasting your time.

The most important part of time management is to write down all the tasks that have to accomplished and number them by importance. The first task in the list is the most important and so on. Set a time frame to accomplish that task. As soon as you complete the task take it off the list.

Examine the list each day. If some tasks become more important bring it to the top of the list. Make clear plans to carry out different tasks.

Don’t accept tasks when you are pressurized by others, for which you have no time. Stick to the tasks that are important to you.

Business Communication- Listening Skills

I met an ornithologist at a party. He started to talk about various birds and their habits. For me it was fascinating. I heard him with rapt attention for about an hour and a half. Later he told one of my friends that I was a very good conversationalist. But I had hardly spoken during his absorbing narration.

Listening skills are an extremely important part of any conversation. Listening is not just hearing. Listening is to absorb what you hear. Listening skills could relate to a conversation or business presentation.

Many sales people are bad listeners. Unless you hear what a customer has to say and overcome the objections, you will never be a good sales person.

A good conversationalist has to be good listener. Unless you hear
What is being said, during a conversation you will not be able to respond to it properly.

In business it is imperative to have as much of information as possible before you take a decision. Proper listening is one way of acquiring such information.

Whenever you are listening you should never let your mind wander, concentrate hard and understand what is being said. .

Listening skills can be improved over a period of time. Constant practice is essential to improve listening skills.

Listening skills can make you more confident. Listening skills with an empathetic attitude will help you to build a rapport with people. Listening skills help you to gain more knowledge.

Listening skills will help you to understand the problems of the members of your team, and help motivate them. It will also help buildup your leadership qualities.

Good listening will improve your overall performance in business.

Ways to improve your listening skills

• Concentrate hard on what is being said
• Don’t let your mind wander.
• Don’t try to think what you would say next. You cannot concentrate on more than one thing at a time.
• At least try to absorb the main points of what is being said.
• Focus on the important ideas

Remember listening skills are even more important than speaking.

Business Presentation

For any kind of presentation before an audience, effective communication skills are absolutely essential. To make a good presentation a through knowledge of the subject is necessary.

The presentation should not be too long. With a lengthy presentation you would not be able to hold the attention of your audience. The presentation has to be brief and to the point.

The opening of your presentation has to be good. Remember the first impression is the best impression. You have to build a rapport with your audience initially and hold it to the end. A bad opening would spell disaster.

Some people believe opening a presentation with joke. If you are good at cracking a joke, it is excellent. If not you are making a bad beginning.

It is very important to know what the audience is expecting from you. It is for you to meet their expectations.

The content of your presentation, should be tailor made to suit the requirement of your client.

The presentation should have visual appeal. Don’t use too many bullet points in a slide. Three or four would be ideal. The color of the background should be light. The letters should be clearly visible. Usage of patterns in the background is not recommended as it might reduce the visibility of the text.

It is not recommended to use too many slides. It could distract the audience. Slides aid presentation, they are not the focus of the presentation.

Photos, graphs, animation can also be used for effect. They will help in driving home the message.

You should firmly believe in the product and the company you are representing.