Business Continuity Audit » Initiative

Business Goals are Essential for Your Success

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:51:31 +0000

Business goals are the foundation on which a business are justified, analyzed, and built. Business goals are commonly expressed as a certain level of returns on investments, returns on equity, or income from your business.

Personal goals are stated to achieve the life style you want. Goals are essential for creating the quickest and most effective plan to get you from A to Z in your career, business, job or life in general. Your motivation, initiative, and your direction will stem from your goals.

Goals will help you to stay focused on success and away from distractive activities that drain business resources and accomplish little. Goals are also your guideposts, established to show you the right path and to help you assess your progress.

Goal setting are important because it will affect just about everything you do, as you plan and operate your business. It’s not just the destination you’re moving toward, they’re also the painted white lines that keep you on the road. Without this designed target,that your goal represent, successful results are unlikely, accidental and often but sadly undetectable.

An effective goal must state, in one or two sentences, the conditions that will exist, once the goal is accomplished. Evaluate each specific business goal, identify the behaviors or actions you need to start doing, do more of, do less of, or stop doing if the goals are to be achieved.

The more well defined a goal is, the easier it will be to understand what you need to do to met it, and to measure successful achievement. If youre unclear on your goals, how can you ascertain if your business is successful.

If you find that your business, even if very successful, won’t satisfy you personally, or if you discover that achieving your personal goals requires you to take more risks and make more sacrifices than you’re willing to. Well, then you need to reset your goals.

By: Ove Nordkvist

Give Your Company a Perfect Business Proposal

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:59:02 +0000

A business Proposal is an essential document which helps an entrepreneur in the business promotion. It can be used as an effective and powerful marketing tool. As the name suggests, this is an offer letter which contains a proposal for the client.

This proposal is made by the seller or an entrepreneur of the organization. The proposals are either requested by the buyer or sent by the seller who takes an initiative for proposing business to the buyer. It is different from a business plan in which a marketer lays down a complete financial plan. This plan is sent to the financial institutions for funding the company for the beginning of the operations.

It is a tedious task of creating a proposal on different subjects with an aim to sell different types of goods and services. There are some basics which a marketer can keep in mind while writing an offer letter to the customer. If the customer has sent ‘Request for Proposal’, then you can treat the request as an outline for drafting an offer letter. A request keeps the mind of the marketer focused on main points demanded by the customer.

If you are taking an initiative to send an offer letter to the client then you have to dig into the requirements of your prospective buyer. An author should write a business proposal in a simple and plain language. On addressing a foreign client you should be very careful of the tone and words of your language. The best is to use a formal expression while writing an offer letter to a foreign client. You can also research the needs of your client. You should solve the basic purpose of addressing the needs of the client. A person should introduce the company’s goods as a key to the customer’s problems. It is beneficial to give a thorough knowledge of company’s origin, certification, award and achievement. Lastly, you can mention about your delivery process, terms and conditions.

Make the presentation and formatting of the proposal lucid and perfect. With these basic points in mind, you can persuade the customers to choose you among your competitors. This can help you drawing maximum revenue for the company.

By: Lara Hopkins

Business Etiquette – A Primer on Your Business and Social Dynamics

admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:22:56 +0000

Managing your behaviors in a positive way – good manners or “etiquette” if you will – will serve you well in your business and personal life. The term “business etiquette” refers particularly to those behaviors in the business world that can impact your career favorably. But what is it exactly? The dictionary defines etiquette as “the conduct or procedure required by good breeding or prescribed by authority to be observed in social or official life.” Now, here’s the problem with that definition: it conjures up images of people drinking tea out of delicate china cups with their pinkie fingers extended. For that reason, I don’t like the term “etiquette.”

Emily Post once said, “Etiquette is the science of living.” Ah, now that’s better. Given that it’s all about our behaviors and attitudes, I choose to call this concept “Business and Social Dynamics,” since we’re talking about the dynamics of your interactions in your business and social life. There are other terms I like, as well: presence, professionalism, emotional intelligence. Why is this concept so important? When our behaviors are positive and professional, we have a powerful, positive presence – we’re noticed and taken seriously. When we practice these skills, we’re more likeable. And when we’re more likeable, our interactions are more productive, our environment is more pleasant, and our desired outcomes are usually more successful.

Here are some of these dynamics or behaviors — little things that mean a lot:
Show interest in others. Nothing – and I mean nothing – is a stronger likeability factor. Be a good listener. Pay attention when others are talking, hear what they’re saying, and let them know you’ve heard them by responding appropriately. Don’t interrupt someone who is talking. Resist trying to top another person’s story. Practice basic good manners: say “please,” “thank you,” and “excuse me” when appropriate. Step up, take initiative, volunteer – it’s extremely memorable. Learn to make proper introductions. Here’s a tip: whenever possible, you say the name of the more important person first. Strive to learn and remember people’s names. Repeating the name, asking for its spelling, committing to remembering it, and making word associations will help. Return phone calls and emails promptly. Mind your dining manners. Don’t talk with your mouth full, learn place settings so you know which glass is yours (everything you drink from is on the right), choose your utensils from the outside in, put your napkin on your lap when you sit down at the table, and leave it there until you rise to leave. Compliment good ideas and good work. Be a team player. Not everyone can be the captain. Don’t engage in malicious gossip or spread rumors. Don’t whine and complain to others about things that can’t be fixed. Make your Facebook and other social media profiles clean and professional – something you’ll have no regrets about. Write a note – to say thank you, congratulations, best wishes, I’m sorry, etc. Strive to make others feel comfortable – whether it’s a newcomer, a customer, a guest, a junior associate. Show enthusiasm and energy in everything you do.

By: Barbara Busey

Business Gifts For That Personal Connection

admin — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:11:20 +0000

Giving gifts of any kind always seems to inspire an intimate connection of some kind between the giver and the recipient, whether that connection is something like friendship, or it is just the warmth of appreciation and gratitude. This connection is a great thing to call upon when it comes to your business, as well, with the act of handing a gift to an employee or client much more appreciated than simply mailing a package or leaving something on your employee’s desk.

Giving someone a gift is something that will make you happy, and that will make your recipient happy as well, so take the initiative and actually find the time to hand off that next gift to your clients or employees. Not only will them thank you for it and be that much more appreciative of something that you took the time to hand deliver, you will also get that boost from seeing their surprise and pleasure at a gift.

Business gifts are great ways to show appreciation to employees, and to say thank you or to congratulate them for a job well done or for something else going on in their lives. They are also great to save up for your best customers as a way to say “thank you for your business”. After all, without our clients we would be nowhere at all!

It is not always possible to hand deliver gifts to clients, especially when those clients are located across the country or are even in a different part of the world. In this case, take the time to create a special note or hand written letter for those clients who merit special attention, and include them with the nicely wrapped package that you will be sending inside the shipping box. This adds that personal touch almost as well, and helps the client feel the connection to you even if you cannot thank them for their business in person.

As for employees, there are many occasions on which a business gift is appropriate, and these range from a promotion to a completed project and from an anniversary with the company to the birth of a new child. Business gifts are meant to show your employees that they are important to you and that you care about what is going on with them and/or are thankful for the hard work that they are doing for you, so prove that appreciation by giving them their business corporate gifts in person. When the employees have a personal connection to upper management, they will be that much more loyal to the company, and that much more likely to stick things out even when things are difficult.

The personal touch is important, and most not be forgotten in the machinations of big business. Just as you would always appreciate a friendly smile and a genuine “thank you”, so would your employees and clients prefer that personal connection and that genuine gratitude on your part when you hand out your business gifts.

By: Gareth Parkin