Business Management Skills

Many small business owners are experts in their business service or product - whether it’s bookkeeping, designing dog products, or delivering fitness programs. But they’re not experts at business management, and this lack is the reason for at least some of the large number of failures among small businesses.

So what can small business owners do to improve business management skills? Here are five of the most convenient ways to upgrade your skills and become more knowledgeable about managing your business.

Teleseminars -  There are dozens of free business teleseminars and webinars that you can sign up for. Become a continuous learner and in the space of just a few months you can learn valuable information that will be useful in your business.

Networking Events - Keep an eye on business networking events in your town which may feature guest speakers on a variety of business-related topics. These events can include business groups, presentations, workshops, and other gatherings. For the price of a lunch or dinner you can learn more about the featured speaker’s area of expertise. You may even land a new customer by networking with others who are attending the event.

Mastermind Group - Napoleon Hill, in “Think and Grow Rich”, described a Mastermind Group as “the coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony.” Working with other small business owners will help you uncover your existing management skills and learn new ones. You will build on your current level of knowledge and success through the magic of multiple heads creating something much bigger than any one individual.

Coaching - Hiring a business coach is another way to learn management skills, as well as to have someone to hold you accountable. You can develop your business quicker by working from your strengths (your product or service) and hiring people to help you with what you’re weak at (business management).

Night School -  If you’re committed to learning business management skills, your local school board or college may be of help. Many night schools offer small business education courses that teach entrepreneurs about the management side of their business. For the price of the course and a time investment, you can attend classes filled with other entrepreneurs, and learn from your classmates as well as your instructor. Some instructors will provide additional training as well.

These are some of the ways that you can work towards strengthening your business management skills.  Becoming more knowledgeable about managing your venture will greatly improve the chances that your business will succeed.

By Alison Wheatley

Many small business managers lack management and marketing skills and are pressed for time. We can help. While you focus on your product and/or service, we can develop and manage a marketing/business planning program customized to your goals. From generating ideas right through to final implementation, Route One Research Services can help give you a competitive advantage to help your business thrive. Contact us either through info@routeoneresearch.com, or at (604) 731-2785. Mention that you saw this article, and receive a FREE subscription to our newsletter filled with valuable management information designed to help you achieve business success.

Besides the flow of information through the standard channels, in every organization a flow of informal information also exists. In an army as well as in business there are many invisible informal information channels which are important for the mutual understanding and co-operation. Informal contacts between colleagues are a countermeasure against the ubiquitous bureaucracy. When there is a positive atmosphere, employees often take the initiative to redress a situation. In this way many mistakes are spontaneously fixed. Frictions and problems are quickly spotted and rectified.

Management should stimulate these informal communication channels because it is impossible to cover everything by means of procedures. Good managers understand this and will try to keep these channels open or even create them, like Montgomery did (see case The Phantom System). Such informal communication channels perform even better when the focus and the strategic goals of the company are understood throughout the entire organization.

Two cases:

Case The Phantom System

General Montgomery, Supreme Commander of Eighth Army in North Africa during WW II (and later in Europe), received – like every Commander – the routine situation reports on a daily basis, which his staff prepared, next to those from the different units of his vast army. But he did not want to only rely on these routine channels of information. Montgomery took the revolutionary step of establishing his “Phantom” system of liaison officers. These were carefully selected young soldiers chosen for their bravery, their initiative, their manners and their independence. This corps d’élite had unusual powers. They had carte blanche to travel anywhere and observe anything, but had no power of command. They were the eyes and the ears of the commander. Each morning they drove out to the farthermost parts of the front, using motorcycles, jeeps, or aircraft (Piper Cubs) and then returned to report directly to Montgomery late in the afternoon. They just told him what they saw. In this way Montgomery, in addition to the routine daily reports from the different units, also received the latest first-hand eye witness view from the entire front.

Despite the special position of these young men there was never any friction between them and the units they visited, because of the manner in which Montgomery handled this group of liaison officers and the information they gathered.

A British Carton Cylinder Manufacturer

The sales director of a British manufacturer which made carton cylinders for the protection and transportation of documents and was also specialized in manufacturing products like cigarette filters, carton cylinders for batteries and so on, instructed the drivers of his delivery trucks that when they delivered to customers they should watch to see if any trucks of competitors were also at the delivery yards of his customers. They reported to him which competitors they saw and because of their friendly contacts built up with the customer’s personnel over the years, they could sometimes even give him detailed information about what products were delivered. One day the board of directors discussed the outsourcing of their logistics to a professional trucking company. The sales director protested vehemently against this decision because then he would lose his carefully developed eyes and ears. After explaining his motives the board withdrew their decision. To systematically obtain important information about the competition, this director had unwittingly created his own “Phantom” system, just like Montgomery did.

By Robert G. Ogilvie

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