Determine your business processes
When all the excitement has died down and your business is up and running, how are you going to ensure things stay that way?
Introduction
In this the ninth publication in the series of 10 on business planning we will now have a look at what you need to consider to ensure the business continues to run smoothly in the coming months and years. Even if you are a sole trader, you will need consistent processes that you use so that you do not have to think about what to do next in any usual circumstance.
Defining Your Business Processes
There will be three main areas that you will need to consider in terms of business processes. These are: -
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Your business and the law – the laws that apply to your business
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Financial records and reporting – keeping track of the money
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Determine your business processes – all the things you do to find, service and keep customers
Any operation within your business needs a degree of stability. If you keep changing the way you do things, you could lose control of costs, find it difficult to keep up with the paperwork or even loose customers. A business process includes, but is not restricted to:
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Design (of products or services)
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Accounting and book keeping
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Sales invoicing
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Advertising
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Marketing
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Business planning
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Expenses
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Production and delivery of the product or service
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Risk assessment
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Technical operations
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Packaging and labelling
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Invoicing
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VAT
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Signing off the deal
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Dealing with customer feedback
As the business gains momentum you will need to be able to ensure that you can continue to deliver your products or services consistently. In the areas of quality, cost and on time delivery, having stable processes is one of the key factors of achieving this.
Example: the business employs another person part time. Having identified your business processes and having written them down will form the basis of any training that they require.
What actions do I need to take?
First select the business processes that you have established that works for you, your business and your customer. Write down what you do and, if possible, create forms etc. that can be used. Determine, who within the business (you may not have any employees, but you may have a friend who helps with IT or a book keeper). The written document should at least be dated so that you can track any changes that are made. These become your Standard Operating Procedures for the business.
What are they used for?
Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) record the important processes used within your business and is a record of what works well for the business, the customer and any other interested parties.
You may not do some things that often and remembering what you did last time can often be challenging, so having a written record is important.
They do not have to be complex, even a set of blank forms with notes on may be enough.
So, SOP’s can be useful for: -
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Training other members of staff
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Ensuring consistency of process and customer satisfaction
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Providing a record of what was done
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Providing valuable information for improving processes in the future
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Allowing the business owner to know that the customer will be satisfied with the outcomes, even when they are not involved directly
Example – Hairdresser, customer advice session
This has been put together by a mobile hairdresser. This is a simple check list that is a form of risk assessment. 
Having used a simple check list, this hairdresser will always check these specific points with any new client before he/she provides any services.
Graham Cripps
Results Consortium Ltd