Author: blogger
For many, the idea of owning a small business is a dream come true. People conjure up images of working reduced hours and having a fistful of cash. Whilst this is definitely a possibility for long term success stories, the truth of the matter is that owning and operating a small business is very hard work, can be stressful and the owners are often stretched financially until the business gains momentum. It is, therefore, important for individuals who are contemplating owning or starting a business to be aware of the challenges and reality that can present in day to day operations. This article examines a few key areas operators will need to address.
Operating a small business requires an individual to draw on a diverse range of skills. Often, the owner has strengths in some core areas and has weaknesses in others. Hopefully, this was identified in the business plan. Irrespective, business owners must face facts that they will need to outsource or hire personnel when skill deficiency presents. Trying to be an expert in all the business facets can drain organizational resources and draw the business owner’s attention away from core business imperatives. Part of good business management is knowing how to focus and use your skills in the most appropriate and productive way.
Financial responsibility is an often overlooked and misunderstood area of business operations. This is often the case in organizations that are run by sales personnel who are strong at generating and closing business but not so good at running operations. Having a centralized accounting system with designated personnel or employing the services of a bookkeeping service can assist business owners to deal with the accounting side of the business. It is also important that the business owner consider outside advice from an accountant to assist with the financial and strategic direction of the organization.
Maintaining strong organizational culture has many fringe benefits for business operators. Staff who respect managers and are content with their work environment are inevitably more productive and do not take as many sick holidays. Lower staff turnover reduces staff replacement costs. Building a business requires dedicated and focused staff. Investing in staff training also raises operational IQ and allows managers to delegate tasks to individuals who have upgraded skills. This improves the overall organizational effectiveness. Maintaining good staff relations is an important and often overlooked area of small business management.
Petron, the country??s largest oil refiner and retailer, was named again as the top Philippine company in the 3rd Asian Sustainability Ratings (ASR) because of its efforts to combine profit goals with sustainability.
The oil firm also ranked seventh out of 29 Asian companies in the energy sector surveyed by the ASR.SR.
It also placed in the top 10 percent of the 750 companies surveyed in 10 Asian countries, namely Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
This is the second time that Petron topped the ratings board, which measures a company??s performance in key areas such as environment, social and governance (ESG).
??In a world where transparency and accountability are increasingly important, the ASR is the first ESG benchmarking tool to analyze the largest listed companies in Asia,? said a report prepared by CSR Asia, the body that conducted the survey.
??The ASR allows companies, investors and other stakeholders to understand the economic, social and governance activities of listed companies. It also encourages listed companies to address ESG performance through disclosure and realistic target setting,? the report said.
Petron chairman and CEO Ramon S. Ang noted that as Petron??s business grows, its initiatives in the areas of sustainability and corporate social responsibility likewise increase.
??We believe that adhering to sustainability across our operations is essential to the long-term viability of our business,? Ang said in a statement.
??If you take a look at the leading companies across the region, they have overcome business challenges by doing the right things. A strong company does right by its employees, customers and other stakeholders,? Ang added.
Launched in 2009, the ASR examines the publicly available information of leading listed companies in 10 Asian countries and provides investors, companies and other stakeholders with a view of the strategic sustainability of these companies.
Earlier this year, Petron also received two distinctions from the Management Association of the Philippines for integrating corporate social responsibility and sustainability into its daily business operations.
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Anybody that has ever had a job (whether it was with a large firm or small start-up company) has had some interaction with business management.
Every business needs some way of planning, organizing, staffing, leading or control in order to accomplish a goal. Business management can be defined as human action as well as design to create useful outcome and production. Management can also mean one person or a group of people performing the act of management.
It is difficult to trace the history of management since it is a more modern conceptualization. Management-like history dated back to Sumerian traders and workers of the pyramid in ancient Egypt. With the use of bookkeeping, management planning and control was then in place. As complexity and sizes of organizations grew, so did the split between groups and responsibilities. Gradually independent managers grew more and more common.
Management can be seen as a philosophy, where one measures quantity, bases their plans on that, and then takes actions to reach a goal. Business management has separated into different branches: human resources, operations, strategic, marketing, financial, and information technology.
Basic functions in management include a process of planning, organizing, staffing, leading, controlling and motivation. These ongoing functions let management operate their business and evaluate their progress. Business policies include mission statements, their vision and objectives. The policy is a guide that stipulates rules, regulations, and objectives in the manager’s decision-making process. It must be easy to understand by all employees. Policies and strategies of managerial staff include understanding how to implement strategies, having a plan of action, reviewing policies and strategies regularly, having contingency plans, having progress assessed, having a good team environment, and determining roles in achieving the business’s mission.
The management hierarchy is split into different levels. There is the Senior management, Middle management, Low-level management, Foreman, and Rank and File. The Senior level management has extensive knowledge in roles and skills, they are also very aware of external factors. Their decisions are usually long-term, analytic, directive, and conceptual. They are responsible for strategic decisions. Middle management has a specialized understanding of certain managerial duties. They are responsible for carrying out decisions by Senior managers. Low-level management ensures that the other two management level decisions are executed. Low-level manager’s decisions are usually short-term. The Foreman, (or supervisor) has direct supervision over the working force, or work group. The Rank and File is more restricted and specific than the Foreman.
There are also different styles of management that people are very familiar with. Macromanagement and Micromanagement are two good examples. Macromanagement is when a manager is focuses on system entities, such as constraints, rules, information architecture, etc. Micromanagement is where a manager observes or controls the work of their employees to great detail; it is generally viewed negatively.
There are endless types of business management out there: Accounting, Capability, Change, Conflict, Communication, Cost, Crisis, Customer Relations, Design, Educational, Engineering, Environmental, Facility, Financial, Human Resources, Hospital, Hotel, Information Technology, Innovation, Inventory, Land, Logistics, Marketing, Merchandising, Materials, Office, Program, Project, Process, Performance, Product, Public, Quality, Records, Relationship, Restaurant, Risk, Spend, Stress, Systems, Talent, Time, and Work are just a few of them.
A typical component of waste management is the storing or stockpiling of waste materials for recycling or reuse. The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) requires that this action is carried out in the correct manner to ensure the probability of damage to human health and the environment is eliminated or reduced. Storage or stockpiling will have to be taken on exclusively in appropriate circumstances for genuine and favorable purposes.
Stockpile sites are used to enable the short term storage of material or tools for construction or maintenance projects. The kinds of components which may be put away are:
Select substance and fill – like sand and rock
Topsoil, wood chips, mulch and waste vegetation
Virgin Excavated Natural Material (VENM) and spoil
Recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) – rotomilled material
Concrete or asphalt block material taken from pavements
Aggregate and Pre-coated aggregate
Cold mix asphalt
Road base
Parked machinery and vehicles
Construction materials such as Jersey Kerb and traffic signs
General materials such as timber, steel etc.
Stockpile sites are generally not to be used for the storing of any waste which contains coal tar or any sort of waste which is classified as unhealthy, restricted solid, special or liquid waste as classified in the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997
Stockpile sound management routines
Just before decision is taken to start a impermanent stockpile on site a risk assessment must be undertaken with the goal of protecting against or reducing the chance of destructive blows on human health and/or the environment. In every case, the site and substance specific conditions must be thought about when deciding on the actual demands pertaining to bunding, on-site structure and community assessment.
With regards to the locality, probable off-site challenges and amount of community interest associated with an action, the proper measure of community consulting may need to be set up both at the preparing and operational periods of stockpiling activities. In such cases, stakeholders including adjacent neighborhoods and nearby citizens ought to be notified on factors including duration, possible threats and impacts and the associated minimization measures. Suitable contact info of business or project managers should also be provided to the community for open correspondence to enable inquiries or complaints to be attended to.
On-site risks would be determined by factors including the:
waste type and chemical and physical qualities of the materials being stockpiled
locale and climate of the site
hydrological and hydrogeological conditions which include closeness to surface and ground waters, water quality and secure environmental values
stretch of time materials are going to be stored
projected management method of the stockpiled materials
Further off-site risks have to be taken into account and rely on factors like:
closeness to and sensitivity of the enveloping atmosphere (including unpleasant effects to water, human health and amenity)
exposure due to height in metres AHD of the working floor level which the stockpile is situated upon and in accordance with the encompassing environment
enactment of proper pollution control standards
supervision of traffic within the site
The following environmental protection actions should be used to ascertain and maintain stockpiles on construction sites:
The border of the stockpile need to be delineated with a bund (made out of earth/RAP etc) or other type of fencing or barrier.
Materials must be stockpiled at the least 5 metres away from foliage or native vegetation, without having it pressed up around the foundation of trees.
Stockpiled materials should not be in excess of 2m tall and should have a maximum 2:1 slope.
Erosion and sedimentation regulators needs to be constructed in between the site and any drainage lines or down-slope areas.
A diversion bund need to be placed on the uphill section of the site to redirect water round the site.
Cover stockpiles with plastic or store them damped down if airborne debris may be a problem.
Stockpiles sites have to be just right to hold all needed components without burying protective precautions just like silt fences. If you have excessive material you may need to widen your site protection actions.
Stockpile sites have to be examined repeatedly to make sure that the site sign (which plainly labels and locates the site), border bunding, sedimentation and erosion controls and boundary delineation are all in order.
At the end of the construction project all non permanent stockpile sites ought to be removed from site and the site restored as essential for contract specs.
There are numerous factors which impact on the performance and viability of your business. It is therefore imperative that you monitor and control your financial performance. Debt control and budgeting are two elements of this, and of particular importance is your business cash flow.
Many profitable businesses have gone under due to a lack of attention to their cash flow; they have insufficient cash available to pay their bills. Thus, you must plan and control your cash flow in order to effectively manage your business.
Some strategies that may assist in this include:
* Increasing the speed of cash receipts by good debt control strategies
* Avoiding excessive stock holdings by managing stock levels and obtaining reliable, prompt suppliers
* Planning the purchase of equipment and other capital expenditure for periods when surplus funds exist
* Planning to have sufficient reserves to carry your business through the inevitable periods when unexpected expenses are incurred
* Avoiding excessive investment in plant, equipment and other fixed assets which may leave too little working capital available (particularly in periods of falling prices, declining sales or increasing interest rates)
* Avoiding over borrowing as this may place a strain on working capital, loans still have to be repaid even if revenue is decreasing
* Maintain adequate working capital to fund the growth as increasing sales also means increasing costs, your working capital requirements therefore, need to be continually reviewed
* Delaying outgoings by taking advantage of the credit terms offered by your suppliers and paying when it suits your cash flow
* Reducing outgoings by taking advantage of discounts when appropriate and working capital permits
* And most importantly, regularly comparing your actual cash flows to your budgeted cash flows, analysing the differences, and taking action based on this analysis
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