Introduction

Starting a small business is easy but running one well is not. As soon as the work starts coming in it seems it's the business owner that's doing all the running - running to keep up with invoicing, paying bills, keeping records and buying supplies. That's before any of the projects they have in mind are even considered. It's a wonder the paid work ever gets done.

Your first priority is to do your paid work because, without that, nothing else matters. You have to set your prices so that they cover your costs and the cost of the time you spend while at the same time allowing you to make sure you give your customers the quality they wanted when they bought from you.

Once you have that time blocked off, you need to develop a plan for your business. You have to plan for projects and for your organization so that you can schedule time to develop your business, break down the work into small steps and keep track of your progress.

Part of this process is to keep simple records of what goes on in your business and the direction in which you want to go.

Finally, after covering your customers and your internal matters, you have to treat suppliers, subcontractors and employees as partners, letting them share in the success of your ventures.

Once you get your business organized and running smoothly, you will have time to focus on your customers and to start moving the business towards your targets. You started your small business because you had some goals in mind - if you don't seem to be getting there, it's time to take control and get going.

FIRST PUBLISHED AT SUITE101.COM