Massage Business Experts Inc.

Having a Business Partner

My experience with my business partner has been awesome.  We really compliment each other and we can rely on each other.  One thing I have found out about business is that you have to check everything all the time.  If you have a business partner you both need to check everything all the time.  Jody and I have found that each of us has our own special something to add to the business.  I have the time and the follow through to handle the financial side where I deal with the day to day running of the business and the accounting of the money and dealing with the accountant.  Jody deals really well with the massage therapists and the clients and the marketing.  Each of us has our qualities but I participate in what she does and she participates in what I do.  Each of us then has the knowledge of both sides of the business.  We both have to make decisions for the company so if you are not paying attention to the whole company you will not be able to make informed decisions.  Jody and I have managed to keep our company on track by keeping each other informed of what is going on inside the company.  Each of us has special concerns and insights but we compliment each other and give advice and depend on each others expertise.  If you are not aware of the financial picture of your company and you are depending on your partner to do that for you because you don't understand or it is to boring you are doing yourself a terrible injustice.  Not paying attention to the money is why most business partnerships fail.  Both parties involved are responsible for the financial well being of the company so you both need to be tracking the money.  For our business we used a daily sheet that had all the income for each day that was rang up on the cash register as cash, check or charge.  Each Thursday we would do payroll and all the bills so at the end of each week we have an account of the income versus the expenses for each week.  Some weeks we made money some we did not but we both were aware of what the income was for the week and we could make informed business decisions for marketing and expenses based on the income we are making.  Most business experts would tell you not to take on a partner they would say don't give away your company you should just hire somebody to do the work you cant do.  I found that people really work hard when there money is on the line.  People who have their lively hood at stake will give it everything they have in order to make it go.  Business partners have a stake in the business they are not just employees who do what you say so you have to make sure you can work well with them.  That is where Jody and I got very lucky.  I was already working for the business when Jody said she needed a partner so I already new where she needed help and I was pretty sure I could do what she was not able to do.  We both had to take a huge leap of faith to make this partnership and business work.  We were both willing to take on the challenge and were both true to our word as far as doing what we said we would do.  This you have to have to have a successful  partnership.

Business Questions

I am blogging with Dragon speak.  This is a new form of blogging for me.  I would like to talk about a business questionnaire.  If you run your own business you must project numbers for next year but that is not all you need to do.  Part of your projections are questions that need to be discussed.  The first question is, conviction: If this business were for sale would I be willing to invest my own money to buy it?  The answer to this question must be investigated thoroughly.  Looking at your business numbers will allow you to to see if the business is viable.  Question number two customers: We know why people buy or don't buy from us and we are not dependent on any one customer for revenue. This takes some investigation and effort on your part to find out what your customers want and be ready to supply them with what they want.  Question three innovation, we implement at least five new ideas each quarter.  Whether or not, you are implementing new ideas is up to you but you will want to keep your customers coming back and seeing new things.  Your new ideas could be bookkeeping, or how to manage money or a new way of advertising.  They could also be repainting cleaning, rearranging furniture, or simply the new way of doing business.  Each of these questions is meant to help you analyze your business.  Analyzing of these questions goes deeper than just the question sort of like peeling away layers of an onion.  For each question we must go deeper.  Question for intelligence, we know how we stack up against our competition and why.  Note to analyze this question we must go into the background of the business and who the competition is if we do this.  Then we will have the answer to how we stack up.  Question five management our managers are excellent communicators, performance managers and people developers.  As we hire managers we need to have a list of questions that will enhance our source of people.  Each manager should have special qualities to help develop our company products and people.  In question six measures, we planned and measure our processes.  We have goals and metrics for financial performance, operational effectiveness, customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction.  Each of these should be set to get feedback from customers and employees.  This way, you will have everything available at your fingertips.  Question seven people:  We have energized and talented people who could replace key corporate positions and can easily recruit talented new employees to support business growth.  You must really look deep into this question.  Do you have the proper people in place to take care of business if a major player drops out?  If the answer is yes then you are already set.  If the answer is no then you need to review your employees and prepare some to be ready to take over in case of disaster.  Question eight rest and relaxation, managers can really "unplug" at least two weeks each year and the business runs well.  This question is not only in relation to managers, but to all employees.  No matter what employee takes vacation.  There should be back up employees to take their place.  Question nine strategy: we have a written strategic plan that includes mission, vision, short and long term goals; it is communicated to all employees, and they know what they need to do to execute.  If you have a corporate policy manual each employee should have a copy.  If you don't have a corporate policy manual, you must explain to each employee what the expectations are.  This way, each employee knows what their obligations are.  Question 10 supplies: we have contingency plans for our sources of supply.  These questions can be applied companywide or in a department constructive probing of these questions can spur new thinking identified business strength and weaknesses; prioritize actions, a sign accountabilities and reports on progress.  As we ponder each question, the realities of how our business is doing come about.  Thank you for your time today, and I hope these questions have helped you in your search for making your business better.