Establishing Operations (pt. 1)

Operations is the aspect of business focused on how you do the work necessary to get your product or service to market. It includes the administrative work vital to ensuring bills are paid on time, calls are answered, and the office runs smoothly. It also includes the manufacturing and supply of the product to customers and the delivery of services. Operations is wide-ranging and has many components.

As a small business, operations are one controllable area that can yield measurable results for your business. An organized, efficiently operated business saves time and money. A business that utilizes technology well can re-invest the money saved elsewhere in the company. Freeing up time allows a business to focus on the customer and ensuring their needs are met. Customer satisfaction leads to increased revenue. Increased revenue combined with decreased expenses increases your business’ profitability.

How do you build an operations framework?

The information provided via these 5-Minute Reads and across this site is intended to be practical and actionable for a real small business. Most small businesses start fairly lean—one or a few employees. As such, it is not realistic to think that a small business owner is going to have the time and resources to build out the entirety of its operations at start-up. It is possible, but it also possible to build it in a more modular way over time.

Break down the functional areas (e.g., Administrative, Manufacturing, Product Delivery, etc.) into its components.

Administrative includes among other activities, answering calls, document management, paying bills, scheduling meetings and managing calendars, keeping the office organized, scheduling repairs or other service calls, arranging travel, and reviewing/proofing documents. These are just a handful of activities that commonly fall into the administrative area. Each of these activities requires using technology and performing certain tasks. Identifying the technology and the tasks necessary to complete each one of these activities is key to mapping out operations for your company. Eventually, you would like to hire someone to take over these responsibilities, and having clearly defined operational frameworks allows them to have a strong start.

To start, pick one operational area.

Identify as many of the core activities within that area.

Break down those activities into tasks.

Determine what technology or people resources you will need to accomplish each task.

How long will those tasks usually take.

This is the start of building a profile for your operations.

Check out the exercise that will help you build out the framework.

Next, we’ll tackle what to do with all of the information you’ve gathered.

Here’s to more business birthdays!