Have you ever had to tell someone to mind their business? Perhaps someone has put you in your place and told you to "mind your business."
Well, today, I'm telling you all to mind your business! Now, I don't mean it in a nasty way. I'm reminding you to stay focused on the four "P's" of your business. Pay attention to your processes, people, planet and profits.
During my 21 years as a Goodwill Industries CEO, I find that things are constantly evolving and changing. Just when you think you can rest and relax in your success, here comes another challenge or opportunity.
In minding your business, processes and systems are extremely important. However, they aren't typically exciting to develop and can be be boring and even tiring. Nonetheless, they are an important piece of the puzzle that keeps the business operating an an optimal level. Without processes, employees are left to make up the steps as they go and that's a recipe for disaster, or the leader has to take on every decision, a recipe for burnout. Processes are steps in your systems that guide every department. For example, your Human Resources Department has hiring guidelines, and onboarding protocol. Without a written process, different standards will likely be used to hire staff, leaving the organization at risk or discrimination or unfair hiring practices, which you land your organization in big trouble.
In minding your business, people are essential partners in the business, from your staff to your board of directors, to customers, donors and vendors. I believe that if you treat people fairly, the rewards will show themselves in their honesty, loyalty and dedicated service to your organization.
In minding your business, protecting the planet from wastefulness, but conserving energy and water, keeping unnecessary items out of the landfills, and recycling or reusing items as much as possible offers short-term and long-term benefits. In the short-term you save money, in the long-term your efforts adds years to products and the planet. Goodwill Industries has been promoting the use of second-hand items since 1902. Goodwill is the original recycler of things and people, changing lives be helping individuals learn new skills and build new careers, mostly through the sale of used household goods and used clothing. Check out more about Goodwill's impact: https://www.goodwill.org/about/
In minding your business, your profits will grow and your expenses will be under control. In any business or organization, not a day should go by without reviewing some metric in your operation. Daily sales, payroll costs (including overtime), vendor agreements, business contracts, memorandums or understanding, risks analysis reports, mission service or impact reports, social media and marketing analysis, customer service reviews, strategic plan updates, staff satisfaction surveys and many more reports should be at your disposal and be reviewed in a timely fashion. A careful and consistent review will reveal weaknesses in your organization that need to addressed and corrected.
Allowing too much time to pass without minding your business will eventually result in failure and the demise of what you and your team have worked so hard to build up. So, don't be offended when someone tells you to mind your business, they're really just reminding you to stay focused on the bottom line.
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