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Your business, like other parts of your life, needs to be systematized in order to run smoothly. A lot of the things we do on a day to day basis are repetitive and therefore it should be possible to get someone else to start doing some of what you do. You want to work on your business, not in your business and systemizing will allow you to delegate some work to others and work on the overall business while others are working towards more specific goals of the business. Ideally you want your business to be fully systematized in all areas, with all your employees working at different levels to constantly be improving your business and the system.

Use these points are to help you build your business around a system so that you are able to efficiently use your own time to its optimum effect.

Hire good employees. Having people who are smart workers will allow your business to work to its utmost effectiveness. Then, when you must delegate an important task with a deadline you are confident it will be completed in time and be done well. And you are not stuck working something that could easily be done by someone else.

Have a good training system in place. If you are not able to hire the most qualified employees, you can train them if you have a good training system. If you have well trained employees that is less time you have to spend doing menial tasks that your employees can do (just remember that you don’t need to do all the training yourself).

Create goals. Having company goals makes it very clear to your employees and clients and to yourself, what your purpose is. It will also help you and your employees to remember where the company is going and the kinds of things you stand for as well as the kinds of things you want out of life.

Have a plan. If you have a plan for things, you’ll be prepared and your business will run smoothly, regardless of what happens.

Create good procedures. Each kind of business has a set of processes associated with it. McDonald’s has a set of procedures that they follow religiously. From recruiting to taking orders to opening and closing, all McDonald’s franchises follow certain processes to accomplish each task. Each employee has a duty and once they accomplish that thing they move on to the next one. Your company should function in a similar fashion.

Think about this: if you had to hand your business over to someone else tomorrow, would that person be able to run your company smoothly, based on the systems you have in place today? If the answer is yes, then you probably already have a good system in place. But if you answer is no, then you should consider the suggestions above to help your business run to its ultimate potential and free up your time.

Source by Leonardo Wood

Sadly, many pool builders and contractors have gone out of business these past few years. And although the economy has certainly had its impact, there are many other reasons as to why so many contractors are struggling to keep the doors open. Here are my top 5 reasons contractors go out of business:

#1. Too Cheap:

Just like any other business, swimming pool builders must turn a profit to survive. No profit means no business, which is why so many pool companies, and manufacturers for that matter, are unable to weather this current economic storm. Although there are many factors- such as efficiency, labor, mistake-free work, etc that will dictate the profitability of a job, there will always be unpredictables. But one thing that I’m absolutely sure of is this:

Pool companies that price their pools on the ‘high side’ are, as a whole, still in business.

Having consulted with pool shoppers literally all over the country, I’ve seen this issue of pricing and company longevity come up time and time again. Homeowners will come to me and say something to the sort of, “Marcus, I really like company X and they’ve been in business for a long time and they adhere to everything you’ve suggested as buying guidelines but they’re (5k, 10k, fill in the blank) above the other quote I have.”

My answer to this is always the same:

Listen to your gut, use common sense- there is a reason this company has gotten where it is.
I’ve seen hundreds of pool shoppers with buyer’s remorse simply because they based their decision on the cheapest quote. Such logic is a recipe for disaster.

#2. Stink at Building Pools
Yes, this may sound like an obvious answer but it’s amazing how many people get in the swimming pool industry because they think that installing a pool requires little skill. Huh????? This is especially true in the fiberglass pool industry. Some guy that owns an excavator thinks he’ll naturally make a great pool builder because all he has to do is “Drop the shell in the ground”. I’ve seen this scenario over and over again and it really is one that damages the pool industry. I don’t care what type of pool it is-above ground, vinyl liner, concrete, or fiberglass; there is no such thing as an ‘easy’ pool to install until a builder has repeated the process many times over and over again.

#3 Don’t Travel:
It used to be that pool companies could stay in one city and have enough work to keep them busy. With the housing market explosion the way it was, this is no surprise. But since everything went South in late 2008, pool companies have been presented with an important question: Do we travel out further to ensure we stay busy, or do we hunker down in our small little radius here and hope the phone rings? The reality is that pool companies that have weathered this economic storm aren’t afraid to put gas in their vehicles. I know many pool companies that install inground pools in more than one State, and I say good for these companies for doing what it takes to stay in business.

#4. Don’t educate the consumer
The world we live in has changed drastically over the past few decades, with no change having a greater impact on businesses than our world’s entry into the information age, and more importantly, our dependency on the internet. When I got into the swimming pool industry about 10 years ago, I was amazed at how little information was being provided to consumers on this complex topic. Hence my efforts to change this culture with articles just like this one. Pool companies that don’t take the time to educate their clients are quickly going the way of the dinosaur because they are no longer being recognized as an authority in the industry. Consumers realize that if a business truly takes their trade seriously, they will also be an ample provider of helpful product information and enlightenment.

#5. Jack of all trades, master of none
One of my favorite books of all time is Jim Collins’ “Good to Great”. In his book, Collins analyzes companies that have managed to stay in business for a long, long time all the while leading their industry and becoming one of the best at what they do. In order to become ‘great’, Collins says all businesses must have a ‘hedgehog concept’. To make this a long story short(Sorry, I wish I could explain all about why it’s called the ‘Hedgehog Concept’ here but that would demur this blog way too long.), businesses need to find the one thing they can be the absolute best at, and then do it better than anyone else. When a business understands their hedgehog concept, it allows them to have clear vision and direction, as well as the ability to become truly branded because of their chosen concept.

Source by Marcus Sheridan