3.
Re: What are the best business practices? Jan 8, 2008 3:26 PM
Peter Drucker said that we achieve our business objectives by managing Manpower, Machines, Materials, and Methodologies. First, I believe it's essential to have a crystal clear objective -- a business owner has to have his or her "eyes on the prize" and keep other participants similarly focused on achieving that goal. Second, I believe it's important to leverage one of those four "M's" and get better at it than anyone else. (For example, if you're understaffed, have aging equipment, and inadequate materials then you'd better have a fantastic set of processes, procedures, and methodologies in place. If your machines, materials, and methodologies are lacking, then you had better hire and develop exceptional people.) Big business can afford to get pretty good at all four "M's." Most small businesses can't, so we have to become outstanding at one of them. That translates to our competitive advantage -- having better people, a better place, better products, better processes, better prices . . . we can't be better at
all of them, but we have to be better at
something in order to compete and survive.
