Entrepreneur's Best Practices

by Lori Melton

There are many ways for entrepreneurs to identify and use best practices to attain or exceed business objectives. Implementing best practices across multiple areas of your business can generate growth and help ensure success. Below are some simple best practices every entrepreneur should follow.

Benchmarking

Benchmarking is comparing your business, operations, products, functions and more to other businesses in the marketplace or your specific industry. Drawing comparisons will help you identify best practices in your competitor's business that you can use to improve your own products and services. Areas of focus might include costs, quality, customer satisfaction and more.

Following Standards

Following technical, safety, employment, legal and other designated standards is key to your business success. Some standards may be set by a government body or some sort of independent body which is related to your business or industry. OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), for example, sets and enforces health and safety standards for men and women in the workplace. Other standards may measure the quality of a business product or service. Therefore, adhering to standards which relate to your business or employees is a very important best practice.

A corporate lawyer can keep you informed of changes in business and employment law and other legal matters which are important to your business. They can also provide legal advice and valuable services. For instance, eminutes, a law firm which incorporates companies in California, can advise you whether to incorporate or form an LLC and can also prepare annual corporate minutes for shareholders and board of directors meetings.

Networking

Networking with key players in your industry, customers who would benefit from your products and services, and people who can provide you with important tools, resources, and support to help your business grow and thrive is a very important best practice for entrepreneurs in any industry. In other words, identify people, customers, suppliers, and organizations who can help you the most and leverage them every way you can.

In today's digital arena, networking and connecting via social media, email, and other social platforms can establish communication and cultivate a growing list of new and returning customers. Attending seminars, trade shows and other events to educate and connect you to people and practices within your core industry is also a great way to keep up to date with the ever-changing marketplace.

Open-Door Leadership and Corporate Communications

A large part of building and maintaining a successful business is attracting and retaining employees who are motivated to use their skills and talents to help your company meet and exceed its goals. Maintaining an open-door leadership policy and allowing employees to express ideas, feedback, and concerns will help employees feel like a valuable part of the organization. This can also encourage them to work hard and strive to personally excel, while looking for ways to help your business thrive as well.

Furthermore, corporate leaders should lead by example. They should seek and reward input and improvement initiatives from employees and work to maintain a solid, regular flow of communication. Being flexible in corporate policies and embracing diversity in the workplace are management best practices which also cultivate a happy work environment and can positively impact company success.

Improvements and Innovation

Making improvements and welcoming innovation in your business are key components of growth and success. Areas of product and operational improvement may be identified via benchmarking, internal testing, customer and employee surveys, market studies or other tools. Implementing appropriate changes to address issues can ultimately lead to better quality, lower costs, decreased production times or a myriad of other positive impacts.

Similarly, welcoming innovation and encouraging employees to think outside the box to enhance design, revolutionize a process, create an industry or product "first," or bring something new to the table can help enable your company to be an innovator, trendsetter, or a leader in best practices among your industry peers.