Where a SMBO (Small / Micro Business Owner) actually devotes their time will largely determine whether they are successful or not.

In a micro-business or self employment (just one person), there is only the Owner – but that does not mean they have to do everything themselves – because they can outsource jobs. Even if they have the time, outsourcing to others may actually get the job done better.

There are many functions in any business – Marketing, Sales, Operations, Production, Accounting, Administration, HR, Quality Control, Customer Service, Purchasing – and setting strategy and making all the decisions. But successful SMBO’s tend to do three things personally ….

which I call the three “C’s” …

  1. Champion the products / services and calibrate against demand;
  2. Command the cash flow with control over the business; and
  3. Connect with the external world outside the business.

Everything else can be outsourced, contracted or delegated.

I call these the three C’s of success – Champion, Command and Connect. The SMBO will take charge of these three functions and never delegate, these core activities.

By Champion, I mean to make the choices amongst all the possible options – what the customer needs and demand does the business detect and target? What product or service package does the business offer? What price? Where, when and how does the business sell its products?

By Command I mean to be in control of the cash flow by taking personal responsibility for the business always having cash to cover all foreseeable risks, to command growth rates and investment, to monitor how the business is paid and what it commits to paying to others.

By Connect I mean to communicate regularly with clients, to network with the wider community, to congregate with other business and professionals, to canvas with prospects, cavort with competitors, create the supply chains and to consider substitutes and technology in every aspect.

When a SMBO champions, commands and connects – that is a 50+ hour week – there will not be time to do much else. This is the core work which makes the SMBO successful.

Small Business Training

 

When we provide training or mentoring to a SMBO, we tend to train or mentor down to a level of minute detail. While the detail is essential some of the time, the SMBO has to not lose focus on their core role – the three “C’s”. Every day they must Champion, Command and Connect, and these are all ‘doing words’ It is what the SMBO does that makes for success.

The problem with disasters is that they are totally unscripted. They never come at a convenient time and what gets damaged us usually the thing you need the most. You can however prepare for them, and with computers, backups are a major part of that preparation. Unfortunately, very few people give backing up much serious thought until after they need it, and by that stage it is too late. This section is about the different ways a computer can be backed, what each type of back up is useful for, and guidelines on how to prepare backups for the time you actually need them.

Broken Computer

This computer went through a major flood and didn’t survive.

Stack of DiscsA full system backup is something that is absolutely essential to have if your computer system completely crashes. Unfortunately, it is not often done, even by those who are pedantic about data backups. A full system backup is one that will allow you to start with nothing, and rebuild your system back to a fully working system without having to reinstall the operating system or applications. Read More →