Page 21 - Paulisms: Gold Nuggets for Small Business

Start the Way You Want to Finish
I wish I knew back in October 1987 what I know now! It would have saved tens of thousands of wasted hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars.
If you are starting out or have been on your journey for a while and the processes discussed in this book aren’t in place, then get into action or find people to help you to. Whether you are a tradesperson or you have a reasonably sized company in place, you must put great financial and operational systems and processes in place and apply disciplines. I cannot stress this enough. You must know where your business is in ‘real time’, and you must learn the science of business maths; that is, margins and gross profits.
There are several areas that are a must for starting a business. It is imperative that a strong, disciplined base is put in place from the start, otherwise you can quickly create a mess that will be hard to tidy up later.
1.1 Business model
It is important to be clear on what the model or purpose of your business is. Be clear in what your business is all about and say no to anything that does not fit the model and is potentially a distraction. The model is your purpose, product line, operational structure, sales channels (e.g. residential or commercial), how you are going to sell your products and services (e.g. franchising, contractors or employees)... basically what you
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