1. If you are creating a business beyond your area of expertise take care to furiously background check those being hired as superiors or consultants. Just because someone was involved with numerous startups does not mean they were useful or capable. Perhaps they were worthless or maybe they can juggle knives while writing a business plan. You can find these things out by calling their previous employers. One call can save you months of pain.
2. While interns can be a great source of free labor and youthful ideas you shouldn't start your entire workforce under the guise of “internships”. Our first work crew was entirely interns, ten to be exact. Those ten were whittled to 3 and then we were hired. Ten in a small space, fumbling around with one boss can lead to much confusion and way too many lunches to buy. Not to mention you shouldn't offer internships unless you can offer knowledge.
3. Don't hire and immediately step away. It's in your best interest to get to know everyone who is with you from the ground up. You'll never know what people are fully capable or incapable of doing. The more space between you and your employees, the less you'll really know for sure what is going on. Convoluted information is not helpful in any business.
4. Try to share as much information as you can. There were months where coworkers and I would be left alone while bosses and investors would disappear behind closed doors. We'd continue on like drones, not improving anything because we had no clue how. Expectations weren't clear. As time went by sheets were demanded from us asking what we did and for how long. Talk about mixed emotions. We weren't trusted yet had no clue how to gain trust.
5. See how your employees are and ease in asking about their progress. Our owner still has a funky habit of demanding what we are doing for him. There are few decent answers to questions like that particularly when you are spending company money on something needed. It takes a wordsmith at times to keep from being backed into a corner, even if the boss is joking.

Written very simply:

1. Research everything, including potential management hires.
2. Don't abuse the power of interns or offer internships that won't afford learning.
3. Don't assume your company will immediately function as you please on autopilot.
4. Don't leave your employees in the dark.
5. Allow room for your employees to grow on their own, without whips and chains.

Remember, common sense and venture capitalists are all you need.

Where I work there are only a handful of employees. We have to work side by side and get along fairly well in order for the day to be productive. For the most part it is one of the better places where I have ever worked because we would all rather get along than fight, however some issues, and differences of opinions, come to the front at social events such as the "Staff Christmas Party".

For a few days following these events some feathers remain ruffled but we go back to getting along very shortly. I am well aware, however that in some work places the staff are not so tolerant of each others beliefs. In fact in some places they form up into sides based on political opinion or religion.

If people work together, they will be more productive if they want to help each other, rather than harbor any feeling of hatred or wanting the other person to look bad.

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What are your employees talking about or fighting over when they gather at the water cooler?

Not everyone is passionate about politics or has strong political views, but for those that do, their opinions are more than just political ones. If you support a party that is high on supporting environmental causes, chances are you are too. Therefore you are not going to want to be working with a bunch of people who drive Hummers two blocks to work, and who are generally wasteful people. If you support a political party that believes wealth should be shared equally among the people, you are not going to want to work with people who think that rich people deserve more or are more important than everyone else. You get the picture.

People cannot help the way they believe, or how they feel on certain issues pertaining to everyday life. Those issues are then put forth into our political views. This goes hand in hand with how we think in our daily lives. Most of us have friends with similar views.

Again, having co-workers who get along is very important to the running of any business, particularly a small business where people are often working along side of one another in, what should be, a co-operative manner.

While maybe it is illegal to ask a person what there political views are, and illegal to hire based on this, it might be something we should be aware of when staffing. Similar minded people will get along better. People of opposing views might just try to sabotage each other, and thereby hurt the company in the long run.

Below are some of the trends that are shaping the marketing approach of service companies:

1. Focus on Customer Service and Customer Satisfaction. Companies of the past tend to focus on their internal being. Their capital expenditures are geared towards expansion of network, technical superiority, and market domination by size or scale. These companies fail to recognize the fact that unless customer needs are taken to account, these initiatives will not bring success or profit.
2. Focus on the Service Value. Customers want value for their money and they expect that company's offerings must be of prime quality at the least possible price. This is opposite to the principle of business operations. Companies will need more money to execute first-class service because it requires investment on well-experienced employees which will require higher salaries, high-end facilities which will require bigger capital budgets and additional employee trainings which will result to increase operational expenditures. Managers of service companies are tasked to design a service model that are valuable to their customers but priced reasonably. In the past, companies believe that as long as they are “big” in terms of scale, size and, resources their perceive value is high. This is no longer true today. The best judge of your company's value is your customers.
3. Focus on Information Technology. We all know how technology changed not only our day to day lives but also how it shaped the business landscape. One of the best contributions of technology is information. Technological advances led to the availability of information in all sectors of the organization. Examples of information are consumers' purchasing behavior, consumers' consumption pattern, consumers' data information and so on. Information made the decision making process of top executives easy and later resulted to further innovation and improvement on the company's strategic direction. Companies who failed to use information also failed to understand their customers.
4. Focus on Globalization. Globalization has swept companies from all over the world by storm. Local markets are already saturated by local players and the best way to expand their sales is to tap emerging international markets. However, internationalization approach is not as simple as transporting your service to another country. If your company's service model is effective in your local market, it is not a guarantee that it will also be effective in other countries. Culture, social behavior and customs of the foreign country must be taken into account. Many companies who jumped in the globalization band wagon failed to adjust their service approach when setting-up a foreign franchise. In the fast-food industry for instance, Mc Donald's beef burger may not be a hit in countries like India because cows are sacred in this country. Some American fast-food chains that plan to establish branches in the Middle East or some parts of Asia change the composition of their ingredients of their food products and modify the service orientation of their staffs in order to adapt to the taste and customs of the locals.

These are just some of the emerging trends that managers of service companies must consider. Many companies that did not recognize these signs and failed to adapt to these trends have suffered and send millions or even billions of their resources in to the trash bin.

No one wants to work for a boss who spends their management time being negative about staff, even if they're being negative about someone else. All staff like to feel as though they're important, and that they're doing a worthwhile job. Don't prefer one staff member over another; it only causes friction.

A Boss Who Listens Will Be Listened To

There's nothing more frustrating to staff than to feel that the boss never listens. Make sure you give people your full (not distracted) attention, and don't brush them off. Whether they have a good idea or only a passable one, at least give them the privilege of being heard.

Sometimes the Employee will Be Better Suited for a Different Job

My own boss has a good theory: he employs staff on the basis of their talent rather than their aptitude for a particular job. He lets them grow into their work, and lets the job evolve around them. This may mean shifting how the job was initially visualised, but it will be profitable in the long run.

Don't Insist that Employees Work Through their Breaks

Sometimes whether an employee gets their break at the right time or not makes all the difference to the rest of their day. Certainly there are jobs where flexibility on the part of staff is necessary, but even in such jobs, remember it's essential for staff to have time to themselves away from the job at regular intervals.

Keep in Touch With the Staff

Make sure staff are really sure where a project is going. Don't assume. It's better to have, or give, more feedback early in the piece than to have disasters through lack of communication later on. And never berate staff in front of others. It makes them feel like a pupil bawled out in front of the class.

Be Honest About Where Things are At

If staff hear rumours, have to listen to gossip, get misinformation, stresses will arise. Better to keep staff informed as much as possible rather than have them acting on the basis of hearsay. And always be honest to an employee's face.

Hard Work Deserves Rewards

One employer of a large breakfast cereal firm in New Zealand took all his Pacific Island employees home to their native island for a holiday as a reward for a good year's work. While that might seem extreme, there are plenty of other opportunities to give employees a treat, such as taking them out for a meal, or giving them tickets to a game.

Don't Stint on Technology

Employees should be able to expect up-to-date equipment in an office: laptops, notebooks, broadband and the like. They can work faster and more smoothly if they have the right equipment. Stinting on technology will not only make you seem miserly, if will produce poor performance on behalf of the staff.

Carrots aren't Just for Donkeys

Everybody likes to have a reward for achieving. Employee of the Month awards, small bonuses (and large) and other motivations might sometimes seem like bribes, but they work. People enjoy working towards something, and there's nothing better than having your face up on the notice board as best employee, or seeing an email go round the office saying you've just achieved the best stats for a quarter.

Praise Never Goes Amiss

While you should never demean people in front of others, you should frequently praise them in front of their fellow-employees. It doesn't have to be over-the-top, and it always should be genuine. Praise is one of the great encouragements employees can receive.

These ten points seem obvious and even well-known, but it's surprising how many employers forget them in the day-to-day running of a business.

Many companies talk about mission, vision and values but do we really understand what they are. We can start by inquiring into what we mean by mission anyway. It is very hard to focus on what you can not define, right? And my experience is that there can be some fuzzy thinking about mission, vision and values in some organizations.

Most organizations in today's world have mission statement, purpose statement, official visions, and posters printed with the organization's values. But precious few of us can say that our organization's mission statement has transformed the company. And there has grown an understandable cynicism about lofty ideas that do not match the realistic organization life.

Companies mission, vision and values can not be apply to just the main purpose of the business “be profitable” it should also include the organization's most valuable resource, the employees. Is very important that employees at all levels understand the company mission and vision, it will provide employees with directions and purpose of doing things. We can have very talented employees but if they don't understand the purpose, then, we can not expect a lot from them.

The idea comes alive! You are now your own boss, how cool is that? A year goes by and you are working harder and longer hours than you did when you were an employee for someone else. More time passes and there is a realization that owning your own business is hard. While all of your friends are out having a great time on the weekends, you are usually sitting down with your favorite drink and doing the books, trying to make end meet, paying bills, doing estimates, paperwork and making sure your payroll is covered.

Before children, we ran our business out of our home and I would go with my husband on Saturday and Sunday jobs just so we could spend time together. After our oldest son was born, and my son and I would go anytime possible just so we could spend time as a family. Our second son came along and it was decided to change how we ran our business in order to spend more time together as a family. Then our daughter came along and we had it down to a science.

It is now twenty years later and my husband and I are still partners in life and in business. We have learned to delegate some of our to do lists. It is hard to let go of that list but once you find what works, you will be much happier and fulfilled. Delegating is a very important part of running your business and showing yourself some appreciation for all of the work you do.

So, what do you offer your employees? What kind of insurance plan will work best for your company? Well, first, you need to know what kind of health insurance plans exist.[/p]

Indemnity or Fee-for Service

The first and most basic plan is sometimes referred to as an “indemnity” plan and sometimes is referred to as a “fee-for-service” plan. This is often the first plan most companies consider and was really the first type of health insurance plans offered to companies back when an employer first started offering health insurance coverage to employees.

With these plans the insurance company pays for a pre-determined portion of the employee medical bills. The employee pays a monthly fee, which is also known as a premium, which is normally deducted from their paychecks. Each employee will also have a deductible that they will need to satisfy, and the amount of that deductible can vary per plan. Once that deductible is reached, the employee and the health insurance plan pay the bills together. In some very generous plans, once that deductible is reached, the insurance plan will pay for the largest percentage of the amount.

These plans allow employees to use any doctor they want and will not limit them to a certain network of providers. Once an employee has visited a doctor sought medical care, they will have to fill out a medical claim form to ensure payment from the insurance company. Many of these plans also offer a kind of cap so that the employee will not have to pay over a certain amount of money for benefits per year.

These plans are often not as extensive in what they cover as some of the other options. For example, the basic plans often cover hospitals stays and services while in the hospital and maybe some doctor visits. The major medical options will pay for more and help toward recovering after long illnesses or serious injuries.

HMO and POS

The HMO is also known as a Health Maintenance Organization and is the health care plan most often associated with the term “managed care.” These kinds of plans came into being when the costs of health care continued to rise to the point where employees could not pay for their medical care and then wait for reimbursement and it became often too expensive for insurance plans to pay out the huge medical reimbursements.

The HMO requires that the employee choose a preferred medical provider from a network that has been approved by the provider. This person then acts as a kind of “gate-keeper” who then monitors the employee or patient for every medical visit they need to make. Before an employee can seek a specialist, such as a knee specialist, they would need to visit their preferred care provider and get a referral that would then need to be submitted to and approved by the insurance plan.

The POS plan is an off-shoot of the HMO and also requires the use of a specified network of providers for maximum benefit. The switch here is that the employee can seek assistance outside of the network and still get some benefit, but they will have to pay the lion's share of the medical bills.

PPO

The PPO is known as a Preferred Provider Organization. This is also a network of providers that has been approved by the insurance provider, but the employee does not have to visit their preferred medical care provider in order to see a specialist. They will, however, have to pick a specialist from the network for the maximum benefit.

With the PPO there are no forms to fill out as there can be with the HMO and POS forms. There is some increased freedom of choice for the employee, but there is also an increased cost and the premium for a PPO is likely to be much larger than that of an HMO or POS.

Most PPOs also provide some coverage for medical assistance sought outside the network, but the amount the employee will have to pay is very high.

Once you decide what insurance plan you think fits your companies' needs, it's just a matter of contacting providers and deciding which costs fit into your budget.

One day you decide that you cannot really afford to pay your employee a salary and you will just give him or her a paycheck whenever you feel like it. They don't need to rely on a paycheck , right? They will still take an interest in your business and work hard for you if you take all the “perks” away such as getting paid and no appreciation for their commitment, right?

It won't take long for this employee to come to you with the news that they are no longer working for you.

Aren't we as business owners the employee that we just described? Then why do a lot of business owners not pay themselves? In a new business there is a time that you may not be able to pay yourself at the beginning of the venture, but probably banked on that when you took the leap to go on your own. We are the best employee that our business will ever have, so why shouldn't we be well compensated? Just like an employee, after a while you will get burnt out because for all your hard work you reap no benefits. It is very important that you pay yourself. Depending how your company is set up, talk to your accountant to see what is most beneficial for receiving income.

You should have a plan for retirement because no one else is going to do it for you. Once you start setting aside a certain amount every pay period you will never miss it. It doesn't have to be a huge amount, but no matter what, keep putting it in. It all sounds like a lot of work, but once you get a plan in place, you too will be a happy employee.

1. What's working and what's not working?

This question discovers the things that will take you into the future and the things you need to drop. Too many businesses are beating dead horses while missing the wave to their future.

2. Who's working and who's not working?

This question discovers your true team-players and your deadbeats. Reward the workers and fire the shirkers.

3. If our company tripled in size over the next ten years, do you have any clues as to the new ideas or reasons we would grow so quickly?

Every product (chair, desk, computer, etc.) that you can see, began as an idea in someone's head. Increase the production of great ideas.

4. What are the best ideas you've heard from others or thought of by yourself … that would make us a better company?

The best and the brightest will be drawn to companies that create a culture of caring.

5. Does your supervisor inspire you to love your job?

Jesus didn't pay any of his employees, yet thousands worked for him - why? Inspired people live to work!

6. If you were in my shoes (the owner) what product, service, team, department, etc. would you judge as “dead weight”?

This question discovers the hidden weaknesses (and agendas).

7. What do our customers grumble most about?

   This question seeks to discover the ability of your employee in understanding the needs of your customers.