change management process change management plan
After a lifetime of working like a maniac, I am finally in a position to spend my summers in Nantucket and my winters in Palm Beach. Our headquarters are in Orlando, but I still check in numerous times a day. Even though I am not always physically there, I'm proud that my employees still complain they can feel me breathing down their necks. I can access everything I need to know about how my business is functioning on any given day or hour.
I make sure each department sends me a daily flash report that contains all the crucial details at a glance. A flash point is that critical nexus in a business where money can be made or lost. It's where the red flag shows up.
It's taken me years of building and adhering to a disciplined business plan to reach the point where I can run my business remotely. Fingertip control has been an essential tool in getting there.
Of course, you still have to be able to trust the people generating those flash reports. Owners need to audit their department heads periodically to make sure they are getting accurate information. Grill those who prepare the reports and get all the details on how they compiled the data. It takes obsessive compulsive commitment and dedication.
Most small business owners have little to no control over the details of their business operations. They have no idea where or how their most critical resources are being used, and inventory-based businesses are among the worst offenders.
We had a client a few years ago who supplied compressed gas to hospitals and clinics. Once their customers use up the oxygen or other compressed substances, they have to return the special steel canisters to our client for refilling. But no one, from the owner to the inventory manager, had a clue where those canisters were, or how many were off-site. Every year they were spending high six-figure sums on new canisters they wouldn't need if they had the proper inventory controls in place. The owner was abdicating responsibility by claiming inventory control was the job of the general manager.
As always, problems in the business were multiple, but lack of inventory control was the owner's most expensive mistake. It was also the easiest to correct. We put fingertip controls in place, with detailed computer tracking and the general manager at the helm. However, we made sure the owner knew that it was HIS responsibility to stay on top of it. Within months, his profit margin grew another eleven percentage points.
Willful ignorance of the details of an operation is a surefire recipe for its demise.
As the leading provider of implementation-based profit management and cash management services, the American Management Services' team of professional operating executives work directly with owners to implement the changes necessary to improve their businesses and promote business growth.
If you are looking to better your company's sales management, profit management or cash-flow management, American Management Services is more than just another business consulting company. We provide RESULTS NOT REPORTSâ„¢.
Visit our website for more information: http://www.amserv.com/
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