The other day I was sitting in a cafe, enjoying a cup of tea and finishing off some work. And watching the staff at work. Well, not quite.
The female server had decided it would be a good idea to fix up her appearance. So she had laid out her make up and hair equipment on the serving counter and proceeded to, with the assistance of the stainless steel coffee machine as her make-shift mirror, apply eyeliner, blush and a few other bits and pieces. Once all the brushes and paraphernalia were packed away she then started on her hair. While she was doing this she was chatting rather loudly to a fellow server behind the counter, oblivious to the world.
As I watched this play out in front of me, I looked around the cafe. Some of the tables were dirty. The chairs were not placed neatly and there was rubbish lying on the floors.
What’s wrong with this picture?
As I sat there wondering if there were any makeup products in my tea, I wondered how many other businesses are run like this? The obvious lack of self-awareness and self-management on behalf of the employees, and a lack of management, controls, procedures and systems. I wondered if this cafe would ever be as successful as it could be.
If you have your own business then don’t ever believe it can run successfully on auto-pilot. Why would you invest in a business and then not be involved?
Most people are in business to make money, and the customer/client is an important part of this financial success. Here are a few things to think about:
- If you are not able to be in the business everyday, then who is taking care of it? Who is looking after the customers/clients? Do you have a responsible manager in charge?
- Is this manager aware of the business standards and their position’s roles and responsibilities?
- How will you measure their performance?
- Are your team members aware of their roles, responsibilities and the business goals?
- Do you have a disciplinary code of conduct? What you can and cannot do in the business?
- When will you be checking in on the business? How would this be carried out?
- What external resources can you use to measure the businesse’s performance?
- Do you have an employee induction programme and training programme?
- Do you interview and hire your employees to fit your business culture?
To stay on track, meet and exceed your customers expectations and to be successful you need to include the correct oversight in your business.
- A business strategy is not enough - June 3, 2024
- Networking – quality or quantity? - February 19, 2024
- How behaviour profiling can work for your business - January 5, 2024
