The Operations Manual: The Heart of Your Business

The E-Myth Business Blog has a great Article Posted on the benefits of maintaining a proper operations manual:

If you’re like most of us, you probably have a folder filed away at home that’s full of all the manuals for the various electronic devices in your household. When you need to know how to work your microwave or your television breaks, the first place you go for help is that folder. In your business, your operations manual acts in the same way. It serves as the single-point reference for all important company information. And when used properly, it’s not just a place to go to look for “fixes,” rather it’s the first thing employees familiarize themselves with so they know how things work, right from the start.

At MyNewCompany.com we have found our operations manual to be one of our most useful tools for obtaining consistent superior results from our business processes. By clearly defining the daily/ monthly/ quarterly and/or yearly tasks that must be carried out for the business as well as the areas of responsibility for various positions you can make sure that processes are carried out the same way every time. A properly written and updated operations manual is also an invaluable resource when bringing someone new into the company. If all processes are already documented and easily accessible the transition period for new hires is both smoother and shorter!

Building and maintaining your operations manual is a key component of Small Business Management. More information is also available on our page on Automating Your Business.

This type of high-quality advice is why The E-Myth tops our list of Recommended Business Books and Software.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 16th, 2009 at 2:54 pm and is filed under Starting A Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.