Tuesday the 16th of February 2010
Small business are a reflection of the people who run them. This is without doubt true. When I started my business in 1998 with my two business partners Phil and Keith, we had a clear vision about the type of company we would create and the levels of expertise and quality that we would provide.
My recent dealings with Albert Keeshan from the HR Department in Reading have made me realise that my company is so much more than the work I do directly. Albert Provides expert HR advice and documentation, when you need it. If you follow his advice you will keep yourself legal and you will keep on top of any potential HR issues meaning your "staff problems" are minimised. In essence he is our HR director and we know that the HR side of our business reflects our desire for expertise and quality. (http://www.hrdept.co.uk/reading.htm)
What this highlights to me is that all the business decisions we make with regard to 3rd parties provides need to reflect our core company values. Every time we commission a printer, a PR agent, a solicitor etc.. We need to ensure that they reflect our company.
Essentially a company is not only a reflection of its owners but of every part of the business and all the people they deal with, business owners make these decisions and so the question I am now asking when looking at 3rd parties for any involvement with Positive Computing is: - Are they as professional as we are or we want to be?
I am going to be at the Henley back-to basics business surgery on the 26th of Feb and one of my questions to the attendees will be; Is your IT as professional as you are? It's a great question to ask as we know that our business is a reflection of its parts.
IT and telephony is one area where I am interested in providing expertise and quality to companies, we become part of the team so that the IT is business class. Maybe there are areas where you need to make improvements in your external team; I would urge you as I am doing to review them all.