Learn

Maximum Time: 65 Minutes

1. A Vision for My Business

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Successful business owners think about and communicate what their business will become. They determine a vision for their business. A vision is a picture of a desired future state. In the Pearl of Great Price we read that the Lord “created all things … spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth” (Moses 3:5). Similarly, business owners should mentally create the future of the business they intend to build physically.

Creating a vision is a mark of leadership. The scriptures teach, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). This truth applies directly to your business. Your vision will guide your actions and will help you and the people you work with to focus their energy and efforts.

It’s not enough to create a vision and then hope your business succeeds. You will need to work hard and be persistent to bring your vision to reality.

Activity (10 minutes)

Step 1: Draw a picture of what your business will look like once you have achieved the future success you envision. Be as detailed as possible. Feel free to add descriptive words or phrases to your picture.

My vision for my business

Step 2: Have a few group members share and explain their picture.

Step 3: List the milestones your business must achieve to realize the vision you created in step 1. If possible, estimate when you will achieve these milestones.

2. Standardizing My Business

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A business should not depend completely on its owner. Successful business owners create operations manuals and document their workflows to show how to perform the standard work of their business. These resources encourage quality and consistency in a business’s processes. They are useful for training new employees and for maintaining best practices among current employees. They should be frequently reviewed and updated.

Creating an operations manual and documenting your workflows for specific tasks will set expectations, help employees achieve common goals, and ensure consistency. This documentation makes it possible for someone to perform a task when an employee who normally performs it is sick, takes a vacation, has an emergency, or leaves the business. With detailed workflows in place, you can work on improving your business rather than simply working for your business.

Creating an operations manual and documenting your workflows will also help you if you are your business’s only employee. The process of documenting will help you structure and standardize your business. It will help your business be better organized. Documented workflows also serve as a knowledge resource to help you remember tasks that you may perform infrequently.

Discuss:

• As a business owner, why is it important for you to create an operations manual and to document your workflows for specific tasks?

• What business tasks or processes should you document so the work can be performed consistently?

Activity (5 minutes)

Choose an important business task that you perform regularly. This task could be something simple like creating an invoice or receiving a payment. Write down the task and then write step-by-step directions on how to complete it. This exercise is the first step in creating an operations manual for your business.

Example: Make a deposit
1. Open ledger
2. Enter date of deposit
3. Enter name of person or business making deposit
4. Enter amount of deposit
5. Enter account for deposit
6. Click Save

Task: Step-by-step instructions:
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3. Ensuring That My Business Complies with Laws and Regulations

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Business owners are responsible to ensure that their businesses comply with all laws and regulations. Laws and regulations vary by industry and location, so it’s important for every business owner to think about his or her legal and regulatory requirements at a (1) local level, (2) state or provincial level, (3) national level, and (4) international level.

Activity (15 minutes)

Step 1: The purpose of this activity is to identify and discuss legal requirements that you may not be aware of. As a group, read aloud the list of legal and regulatory categories in the left column below. Then think about each legal or regulatory requirement that you think applies to your business. If you know the specifics for the box you marked, include these in the “Notes” column. If the row doesn’t apply to your business, skip it.

Legal Requirements for My Business
	Examples	Local	State or Provincial	National	International	Notes
Business structure	Corporation; partnership
Data security and privacy	Financial data; personal information
Employment and labor	Minimum wage; child labor protection; accomodations for disabilities
Environmental regulations	Waste disposal; pollution prevention
Financial regulations	Securities laws; antitrust laws
Health and safety regulations	Fall protection; respiratory protection
Insurance requirements	Liability insurance; workers’ compensation insurance
Intellectual property	Copyright; patent
Licenses and permits	Business license; food handler permit

Step 2: As a group, discuss some local and regional resources that can help business owners understand their legal and regulatory obligations.

Step 3: Select a few topics from the chart above that you will research this week for your business.

4. Investing in Employees

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Adding a new employee to your business is a major decision that requires an organized hiring process and prayerful consideration. Successful business owners write detailed job descriptions to guide their hiring decisions. A job description informs the applicant of the work requirements and helps the employer communicate the skills, knowledge, and abilities that the new employee will need.

Activity (5 minutes)

Individually write answers to the following questions. This activity will help you brainstorm ideas that you could use in a future job description.

Step 1: Consider your first (or next) employee hire. What needs would this employee fill?

Step 2: What skills, knowledge, or abilities would this employee need to have?

Discuss:

Why is it important to be both methodical and prayerful when hiring an employee?

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To create a thriving business, it’s essential that you lead and empower your employees. A leader is someone who motivates other people to follow. Leadership isn’t derived by a title or position; it’s earned by the ability to persuade, encourage, and guide the group toward a desired goal. To empower your employees means that you provide them with opportunities to demonstrate and develop their skills and interests. Smart business owners help their employees align their personal growth with the growth of the business.

Discuss:

How could you empower your current and future employees?

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As a business owner, you can display leadership by the way you hire and manage your employees. This section describes three guiding principles.

The first principle is to hire slow and fire fast. For example, let’s imagine that Vivian owns a home care business. She carefully takes the time to hire the best applicant based on a detailed job description. She also takes immediate action in letting go an employee who demonstrates that he is not a good fit for the role or the business. In both instances, Vivian makes decisions that will benefit her employees and her business in the long term.

A second guiding principle is to provide adequate training. For example, let’s imagine that a mechanical engineer named Nat owns his own business. Nat helps his employee Miles create a personal development plan and provides access to training. With his new skills and training, Miles is soon able to manage several important projects for the business. In turn, Nat has more time to focus on growing the business.

A third guiding principle is to inspect more and assume less. This principle doesn’t suggest that you should micromanage your employees. Instead, it means that you should be aware of the work they are doing and how you can help them. For example, let’s imagine that Cesar owns a graphic design business. He develops close working relationships with his employees and dedicates time to ask questions, listen, guide, and stay close to the work they do.

Discuss:

How could these principles help you in your business?

5. Setting Goals and Measuring the Success of My Business

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Goals are steps that help us bring our vision to reality. We can work to achieve our vision if we break it down into small, incremental goals to complete over time. The acronym SMART can remind us to set goals that have the following characteristics:

• Specific: include a detailed description of what will be achieved.

• Measurable: include a metric or indicator to measure progress.

• Achievable: set goals that are realistic and attainable.

• Relevant: set goals that are important and provide motivation.

• Time-bound: include the date when the goal will be achieved.

As a business owner, think about your long-term vision and break it down into smaller goals that can be achieved through focus and persistence.

Activity (10 minutes)

This activity will help you learn how to create goals to achieve your vision.

Step 1: Think about what you want your business to look like in three years. Then create smaller goals that will help you realize your vision. Review the example below to see how this might work.

Step 2: Now create your own version. Start wherever you are most comfortable in creating your goals. Remember to use the SMART principles.

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As you work toward realizing your vision, be sure to maintain the following daily behaviors:

• Be consistent by working on your goals every day.

• Track your progress in detail.

• Be flexible in adjusting your goals when appropriate.