If you’re a small business owner, then you need to understand the importance of a small business operations manual.
Small businesses are one of the driving economic forces of most developed nations in the free world, and are the heart of the human condition. Small business owners define their own standards of quality, their own creeds and codes of conduct, and define a product or service based on their own heartfelt convictions, instead of what shareholders have to say.
Small business owners deal with a lot of tribulations, the more success they see, the worse it gets. So it’s very important to design a small business operations manual that keeps the decisions you make and the rules you set in place and unwavering no matter what happens.
As a small business owner you know what it’s like training employees, having to do it yourself mostly, and you know how time consuming and exhausting it is. Well, a manual, if designed to cover the entire operation, can be a great passive training tool.
Making the small business operations manual available as quick reference helps their training to stick and reduce mistakes that could be costly as well. The less stress there is the happier and more productive you will be.
A also helps to provide your staff, and yourself, with vital quick reference when random or unpredictable things come up, due to customers or just … things happening. And when a customer makes a demand or accuses you of not following your rules, and you know you’re right, there’s no need for arguments.
Just show them a copy of your small business operations manual, or at least a light copy of it, where your rules, regulations and terms of service are logically listed. This will prevent you from looking like a jerk when you’re just doing your job.
What do you need to know about designing your small business operations manual?
Unless you’re running this business out of your garage without a license, you’re already familiar with how important business and legal writing is. So you already understand that your manual must have proper wording, which leaves no room for interpretation. At the same time, it needs to be organized neatly for ease of glossing when the situation calls for it.
There’s another facet, though, to your small business operations manual. You will want it to look pleasant if not beautiful. It’s a well-documented fact that if something is easy on the eyes, it’s easier to use and leaves a positive, lasting impression. This applies to yourself just as much as employees.
When making your manual look good, font faces, spacing and the like are important, but best left to your drafter to create. Your concern should be in printing it on paper best suited to withstand your work environment, while remaining affordable.
When storing your manual in digital form, as mobile pocket devices replace books, consider PDF for your format. PDF is great for a small business operations manual because it is hard to accidentally alter, almost any platform out there can read it, and the reader is free.