Corporate Gifts

The Manager's Guide To Getting Control Of Your Business

A Series of "How-to, Hands-on" Procedures for Effectively Handling Management Issues

By Mel Lofurno

Introduction

WHY READ THIS BOOK?

This book is about change; specifically, making changes to improve your business. It is a guide for those responsible for the financial health of a business. In other words, this book is for Managers. I have written this guide in a simple, straightforward manner, addressing the use of the basic building blocks of a business. My rational for making it basic is that if you are refining a process, you must start by evaluating the underlying reasons for having the process to start or if you are creating a new business, you must define the desired results before starting.

This book is intended for use as a guide for making changes in the running of an on-going business or for establishing the operating systems of a new business.

If you are not satisfied with something in your business…if you think some part of it could be better... if the business is running you... if you are not having fun (by the way, my definition of "fun" is successfully meeting a challenge)... reading this book is a start to making the change happen. However, if you only read without doing the follow-through actions at the end of each Session, all you will accomplish is to have provided a few hours of diversion.

If you are just establishing your business, I suggest you read the entire book and then prioritize the order in which you address implementation of the systems.

This book is also about balance. Every situation offers the opportunity for action or inaction; use the extremes judiciously. I encourage managers to identify the extremes and to operate within the mid 40% range. Most people value consistency. It provides a level of stability and helps to avoid surprises. I realize I am describing an intangible concept and offer this example to clarify the concept. If you visualize complete chaos as one extreme and complete bureaucracy as the other, you realize that neither will promote successful business. Determine the procedures you need to carry out your strategies and implement those. Strive to operate somewhere in the mid-range. To accomplish this you must first be aware of the overall situation and second you must use judgment in execution.

Our actions have consequences; intended and un-intended. Nothing happens in a vacuum…and there are no secrets. Strive to make the best judgments based on the information available to you at the time. These Sessions are designed to help you grow in that endeavor.

And this book is about honor, the bedrock on which you manage and about discipline, accountability and respect... for yourself and others. Don’t expect to manage others if you cannot manage yourself.

But mostly this book is about leadership…positioning yourself as the leader of your business in the minds of those on whom you rely. Managers accomplish things through the efforts of others. Those on whom you depend to get things done must believe in you; trust that you know where you are taking the business and how you will get there. Your quest is to manage through goal-driven, proactive, principle-centered leadership…and you must work at this in all aspects of your behavior.

A colleague once said to me, “You’ve got to know what to do when you don’t know what to do." My goal in writing this book, is to provide a "business compass" that managers can use to guide them through events.

I envision this book to be used as a tune-up manual for business because, just as you tune-up your car, portfolio or anything else for optimum performance, you must occasionally check and adjust your business to meet your goals.

Time and energy are two of your most valuable resources…both are limited. In order to make the most of each available for the growth and protection of your business, you must have procedures in place to handle the routine matters of business. This book provides a guide for tuning-up your business to accomplish that. If you are just starting out, it provides a "to-do" list of systems and procedures you should put into place.

One more thing about change... It’s going to occur. You can either sit back, watch it happen and react, or you can manage proactively and help shape the changes. Just be sure to recognize those things within your control and those over which you have little or no influence and act accordingly.

The important thing is for you to act. Do the actions suggested at the end of each Session. These will help you stay grounded in your goals. This "guide" will provide specific actions for you to take to achieve the results you seek. Becoming proficient at managing is similar to learning how to master other challenging endeavors; it requires practice.

It’s not necessary to read this cover-to-cover. Use this as a reference handbook and read those topics as you have the need or interest or open the book at random and read the topic... and carry out the action steps. The benefits to you and your business will result only from your application of the principles.

Use this book as a "Tune-up Manual" for your business. Consider your management systems as the "engine" of your business. Just as you occasionally "tune-up" the engine of your car, you should examine your management systems to ensure they are giving you the output you want. Much of this book is devoted to your thinking process…you must know where you are taking your business and what results you want from it. Just as engine tuners adjust for specific applications, you must adjust your systems and procedures to deliver the application of your policies. For example, engine tuners will use different settings to tune for horsepower or fuel economy. Engine tuners have three primary elements with which to work – air, fuel and ignition. You have your vision, strategies and execution.

AUTHOR’S CREDENTIALS

Danish physicist Niels Bohr said, “An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.” I haven’t made ALL the mistakes yet and I learned long ago to avoid those who present themselves as "experts." What I offer in this book is a compilation of practical ways to apply the business management principles I have learned (so far) over my thirty-nine year career. I gleaned this knowledge from colleagues and mentors at Dupont and the German chemical company, Degussa, as well as from our many world-class customers and competitors. Since 2000, I have demonstrated that the principles I formerly applied around the world in the electronics industries, are also applicable to a wide range of businesses. The principles are constant; the implementation is adjusted as appropriate for the culture of the industry.

The Sessions of this book were adapted from a series of monthly articles that first appeared in Compoundings, the trade publication of the Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association.

Take Control of Your Business Now!

You can order The Managers' Guide to Getting Control of Your Business for yourself or someone you know who wants to pro-actively take control of his business and his time. Hardcover (via Amazon) $23.95 Paperback (via Amazon) $13.95 Adobe eBook (via iUniverse) $6.00