I’m spending much of this weekend up close and personal with my business. I’m preparing a handbook to give each of my associate VAs to provide them with a detailed look into my company and how I expect it to be operated. I should have done this a long time ago, and I do have a basic policy and procedure document in progress, but this is different. A policy and procedure manual is something for my husband to give someone if I get hit by a bus, so Mann Made Time can survive without me. Have you read Michael Gerber’s ‘The E-Myth Revisited’? It’s all about implementing systems, and my business could stand to be a lot more systemised.

So as I sit here thinking about topics to include in my handbook, and the way I expect my associates to represent my company, it’s really forcing me to think. It’s a wonderful exercise to go through, and I urge every business owner to put something like this in place. Something you’ll be able to give your employees, or your virtual assistant to follow when representing your firm.

You also should have a general policy and procedure manual that could be handed to someone in case of an emergency that takes you away from your business. A wonderful resource, Yvonne Weld’s Guide to Creating a Thriving Business can be found here.

You can not have any good reason for not doing this. If you do, I would love to hear it. Honestly, who can predict what’s going to happen tomorrow? Your back up plan doesn’t do much good if it’s located ‘in the back of your mind’. Get to it!

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