Walk the Talk

Walk the talk has become a cliche because it strikes a chord - practising what you preach (another cliche!) makes sense, but doing is not always as simple as saying...

To quote Henry Ford "Whether you think you can, or that you can't, you are usually right". So it's really a matter of wanting to do it right.

Quality and professionalism begins at home. If we are to be eligible to join the cluster of quality approved businesses, we have to make sure that we show by example that we operate with integrity.

So let's take each step of the business' home or office-based activities and see what we can do to ensure that our clients percieve us as professionals.

The Office part 1

I blogged on this topic on Mikronet in 2006. There will be very many opinions on the topic so we'll stick to those that apply generally.

The overall look should be professional. The style should reflect your business. e.g. if your field is advertising, the office could display examples of your work. My work involves Business Intelligence, translation and language teaching, so the office is small and functional. I do have a meeting room facility - our garden room is used for the occasional meeting, but I generally come to the client's premises for meetings.

Working in a cluttered environment does not suit me. Keeping tidy when working in a small space is not always easy, so a routine has eveolved over the years. I have a series of boxes where I keep stuff that is on-going, or projects that have been tendered for and awaiting results. Anything to do with accounts is filed immediately in a ring-binder. Just stuck in as they are dealt with, and then sorted out and entered in the accounts once a month - but we'll cover that when we get to that section.

I do have 'heaps' - I think every single Micro or SME will have those, as we are so busy dealing with everything that they are inevitable, but at least I know what is in the heap and know that I can lay my hands on any paperwork relating to any ongoing project. The paperwork has a corresponding set of files on the pc which obviously is much more comprehensive than the paperwork.