MODULE TITLE:-Developing Business Practice

MODULE DESCRIPTION: This module covers knowledge, skills and attitudes that are required to establish
and develop a business operation from a planned concept. It includes researching the feasibility of
establishing a business operation, planning the setting up of the business, implementing the plan and
reviewing operations once commenced.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the module the trainee will be able to:
LO1: Identify business opportunity
LO2: Identify personal business skills
LO3: Plan for establishment of business operation
LO4: Implement establishment plan
LO5: Review implementation process
LO6: Develop one’s own business plan

LO1: Identify business opportunity

1.1. Identifying business ideas and opportunities
What is a Business Idea?
 A business idea is the response of a person or an organization to solving an identified problem or to
meeting perceived needs in the environment (markets, community, etc.).
 Finding a good idea is the first step in transforming the entrepreneur’s desire and creativity into a
business opportunity.
 A good business idea is essential for starting a successful venture and to stay ahead of competition.
Why Generate Business Ideas?
 Business ideas need to respond to market needs
 Business ideas need to respond to changing consumer wants and needs
 Business ideas help entrepreneurs to stay ahead of the competition
 Business ideas use technology to do things better etc
 To spread risk and allow for failure.
Sources of Business Ideas

 Hobbies/Personal Interests  Customer Complaints
 Personal Skills and Experience  Changes in Society
 Franchises  Brainstorming
 Business Exhibitions  Being Creative
Brainstorming
 Is a technique for creative problem-solving as well as for generating ideas?
 Its objective is to come up with as many ideas as possible.
There are FOUR RULES for BRAINSTORMING:
 Don’t criticize or judge the ideas of others
 Freewheeling is encouraged-ideas that seem to be wild or crazy are welcome.
 Quantity is desirable – the greater the number of ideas, the better
  Combine and improve upon the ideas of others.
What is a Business Opportunity?

 A business opportunity may be defined simply as an attractive investment idea or proposition that
provides the possibility of a monetary return for the person taking the risk
 A good idea is not necessarily a good business opportunity.
 So, what turns an idea into a business opportunity?
Distinction between ideas and opportunities
 A good idea is not necessarily a good business opportunity. Consider, for example, that over 80% of all
new products fail. So, what turns an idea into a business opportunity?
 To put it simply in economic terms, Income must exceed Costs to earn a Profit.
 The characteristics of a good business opportunity need to be carefully examined.
Characteristics of a good business opportunity
To be a good business opportunity, it must fulfill, or be capable of meeting, the following criteria:
a. Real demand: responds to unsatisfied needs or requirements of customers who have the ability to purchase
and who are willing to buy
b. Return on investment, provides acceptable returns or rewards for the risk and effort required
c. Be competitive: be equal to or better (from the viewpoint of the customer) than other available products or
services
d. Meet objectives: meet the goals and aspirations of the person or organization taking the risk
e. Availability of resources and skills: the entrepreneur is able to obtain the necessary resources.

Assessing Business Opportunities

A. Industry and market
B. Length of the ‘window of opportunity'
C. Personal goals and competencies of the entrepreneur
D. Management team
E. Competition
F. Capital, technology and other resource requirements
G. Business environment
H. Business Plan

Identify a business opportunity

Identifying feasible business opportunities is an important step in developing a successful business venture. Business
opportunities are the options available to you when it comes to successfully applying your business ideas in the market.
Creating and developing new and innovative business ideas provides you with the opportunity to fill gaps in the market
and offer differentiated products and services to consumers
Generating and Screening Project Ideas

1. Macro Screening Criteria (1st Stage Screening)

 Marketability
 Availability of raw materials & other inputs
 Ease of implementation
 Financial ability of the entrepreneur
 Consistency with government prior
2. Micro Screening Criteria
a) Marketing Viability d) Environmental Viability
b) Technical Viability e) Ecological Viability
c) Financial Viability
a) Marketing Viability
 Target market for the products and why would customers buy the product
 Size and growth rate of target market
 The level of actual market demand and anticipated future market potential
 Demand and supply situation, factors and trends
 Direct and indirect competition
 Marketing Practices
b) Technical Viability
 Technology & its source  Infrastructure and Facilities
 Machines and equipments  Location & layout of site,
 Production process building & plant
 Raw Materials, power & other
inputs
c) Organizational and Management Viability
 Abilities, competencies, skills, experience, values and motivations of management/key officers as
per the requirements of project.
 Sketch personnel requirements: what people will be needed now, in a year, in the long term?
What skills and qualifications are required and what financial implication results?
d) Financial Viability
 Project startup capital
 Sources of financing/capital
 Balance sheet projections
 Cash flow projections
 Profitability/Income projections
 Break even analysis (BEA)
 Expected return on investment (ROI) & its viability for the entrepreneur (Cost benefit
analysis
e) Environmental Viability
 What are the types of effluents and release generated?
 What needs to be done for proper disposal of effluents and treatment of emissions?
 Will the project be able to secure all environmental clearance and comply with all statuary
requirements?
f) Ecological Viability
 What is likely damaged caused by the project to the environment?
 What is the cost of restoration measures required to ensure that the damage to the environment
is contained within acceptable limits?
3. SWOT analysis
 Strengths: Strengths are within the control of the entrepreneur and they occur at present. Strengths
should be capitalized and harnessed to make weaknesses redundant.
Example:
 Technical expertise
 New improvements of product
 Good network with customers
 Managerial experience
 Superior technology
 Distribution system
 Product features (utility durability, etc.)
 Weaknesses: Weaknesses are within the control of the entrepreneur; they occur at present. They are
"lack of...", "missing...", or weak points. As far as possible, weaknesses should be eliminated!
Example:
 Weak selling effort
 Lack of working capital
 Inexperienced managers or employees
 Technological obsolescence
 Opportunities: Opportunities are positive or favorable factors in the environment which the
entrepreneur. They are, however, mostly beyond the control of the entrepreneur. They are different
from strengths in the sense that strengths are positive internal factors of the business.
Example:
 Few and weak competitors  Favorable government
 No such products in the market policy/programs
 Rising income of target market  Availability of technical
 Poor design of product assistance
 Scarcity of product in the  Low interest rate on loans
locality  Access to cheap raw material
 Growing demand for the  Adequate training opportunities
product
 Threats: Threats are negative or unfavorable external factors in the environment and normally beyond
the control of the entrepreneur. They adversely affect the business, if not eliminated or overcome.
Threats differ from weaknesses in as much as they are beyond the control of the entrepreneur. Both
have a negative impact on the business.
Example:
 Hanging government  Poor infrastructure
regulations  Rising costs of raw materials
 Raw materials shortages  Too much/Unhealthy
 Insufficient power competition
 Corruption  Government bureaucracy
1.2. Preparing Feasibility study
What is a Feasibility Study?
The feasibility study is an evaluation and analysis of the potential of the proposed project which is based on extensive
investigation and research to support the process of decision making.
Why Are Feasibility Studies so Important?
The information you gather and present in your feasibility study will help you:
 List in detail all the things you need to make the business work;
 Identify logistical and other business-related problems and solutions;
  Develop marketing strategies to convince a bank or investor that your business is worth considering as an
investment; and
 Serve as a solid foundation for developing your business plan.

The Components of a Feasibility Study

 Marketing study,  Financial study and
 Technical study,  Social desirability Study
 Organizational and and
production study  Environmental desirability
 Management study, study.
Description of the Business
 The product or services to be offered and how they will be delivered.
 How customers would use and buy the product or service
 Key components or raw materials that will be used in the product, how the business will source
these and how available they are.
 Plans to test the product to ensure it works as planned and is sufficiently durable, strong, secure,
etc.
Market Feasibility study
 The industry in which the business operates. Include the size, growth rate, etc
 demand and supply factors and trends
 target market for the products and clearly state why would customers buy the product
 ETC…
Technical Feasibility study
 Details how you will deliver a product or service (i.e., materials, labor, transportation, where your
business will be located, technology needed, etc.).
 additional or ongoing research and development needs
Financial Feasibility study
 Projects how much start-up capital is needed and when? What sources will provide the capital?
 balance sheet projections
 What is the expected return on investment (ROI)?
 Will the enterprise provide a viable ROI for the entrepreneur (cost benefit analysis)?
Organizational and production Feasibility study
 Defines the legal and corporate structure of the business (may also include professional
background information about the founders and what skills they can contribute to the business).
 What physical premises are required? Give location, size, condition, and capacity of planned
production and warehouse facilities.etc……
Management and personnel Feasibility study
 List the proposed key managers, titles, responsibilities, relevant background, experience, skills,
costs
 Sketch personnel requirements: what people will be needed now, in a year, in the long term? What
skills and qualifications are required and what financial implication results?
Key elements Feasibility study
The feasibility study must contain several key elements, namely:
The idea of the project: The nature of the project is determined in this step, whether (industrial – services
– trade etc.). A simplified concept of the project is
 Basic raw materials for the project  Raw materials needed for the project.
 Products:  Employment: .
 Technical elements of the project:  Working hours: ..
 Stages of Manufacture: .  Packaging: .
 Space and location: ..  Quality: Quality .
 Service requirements of the project..  Marketing:.
 Machinery and equipment.
1.3. Conducting Market Research on product
What is Market Research?
Market research is a systematically, collection, analyzing, interpreting, data relating to market to achieve a business
goal.

Market research may make the difference between the right and wrong decisions that affect sales. It may
reveal unfilled needs, suggest marketing strategies or identify the competition's strengths and weaknesses.
Business cannot afford poor decisions.
Market research:
1) identifies customer needs and wants;
2) Determines if the product or service meets customer needs;
3) Identifies potential target markets; and
4) Determines the best advertising technique for each customer group.

Market research involves activities designed to obtain data about the market and falls into two main
categories.

 Primary research .
 Secondary research .
Impact of Technology on Business

 Advantages of Technology to Business:

 Customer Relations.  Corporate Reports.

 Business Operations..  Business mobility.
 Corporate Culture..  Flexible Work Environments:
 Security.  Employee Training:.
 Research Opportunities.
Characteristics of Appropriate Technologies
 The appropriateness of technology for use in a small business is determined by a number of
characteristics. These are:
 SIMPLE:  DURABLE:
 EFFECTIVENESS:  EFFICIENT:
 AVAILABILITY:  COST EFFECTIVE:.
 FLEXIBILITY:
LO2: Identify personal business skills
2.1. Attributes of Entrepreneurs
Six Attributes of Successful Entrepreneurs
 1) Ambition(goals ) 4) Risk tolerance.
2) Creativity. 5) Intuition.(perception )
3) Tenacity (resolve).. 6) Personality. .
Learn the attributes that successful entrepreneurs tend to possess
What does an entrepreneur need to succeed?
 They’re goal-orientated  They have great people skills
 They’re committed to their business  They’re inherently creative
 They’re hands-on  They’re passionate and always full of
 They’re willing to take risks positivity
 They’re willing to listen and learn
2.2. Maintaining an Entrepreneurial Outlook
Like an Entrepreneur
 Think along non-traditional and nonconformist lines
 Think about starting small
 Think realistically about finances
 Think always about viable business ideas
 Think about what people are willing to buy
 Think about doing things for yourself
 Think about cost-benefits of business involvement
 Think about doing things differently
 Think about family and people who can support and help you
 Think like an achiever
 Think clearly about complex problem situations
 Behave and Act
 Like an Entrepreneur
Have a good product or service that is of value to other people
 Utilize the skills, experience and abilities you have
 Adopt and use the language of achievement
 Move ahead and do things at your own pace
 Have a positive attitude and compete with yourself
 Be determined and motivated in what ever you do
 Lead and guide other people Develop plans on what you want to do
 Initiate activities in no matter what situation
 Maintain hope and never give up easily
 Dress well to gain attention and respect
 Be healthy, active and enthusiastic
 Unconditionally accept your own worth

Have a Goal (Something You Work to Gain from)

a) Set small goals for yourself .
b) Work on one goal at a time. .
c) If your goal is too big to reach as a whole..
d) Choose realistic goals. .
e) Give yourself rewards along the way. .
f) Never forget where you are and where you are going. .
g) Be specific and concise when starting your goals.
h) Express your goals in qualitative terms that will tell you whether a goal has been achieved or not.
i) Determine the causes for goals not achieved.
j) When setting goals it is important to be conscious of their nature, .
2.3. Identifying and assessing business risks
Identifying and Managing Business Risks
Running a business can be a dangerous occupation with many different types of risk like
Physical Risks
Location Risks
Human Risks
Technology Risks

Prioritizing Risk
After the risks have been identified, they must be prioritized in accordance with your assessment of their probability.
Managing Risk
Insurance is a principle safeguard in managing risk, and many risks are insurable.

How to Identify Business Risk

Business risk describes the problems a company potentially encounters in the course of daily operations.
Assessing and reducing risk typically involves utilizing technology to understand, monitor and control risk.
Once you identify and prioritize business risks, techniques to handle it include transferring the risk
elsewhere, avoiding the risk, reducing the negative effects or accepting the consequences of the risk.
Step 1: Analyze the source of potential internal or external triggers that can cause problems.
Step 2: Analyze problems you perceive are threats to your business. &Prioritize.
Step 3: Determine which events may adversely impact project teams.
Step 4: Examine different scenarios that may occur in your business.
Step 5: Break down possible risk sources to reveal why they may occur .
Step 6: List common risks associated with conducting business in your industry. ..
Step 7: Create a chart or table to help you identify factors with increase or decrease risk occurrences. .
Step 8: Categorize risks to take appropriate and efficient action could cause catastrophic data loss.
Step 9: Create a risk register document, which acts as a permanent record of your concerns.
LO3: Plan for establishment of business operation
3.1. Determining business structure and operations

Determining Business Structure

There are a number of different business structures to choose from when starting a business. It’s important to
understand the pros and cons of each, and it’s not a bad idea, if you’re not completely comfortable with your
choice, to consult with an attorney or accountant.

Sole (only one) Proprietorship

Advantages

 Low start-up costs

  Greatest control by owner
 Minimum working capital requirements
 Tax advantage to small owner
 All profits to owner

Disadvantages

 Unlimited personal liability

 Lack of continuity
 More difficult to raise capital

Partnership

Advantages

 Ease of formation
 Low startup costs
 Additional sources of venture capital
 Broader management
 Limited outside regulation

Disadvantages

 Unlimited personal liability

 Lack of continuity
 Divided authority
 Difficulty in raising additional capital
 Hard to find suitable partners

Limited Liability Company (LLC)

Advantages

 Limited liability
 Flexible management structure and ownership
 Continuous existence
 Legal entity
 Easier to raise capital

Disadvantages

 More expensive to organize then a proprietorship or partnership

 More regulations then a proprietorship or partnership

Corporation

Advantages
  Limited liability
 Specialized management
 Ownership is transferable
 Continuous existence
 Legal entity
 Easier to raise capital
 Unity of action account having centralized authority in board of directors

Disadvantages

 Closely regulated
 Lack of continuity
 Charter restrictions
 Extensive record-keeping necessary
 Double taxation, except when organized as an “S” Corporation
 Difficult to liquidate investment
How to Determine the Best Organizational Structure
Determining the organizational hierarchy that best suits your company includes analyzing how your business
operates. Use the output of your analysis to design your organizational structure. Enable your employees to
accomplish their work most effectively. Small companies tend to require less structure than larger ones. So,
make your decisions based your company size and task complexity. If you choose a formal structure, all
people doing similar jobs tend to be in the same department. For example, all accountants should report to
the Accounting Department. Less formal organizations do not use many controls and form an organizational
structure based upon more flexible organization.
3.2. Determining human and physical resources
What is the difference between Human Resources and Administration?
Human resources
 Human Resources are only a branch or department of the entity.
 Human resources are people, seen from the point of view of an organization trying to get valuable
work from those people.
 Human resources refer to people.
 The professional discipline and business function that oversees an organization's human resources is
called human resource management (HRM, or simply HR).
Human resource management
 Human resource management (HRM or simply HR) is the management process of an organization's
workforce, or human resources. It is responsible for the attraction, selection, training, assessment, and
rewarding of employees.
Natural resources
 Natural resources are resources found in nature, such as fresh water.
 Natural resources are naturally occurring in the world such as water or wood. .
 A natural resource is a physical thing that is limited in it's availability and is in it's natural state. Air, plants,
water, fossil fuels, and animals are all examples of natural resources.
What Is the Meaning of Physical Resources?
In business, physical resources may also be called factors of production. These include human, physical, financial, and
knowledge factors. Basically, physical resources are anything that provides a firm with the means to perform its
business processes.

What Are Physical Resources in Business?

Physical resources are known to be the resources made by man through his abilities and skill. The
technology, buildings, and many more products that are made by man are an example of physical resources.
3.3. Developing and implementing Recruitment (employment) strategies

How To: Develop a Recruitment Strategy

An effective recruitment strategy will ideally take the form of a physical document – and in order to be most
useful, must be developed in line with the overall business strategy.

Steps in Developing a Recruiting Strategy

1. Determine accountability for the strategy..

2. Identify the business and overall HR goals of the firm.

3. Identify which business goals and which business units you wish to impact.

4. Identify any possible (future) changes to the internal or external business environment.

5. Determine who your primary customer is.

6. Select between the traditional “narrow” recruiting strategy and a broader talent managementapproach. In
addition to the traditional functions of recruiting, a talent management strategy also encompasses:

 Retention  Internal placement of individuals

 Orientation  Replacement plans
 Workforce planning  Redeployment plans
 Employment branding  Forecasts
 Relocation  Releasing non-productive or surplus workers
 Talent management metrics

7. Develop or refine your recruiting mission statement.

LO4: Implement establishment plan
4.1. Concept of marketing and marketing management Market
Market means a place where buyer and seller meets together in order to carry on transactions of goods and services.
A market is any place where the sellers of a particular good or service can meet with the buyers of that goods and
service where there is a potential for a transaction to take place. .
A market is one of the many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby
parties engage in exchange. .

Markets include mechanisms or means for

1. Determining price of the traded item,
2. Communicating the price information,
3. Facilitating deals and transactions, and
4. Effecting distribution.

Marketing
Marketing: the activities that are involved in making people aware of a company's products, making sure
that the products are available to be bought, etc. The management process through which goods and services
move from concept to the customer. It includes the coordination of four elements called the 4 P's of
marketing:
(1) Identification, selection and development of a product,
(2) Determination of its price,
(3) Selection of a distribution channel to reach the customer's place, and
(4) Development and implementation of a promotional strategy..
Full Definition of MARKETING
1. The act or process of selling or purchasing in a market
2. the process or technique of promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service
3. an aggregate of functions involved in moving goods from producer to consumer

Marketing management.
Marketing Managements the process allocating the resources of the organization toward marketing
activities.” Thus, a marketing manager is someone who is responsible for directing expenditures of
marketing funds.
The Functions of a Business Operations
Business operations are the basic activities and operations of a business' function. A business operation is
considered something entirely different from a business project, as a business operation concerns basic day-
to-day functioning for generating profit and revenue, .
 A business operates generally in terms of three primary functions: generating income for the business,
making business property and assets more valuable, and ensuring that the value and income of the
business so far is unlikely to be lost. Any given business operation, then, will likely be focused on
one of these three core principles.

The outcome of business operations is the harvesting of value from assets owned by a business. Assets can be either
physical or intangible. An example of value derived from a physical asset, like a building, is rent. An example of value
derived from an intangible asset, like an idea, is a royalty. The effort involved in "harvesting" this value is what
constitutes business operations cycles.

4.3 Developing and implementing monitoring process

The Implementation Process

 Figure3.Iterative Implementation
Process

Monitoring Responses and Identifying Problems

Monitoring is all too often seen as something that is imposed by others external to the implementation
process. This is particularly the case where funding is received from external partners who impose their own
monitoring systems to ensure their funding is being spent appropriately. In such cases, it is often not unusual
for the funding agency's monitoring to be the only form of monitoring undertaken. However, this may not
meet the response team’s needs as a means of identifying problems and making changes. You should pay
careful attention to establishing monitoring systems that will reflect the reality of the implementation process
and provide timely and meaningful measures.

The extent to which detailed monitoring systems are required will largely depend on the response leader’s
level of involvement. You should address a number of factors in the monitoring, and these will largely focus
on the “constraints” noted earlier—time, costs, other resources, and quality. Issues to consider in monitoring
include the following:

 The delivery deadline. .

 The response costs. .
 The staff time devoted to the response. .
 Blockages and brakes on the implementation process. .
 Adverse reactions to the response. .
 Unintended consequences. .
 The impact on the original problem. ..

Making Changes
There are two routes to making changes, which depend on the nature of the problems that are experienced–
replanning and redesigning:

 Replanting is the most common form of change resulting from a response.

 Redesigning involves more fundamental changes, but is far less common than replanting.
 Exit Strategies Once you have completed the response implementation, consider what will happen afterwards.
Etc
The Learning Process

The final stage in the implementation process is the learning process that you should associate with
responses. The process of implementing interventions usually brings with it a great deal of knowledge and
experience, which will be transferable to either other assignments, or to implementing the same responses in
other contexts. All too often, this knowledge and experience resides with the response team’s individual
members and is not shared with the wider organization

Implementation and Monitoring Processes

In this page you can find information that underpin transparency and effectively support the procedure for
good completion of financed projects. This information, which is very useful for agencies such as those of
the E.U., the Ministry of Finance as well as other agencies that implement or monitor the implementation of
OP within the framework of the 3rd CSF, involves the following:
1. Final Beneficiaries’ Obligations
2. Monitoring of the Physical and Financial Progress of Operations
3. Monitoring Process
Developing and Implementing Monitoring and Evaluation Processes

Development processes take place within a dynamic environment which can threaten their effectiveness and
efficiency. Understanding and responding to this environment is key to making development work.

Often the tools and processes that people and institutions have at their disposal to monitor these changes and
evaluate the effectiveness of their attempts to address these changes are inadequate.

Many monitoring and evaluation (M&E) strategies are rigid and adopt a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Few
M&E systems link a review of the actions and impacts back to the policy and planning processes to improve
future development efforts.

Institutional M&E approaches tend to emphasize a control and “policing” role and are seen as a threat by
those being evaluated, instead of being perceived as an opportunity to learn lessons, adapt action and achieve
better outcomes.

M&E, if done effectively, is a valuable tool for enhancing support and development processes, for creating
voice and for enabling shared learning.

Definition of ‘Lease’

A legal document outlining the terms under which one party agrees to rent property from another party.

Leasing Business Equipment

Looking to equip your new business? Whether you need computers, desks, machinery, or a vehicle, you want
to make cost effective purchasing decisions. Why not consider leasing equipment instead of buying it?

Business Premises Lease Agreement

A business premises lease agreement is a contract that binds the landlord and a business in a property
contract.
Lo5: Review Implementation Process
Defining review processes
The review process provides a framework for reviewing assets where you can approve, retire, or delete
assets. Users can review and verify the quality and accuracy of assets according to their specific area of
expertise

5.1. Developing and applying performance measures/appraisal

Measuring application performance

Two sets of performance metrics are closely monitored. The first set defines the performance experienced by
end users of the application. A good example is average response times under peak load. Notice there is two
components here. The load is the volume of transactions processed by the application, e.g., transactions per
second, requests per second, and pages per second. The response times are times required for an application
to respond to user actions at said load. Without load, most of the applications are fast enough, which is why
programmers may not catch performance problems during development.

The second set measures the computational resources used by the application for said load, indicating if there
is adequate capacity to support the load, as well as possible locations of a performance bottleneck.
Measurement of these quantities establishes an empirical performance baseline for the application. The
baseline can then be used to detect changes in performance. Changes in performance can be correlated with
external events and subsequently used to predict future changes in application performance.

The Ten Most Common Errors in Developing Performance Measures

We can measure how prolific a baseball player is, how profitable a company might be and how effective a
salesperson is at his craft. But when it comes to measuring a company’s progress in achieving organizational
targets, we often make glaring errors.

Rarely do we measure the right things for the right reasons. Rather, we choose the wrong metrics to track the
wrong trends, measuring progress with flawed data.

Here are 10 common mistakes to avoid in developing performance measures.

1. Placing credibility in Customer Satisfaction Surveys. ..

2. Reliance on “Superstitious Measures.” .
3. Measurement for Measurement’s Sake. .
4. Mixed Metrics. .
5. Relying Exclusively on Lagging Indicators. .
6. Using Measures That Are Not Tied to Targets .
7. Annual Metrics. .
8. Using Measures That Are Unrelated to the Organization’s Vision. .
9. Using Measures You Cannot Control. .
10. Implementing Measures Without First Predicting What Behavior Will Occur in Response. .
 5.2. Identifying improvements in business operations
How to Identify Process Improvement Opportunities
Process improvement opportunities can exist anywhere in your business.
Process improvement is essential for business in a climate of competition, market rivalry and a global
economy. .
Business Process Improvement
To improve business processes at a terminal facility, it is important to stay on top of your operational metrics
Business Process Improvement services include:
 Terminal Operations Assessment
 Business Process Design
 Return on Investment (ROI)
 Comparative Benchmarking

Taking Action to Improve Performance

Once data have been collected and shared with staff as a whole, decisions can be made about how to
improve. All staff members can be involved in identifying strategies or interventions for improvement. Staff
should focus on

 Resource allocation. .
 Conditions causing differences in therapist outcomes. .
 Factors that indicate program success.
 Improvements in program structure. .
 A retrospective study. .
5.4. Completing and keeping necessary records

What is a Record?

A record is a document, data, set of data that is created or received in the course of an organization’s
business that:

Therefore, a record is “…any document, device, or item, regardless of physical form or characteristic…”
that has been created or received in the course of a University department/unit/organization’s business that
meets the criteria of content, structure, fixity, context as discussed above, and is maintained as evidence of
the organization’s activity(s).

Records may include but are not limited to:

 general correspondence
 financial transactional records
 student and course documentation and transcripts
 personnel documentation
 Web sites (including Web pages, images, documents, and audio/video files)etc…
Keeping accurate, complete records
Starting a business is exciting. You're doing what you love and what you're good at.
It's important you keep accurate and complete records. Your business records should include:
 banking information
  proof of income
 expenses
 cash books, and
 Wage books.
What tax records are
A tax record includes any information or document about:
 sales  assets, and
 income  Liabilities.
 expenses
A 10-Step Records Management Plan for Your Office
Here is the 10-step records management plan for your office.
Step.1. Determine who will be responsible and what resources will be needed.
Step.2. Identify records needed to document the activities and functions of your office.
Step. 3. Establish your procedures (recordkeeping requirements).
Step.4. Match your records to the records schedules.
Step.5. Prepare a "file plan."
Step.6. Document your recordkeeping requirements and procedures.
Step.7. Clean out records which are beyond the approved retention periods.
Step.8. Organize your records.
Step .9.Maintain your records on an on-going basis.
Step.10. Train, train, train.