Intentional management means moving beyond simply running today's business and deliberately building the organisation you want to have in the future....

A healthy bank balance can hide an unhealthy mix of work. Without understanding profit job by job, a growing business may be succeeding more by accident than by design....

Having clear policies and procedures is one very good way of defining exactly how the business should work. Better still, having business processes outlined is a great way of examining weaknesses and identifying areas for improvement....

You will almost certainly need external advice to support an ISO 9000 certification for your business. This is not just about internal expertise, but about taking an independent, objective view on policies and procedures to support improvement....

If you want to quickly add a professional edge to a developing business then subcontracting call handling and secretarial support is a good route to take. Costs can be controlled and the risk is minimal....

Being a control freak is a known risk for small business owners. If you want to grow the business you need to step back by delegating more and developing a management team. Procedures and work instructions can also help - paperless is best if you can...

Subcontract personnel can play an important role in expanding businesses. You need to ensure you can maintain a good standard of service quality as new personnel are added. This may require some innovative approaches to dynamically check work....

As soon as your business starts to develop beyond a sole trader situation you need to have a management team in place to support operations, decision making and making it easier to obtain finance. It will also take pressure off you - reducing workloa...

Standardisation in business means the business is offering a specific product or service which will be exactly the same no matter when or where it is bought. For example. a specific sized screw will always be the same as will a Big Mac....