Welcome back to the daily dose and Happy New Year! Today I want to talk about writing policies. Before you start snoring and shouting “BORING”, I just want to say that policies don’t necessarily have to be bureaucratic mumbo jumbo. In my former life as a marketing consultant, I spent a lot of time writing policies that were mean’t to be used and not shelved. Below I outline 5 reasons why you should consider writing policies for your work at home business, whether you’re making a few bucks off Etsy sales or a few hundred from social media services.
1. Policies help you stay on track with your business goals
A good policy has your back. It is written proof that you’ve articulated your priorities and it guides your actions. A useful policy will have an overall definition statement: The …………policy guides all actions in relation to ………… It will state what it covers and what it doesn’t. It will articulate procedures that put the policy into action. Business goals are what drive policies. If you want to grow your social media leads, then you need a policy in place to guide social media management. If you aim for X number testimonials by a certain date, you need your customers to understand how you run your business and what your terms of service are.
2. Policies set the tone for your “corporate” culture
You might be thinking: “I’m a work at home mum! Why do I need a “corporate” anything?”. Corporate is just a fancy way of saying “business.” If you run a business, you will have a business or “corporate” culture, whether you mean to or not and a that will largely be dictated by how you interact with others you work with, people who provide you services, and customers or clients. If you want to your branding to convey certain values, then it helps to define these when you are writing policies, so that your policies work to promote your values. For instance, one of Support a WAHP’s values is “integrity.” We have a social media administration policy and as part of that policy we have stipulated that any affiliate income must be disclosed to maintain our integrity.
3. Policies make managing growth easier.
If you have core policies in place to govern your interactions with clients and customers and to guide your administration activities, it will be a lot easier to take on new employees and contractors.
4. Policies guide employees and contractors in how to interact with you and your customers
Once you have taken on additional staff (because your business is a roaring success, as it should be), you need to make them feel at home in the business and give them goalposts to guide their activities. Policies are reassuring for staff (so long as they aren’t ridiculous and irrelevant that is) and can quickly get them up and running, doing the work you need them to do in the way you want them to do it.
5. Policies give you benchmarks by which you can evaluate your performance
Like goals, all policies should have a use-by date or a review date. Policies should never be shelved and left to collect dust. If that’s what is happening then they need to be reworked. Policies must be a guide for you and for your team. A great way to evaluate your performance is to review your responses to different challenges and issues in relation to what your policies actually say. For instance, in Support a WAHP’s social media management policy, it lays out procedures stating what to do when someone trolls the Support a WAHP Facebook Page. Our response to such a situation, may differ from what the policy states depending on the circumstances. So that then gives us an opportunity to go back to the policy and look at where we went wrong and how to respond differently next time.
So, if you haven’t fallen asleep by now, it hopefully means that you’re into this idea of policy writing and want to know what to do next. Well, start small. Think about something important you could use some guidance with. Writing a customer service policy is probably a good start. Have you got a customer service policy already? Tell me about it below. What have you included? What haven’t you?
***
Today’s theme on the Facebook Page wall is “Lifestyle.” Here’s what’s on offer from today’s sponsors:
Rachael Sheldrick Training offers unique and highly individualised online personal training services for mums, pregnant women and anyone else who finds it hard to get to a gym. If your New Year’s Resolution was to get fit in 2012, Rachael has a six and 12 week Instant Program to get you moving towards your fitness goals. Have a look through the testimonials and success stories on Rachael’s website. Make getting fit your New Year’s resolution but start now! W: F: .
Organic soap for pets? You betcha. At Pure Earth Noosa you can buy organic for every member of the family.W: F:
Mumatopia‘s mission is to nurture mums! Mumatopia has extended their Mum’s Retreat earlybird rate of $399 till January 31st, so add “retreat” to your New Year’s Resolution list today. Think massages, cooking for pleasure, eating for pleasure, sleeping in, women’s circles, self-care sessions, and the gorgeous scenic rim in Queensland’s southeast! Airport transfers available. For information visit Mumatopia today!: W: F: .
Have you seen Baby Vegas‘s new look? Baby Vegas specialises in fabulous children’s goods and collectables, from character toys to wind chimes and mobiles to snowglobes and collectables, and much, much more. Baby Vegas has an amazing array of homewares, toys, decor and accessories. Today I’m loving their gorgeous back to school Bobble Art backpacks for just $39.95! W: www.babyvegas.com.au/ F: .
Rachel from Atomic Butterfly Photography is a Gold Coast based ‘natural light’ photographer specialising in Pregnacy, Newborns, Families, Couples, Children, Weddings and Commercials. If you live on the Gold Coast and want to capture your baby belly in photos, talk to Rachel today. atomicbutterflyphotography.blogspot.com F: .
Enjoy this article?
Join our mailing list for more fabulous resources, tips and subscriber-only competitions just for work at home people (WAHPs).
Loading ...
