Hi, Ankesh,

There's a book by Harvey MacKay, of envelope fame, about how he eventually wound up in that particular business. I found it very instructive in the ways in which circumstances and opportunities evolve into businesses. He delves into the how-to of making things happen to open doors and develop a business...and how/when to make course corrections. Now if I could only recall the name of the book! I'm sure if you looked up Harvey MacKay, you'd find it. I'd do it but my computer isn't cooperating totally these days.

Managing a business is all about managing and developing people. Period. The rest of the activities can be farmed out, for the most part, but managing people will be your most critical duty as a business owner/manager. Any skill you can develop to deal with various personalities, teaching and training of various types of learners, and group dynamics will stand you in good stead.

A personal example of people development. I had an assistant who was a whiz on computers and with inventory but couldn't seem to sell the large ticket items. After observing her for several days, I saw the problem. She didn't know the products and how to demonstrate them to the customer. She could recite all the points of the product like you'd find in a brochure but couldn't relate them to the customer.

I planned a time where it'd be just the two of us in the store and put her through some show and tell. She balked and resisted, said she felt silly, but I insisted. Eventually she got to the point where she could do the demo with me playing the part of various customer types and so on.

About a month after all that she came to me and told me how much it had helped her. Later I had her assist others to learn what she'd been taught. Brought the team closer together and increased sales figures by more than double in just a couple of months. It pays to spend time developing your employees.

Lots more I could share but I'd have to write a book.

Sandi Bowman