How To Create Small Business Infrastructure

Is Business Infrastructure the Herculean Strength

or

Achilles’ Heel of Your
Growing Company?

A White Paper

Equilibria, Inc.

Page 2 of 15

Disorganization, inconsistency and task redundancy make up the Achilles’ heel of many
offices and small businesses alike. In order to enhance your company’s chances of
longevity, it is important to first recognize the Achilles’ heels and turn them into Herculean
strengths. This white paper explores three common Achilles’ heels of many small
businesses: Quicksand Construction, Paperwork Inertia, and the Electronic Abyss. Specific
strategies and tips are provided to convert these Achilles’ heels into the Herculean
strengths of Concrete Construction, Paperwork Fluidity, and the Electronic Sanctuary.

Hercules and Achilles, two celebrated mythical Greek heroes, originated as half-god,
half-human beings. However Hercules eventually attained perpetual life by receiving
deity status, whereas Achilles remained mortal. What led to their diverse paths?

Despite Achilles’ education and training, he was vulnerable because of his heel (Achilles’
goddess mother immersed her son, with the exception of one of his heels, into the Styx
River hoping to make him wholly god.) It was on this vulnerable point that he was slain.
Hercules, while faced with many challenges and obstacles, chose a life of toil and labor
and ultimately achieved immortality.

Every small-business owner starts off wanting to conquer challenges and face them head
on, but some make it while others do not. The key is to manage your company for
success and perpetuity, not short-term fire-fighting.

© Copyright 2008, 2010. Equilibria, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.eqbsystems.com

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Organizational Infrastructure

Just as you would never construct a building on
quicksand, the same should apply to building your
business. Unfortunately, for most small-business owners
the concept of business construction is abstract and
therefore is much more difficult to visualize.

By creating a company organization chart that
identifies not just the key players and their
departments but their job tasks as well, you will have
developed a concrete tool for structuring and
managing your company. Strong businesses have a
well-defined organizational infrastructure, regardless
of the number of employees.


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INFORMATION
ACCOUNTING LEGAL TECHNOLOGY

HUMAN
RESOURCES MARKETING MANAGEMENT

You can convert your company’s foundation from quicksand to concrete by following six
simple steps:

1. On a sheet of paper, write an exhaustive list of all job tasks that must be
performed daily to keep your company running smoothly. This should include
everything from returning phone calls to preparing payroll.

2. Next, identify like job tasks. Then, on separate sheets of paper, write down the
tasks that can be grouped together: scan receipts, enter information into
QuickBooks, pay invoices, mail invoices, etc.


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3. Assign a department name to each group of tasks and write it at the top of each
page. Although you may not think of your company in this manner, almost every
business has the following types of “departments:” Legal, Accounting/Finance,
Sales, Marketing, Operations, Human Resources, and Information Technology.

4. Draw a line underneath the last job task per department page and think of who
would be responsible for executing those tasks even if you do not have the staff
or outside contractors currently in place. This step is key.

5. Using your computer’s word processing program, type brief job descriptions for
each employee or contractor you identified making sure to include those job
tasks previously identified in Step 2.

6. Last, assign a color to each department. Color association allows you as well as
your existing and future staff members to quickly locate information. Choose
colors that make sense to you and your staff. Because green is closely associated
with money, it may not be a bad idea to assign green to any accounting or
financial related information.


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The end result should be the basis for your newly established organizational infrastructure.
You can now use these departments and their associated colors to develop your
company’s records management systems.

A well-defined organizational infrastructure will answer the following questions:
What needs to be done and who will do it?
How is my company organized into departments?
Which job functions will be outsourced and which will be performed internally
(full-time, part-time)?

Project time: Depending on the size of your company, you can complete this exercise in
approximately a week if you devote about two to four hours per day until completion.


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Paper Records Management System

Paperwork, left unattended, can manifest into crowded
desktops, overstuffed inboxes, and unnecessary furniture
storage. As a small-business owner, you have to work the
paper, not let the paper work you! The implications of
paperwork inertia can be costly and can even lead to
potential legal incriminations.

Having a solid paper records management system is the way to ensure that paperwork
flows into the proper storage place and that it can easily be retrieved when needed.

You can convert your company’s paperwork inertia to paperwork fluidity by following
these steps:

1. Write the name of each department of your company (from the organizational
infrastructure exercise) at the top of separate sheets of paper. These departments
will now become the main categories by which you will group your paperwork.
Additional categories may be Hot File, Periodicals, CDs, and Catalogs.


Page 8 of 15

2. Take inventory of all paperwork. Classify and record information (contracts,
business plan, client files, invoices, etc.) onto the appropriate category page. For
paperwork that you no longer need, consider shredding or recycling.

3. Using your computer’s word processing or spreadsheet program, type the
information in a tabular, outline format where the main heading is the main
category. Other columns should include: Naming Convention, Purging Cycle,
and Archiving Location. The naming convention determines how paperwork is
filed-- under a client’s last name, first name or business name? The purging cycle
ensures that documents are reviewed at least once a year to assess their
relevance. Determining the archiving location answers the question, can my files
be retained in-house or off-site? Small businesses that retain large amounts of
paperwork may consider off-site storage for information that does not need to be
accessed on a daily basis. Investing in an off-site storage facility for $50 per month
is quite cost-effective when compared to renting extra office space.

4. Count the total number of paper files per category to assess the number of
materials you will need to create your new system. Consider the type of labeling
system you will use. Office supply stores carry templates for file folder labels and
tabs. The example below shows a labeling system for color coding files according
to the main category and individual paper file names within that category.


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5. Determine the optimal storage solution for your files. Hanging files with file folders
that are placed in lockable, fireproof cabinets work well for paper files whereas
binders and magazine holders work well for magazines and newspapers. Desktop
files can also be used to house
current project or Hot File
information.

6. Print your paper file outline
and share with staff members © Copyright 2008. Equilibria, Inc.
responsible for maintaining the
system and anyone else who
needs access to the system.
This will ensure that people
know when and where to find
information without having to
rely on one person.

An effective paper records management system will ensure that paper-based
information is stored and retrieved quickly, consistently and with little effort. Having
information at your fingertips is critical to regulatory compliance and decision making.


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A great paper records management system will answer the following questions:
What types of storage units are needed to house the records and what is the
process for creating, naming, storing, purging and archiving a document?
Who will be responsible for maintaining the system?
Which information is public (available to all employees) and which is private
(restricted access)?

Project time: Depending on the size of your company, completing this task will take
about one month to inventory, set up and transfer files for approximately eight file
drawers worth of information, provided you are able to devote about two to four hours
per day until completion.


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Electronic Records Management System

Although a 100% paperless operation may not be
realistic, a concentrated effort can certainly be made
to substantially reduce the amount of hard copies
within your office by instituting an efficient electronic
records management system.

Along with electronic records storage comes the
increased risk of losing data, which means that you
must take even more measures for protecting
documents in the event of a hard drive failure, fire,
flood, or theft.

You can establish boundaries for your electronic records management system and avoid
falling into an electronic abyss by following these steps:

1. Write the name of each department of your company (from the organizational
infrastructure exercise) at the top of separate sheets of paper.


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2. Take inventory of all electronic documents. Check files in networks, hard drives,
external hard drives, flash drives, CDs, DVDs, FTP (File Transfer Protocol) servers,
and other remote or offsite storage locations. In your search, determine whether
or not you need to keep the document. Record the names of files you intend to
keep onto the appropriate department page and be sure to record the current
location. Delete documents you no longer need; ensure they are also removed
from secondary storage locations that deleted items normally transfer to (i.e., the
recycle bin or the “Deleted Items” folder in Outlook).

3. Using a word processing or spreadsheet program, type the information into a
tabular, outline format where the main heading is the main category. The other
columns should include Naming Convention, Purging Cycle, and Archiving
Location.

4. Assess the kind of storage equipment you will need by reviewing the number of
electronic documents to keep. Depending on the requirements of your
company, this may mean setting up a company network or an FTP server.
Consider whether or not restricted file access needs to be set up. It is very easy to
inadvertently delete a file, change its content, and create several revisions.
Restricted file access ensures tighter control over who has both read and write
capabilities within your company in accessing information electronically.


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5. Begin setting up the main folders and necessary sub-folders onto the hard drive,
network, or FTP server. Using the inventory/outline list that you’ve typed, transfer
the electronic documents to their new main folder or sub-folder.

6. Print your electronic file outline and share
with your staff members in charge of main-
taining electronic files and anyone else who needs access to the new system.


Page 14 of 15

Depending on the volume of electronic documents your company must retain, you may
consider investing in a document imaging software solution. Once your documents are
organized and categorized, a document imaging specialist can offer a more
permanent, archival storage and protection solution to increase the security and speed
in locating your company’s electronic data.

A great electronic records management system will answer the following questions:
What type(s) of data backup system will you use? Remote? External hard
drive? FTP server?
What is the process for creating, scanning, naming, storing, purging, and
archiving an electronic document and who is responsible for maintenance?
What information is sensitive and needs to have restricted access? Which
information is public (available to all employees) and which is private?

Project time: If your company has roughly 1,000 e-files to inventory, organize, and transfer
to one location, you can expect to spend at least one month in setting up your new
system, working at least four hours a week.


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Small-business owners simply cannot thrive without the
help of trained staffers and documented systems to
facilitate manageable daily operations. This effort to
create a rock-solid business infrastructure is a marathon
and not a sprint.

Only through habitual exercising of the steps mentioned
above can your company achieve the golden egg of
longevity and become the Hercules of its industry.

This white paper, written by Alicia Butler
Pierre, originally appeared in the Atlanta Bar
Association’s magazine. Alicia is an
Efficiency Engineer with Equilibria, Inc. and
may be contacted by:

Phone: 1.888.636.5999
Web: www.eqbsystems.com
LinkedIn: aliciabutlerpierre
Twitter: EfficiencyEngr
Email: info@eqbsystems.com


How To Create Small Business Infrastructure

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