Hard work – It never ceases to amaze me how many people say they want to start their own business because they think it will be easy. Fact is, owning your own business is probably one of most difficult things you will ever do and yet, one of most rewarding. If you are not committed to hard work, you are not committed to your success.

Financial backing – Key to your success is to make sure you have enough money to start your business, buy necessary supplies and stock and carry you through slow times. We would all like to think that all we have to do is open our doors and hang a shingle and rest takes care of itself. Fact is, you have to build a client base and nurture client base. That takes money and time. Additionally, as you grow, you must have capital to grow.

Creativity – Business is about systems and it is about being creative. Be willing to take risks and introduce new products and services as market demands it. Although my business originally began as a strictly brick and mortar teddy bear gift shop, it has grown beyond that. I now generate a great deal of revenue from Internet buyers. This was made possible by me being willing to create a web presence that is a great match for my market. Additionally, I began a corporate gifts division about a year ago that serves needs of busy professionals who simply call or email their request for a client or staff gift. Both of these changes have been instrumental in strengthening my bottom line.

Enjoy yourself – Though some of what I have shared might seem bleak, truth is, owning your own business can be one of most enjoyable experiences you will ever have. Yet, there will be times you may forget that. Always remember what it felt like with every minor and major milestone you achieved. Also remember what your dream was when you began your business or what your dream is as you venture into ownership. It is in remembering commitment is renewed on a daily basis.

Serve – Above and beyond everything else, your job is to serve your customers. They do business with you because you create an experience for them. What is experience you are known for?

Patricia Twitchell is the proprietor of Just Bears and Stuff, a unique gift shop located in Myrtle Creek, Oregon. When you are seeking the perfect gift for someone special, Just Bears and Stuff is the answer. Receive “Beary Special Moments” a free online teddy bear facts and tips e-zine by visiting www.justbearsandstuff.com Call 1.541.863.6037

However, what if it was you who had carried out disciplinary in first place - and, let's face it, in a small company this is quite likely to be case. Would an employment tribunal consider this to be fair?

Possibly not. But all that law actually says is that dispute resolution procedure should be "as fair as possible".

So, as an employer, can you make better use of employment legislation than this? Is there an easy way to ensure that you have a dispute resolution procedure and that it will be considered fair by an employment tribunal?

The answer, fortunately, is yes. All you need to do is to arrange for an outside person or organisation to be point of contact to whom grievances can be directed. Then just state this in your dispute resolution procedure.

Once you have done that, you are almost there. All that remains is to make sure you use all right bits of paperwork that are required by new employment legislation whenever you are dealing with a disciplinary matter.

This includes ensuring that any disciplinary meetings are notified to your employees in writing and that you give them at least 48 hours notice of meeting. You also have to make sure you explain reason for calling disciplinary meeting and give employee copies of any documentation that will be discussed during meeting.

One of easiest ways to achieve all this is to use a good quality online personnel system. Such a system will allow you to generate employment contracts for your staff online. It will include in these contracts all details of your disciplinary procedure, along with details of a third party organisation to whom employees should address any grievances.

In event that you need to discipline an employee, a fully-featured online personnel system will allow you to generate all necessary letters and documents automatically, thus ensuring your business complies with new employment legislation.

The costs of such a system are surprisingly low, especially when you compare them against costs of having a full-time personnel department within your own organisation - something which is usually prohibitively expensive for most small businesses.

The Employee Contracts website at www.employee-contracts.co.uk gives more information on how online personnel systems work and can help you find a professional employment law consultant to offer advice on protecting your business with one of these systems.

-----

Copyright 2005 David Miles. You are welcome to reproduce this article on your website, so long as it is published "as is" (unedited) and with author's bio paragraph (resource box) and copyright information included. In addition, all links to external websites must be left in place.