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Whenever and wherever possible figure out ways to simplify your life and simplify your business operation.
You really MUST be diligent because the natural tendency in any business is to gradually add new procedures and new processes that slowly complicate things without any real conscious effort to do so. Over the years you accumulate a series of small additions that lead to creeping complexity in your operation.
You really must go back to a basic premise of school operations. There really are only three important variables. Enrollments, Retention, and Tuition. Any time that you, one of your employees, an advisor, your accountant, or your attorney suggest a new procedure or a new filing or record keeping system. You should sit back and really think does this add to how much I can charge, how long the average student will stay with me, or with how many new students I will enroll.
In the computer age your school management software and your accounting software should help you maintain records of just about anything you may ever need to keep. Once paper has been turned into a digital record – get rid of it if at all possible. I know that you are required to keep some records physically for the I.R.S. for your local tax authorities, and for a variety of other reasons. But really – A LOT less than you may think once you have accurate computer records. Always ask – what's the worst thing that could happen if I just throw this stuff away? Make your own decisions but really some tax records do you more harm than good. I even had a sales tax audit recently – my computer records were impeccable and my hard copy backups had long since been disposed of – we came out clean as a whistle, no problems.
Your attorney too may want you to keep all kinds of complicated records. Certainly some of that stuff is really necessary. That's because of the probability of having a problem and the severity of the potential problem. Again, ask him or her what's the worst thing that can happen if I don't keep these records?
Ultimately paper tends to take on a life of it's own and grow disproportionate to it's value fight this trend in any way possible. Move all your records into your computer systems and eliminate or discard just about any paper that is possible.
I've gone to a new filing system with my contracts: they get filed chronologically. In other words I have a stack on the shelf by my desk on which the latest contract goes on top. If there ever is any question about a contract I just pull up the information in Master-Vision. IF I ever had a issue where I needed the signed original I can always find it by looking in the section for the month that they were enrolled.
Do you really need to file exam forms, old I.D. cards, report cards, or any of the other paper that you organize with great effort?
It may seem trivial but gradually you start using real valuable time and eventually start hiring people to manage the huge flow of paperwork – most of which really has no marginal value to the big three issues:
- How many enrollments you will do;
- How long you will keep your students;
- How much you can charge.
At the next level consider many little things that add up to unnecessary complication in your business.
One step that I took was to eliminate patches and to have all uniforms screened by the manufacturer before shipping them to me. Again it may seem trivial but inventorying several different patches and reordering takes time and mental energy. Use your time and focus your energy enrollments, retention, and adding value to your students. Don't waste your energy on anything else. How about pads. Can your students buy three styles in two colors each or do you have a standard required option? Trim, Trim, Trim the number of inventory items that you stock whenever possible without losing sales.
While we are at it take a look at your personal life. The more you grow the more likely it is that your personal possessions will start to own you rather than the other way around. Bigger and more does not mean better. Simplify. Really you may be a lot happier.
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