Well Written specialises in helping managers move their business or business unit forward by developing and formalising their management systems, policies and procedures.
Well Written specialises in helping managers move their business or business unit forward by developing and formalising their management systems, policies and procedures.
It helps all sized businesses, with jobs ranging from a few hours’ work to several weeks’ or months’ work.
Services offered by Well Written include assisting business become more efficient, comply with quality standards, develop operations manuals, apply for tenders, induct staff, and better document their business activities.
While director Liz Hurst is a sole-operator, she does have several external people she calls on for specialist expertise or to help manage the workload.
Ms Hurst started with one client and has since developed a client base that includes small, medium and large businesses, government agencies and not-for-profit organisations.
Well Written started in December 2005, initially as a home-based business, but after discovering she couldn’t separate work from home, Ms Hurst shifted to Stirling Regional Business Centre.
“I found myself working late into the evening and never leaving the job behind,” she said.
When Ms Hurst has a problem she either works it through on her own or by discussing it with her father, who is a business planning consultant. She also takes advice from a small business centre she is linked to, talks to marketing consultants, speaks with former colleagues and attends relevant courses.
Ironically, while Ms Hurst’s business is about advising others, in the early days she found that she was mismanaging her time; in fact she simply lacked time.
“Being a small business owner I am not only responsible for producing the work but also planning, financials, administration, customer service, business development, quoting etcetera,” she said.
“Working on my own, I found that if I didn’t do it, it didn’t get done.
“I also knew that, as my client base increased, the day-to-day pressure would only increase and I was going to have less and less time to do all the things I needed to do.”
For someone whose business was to help others, it was stressful.
“I always felt like there was so much to do, so little time. The business functioned but I never felt on top of it,” Ms Hurst said.
“It was very frustrating.”
One option as she saw it was simply to work more hours to get everything done, but with plenty going on at home as well – like the small matter of a wedding to plan – that wasn’t really possible.
“I wanted that balance between home and work so spending more hours or weekends at work wasn’t going to be a sustainable option,” Ms Hurst said.
Instead, she decided to put some of her own training to work to develop a range of business procedures and templates.
“Although it initially took more time, in the end it has saved time and helped me operate more efficiently,” Ms Hurst told WA Business News.
“I also structured my day and put time management strategies in place so that I made the most of the hours available.”
Ms Hurst said she found the move worked and now had systems in place for all areas of the business, including business development, client proposals, delivery of services, financial administration, and obtaining client feedback.
“I have structured my day and week so that I get everything done on time, each day is productive and I am in control of the business rather than the other way round,” she said.
“Being more efficient has given me the capacity to take on more work and new clients, which has directly impacted on the bottom line.”
Having developed and documented the systems provided the business with the sort of infrastructure it needs to grow. The documentation is established for tender applications and to show potential clients what Well Written does.
Of course, the procedures can also be applied to clients businesses when suitable.
Importantly, any staff taken on in future will have documented policies and procedures to refer to so they will know what they need to do, how to do it and to what standard – ensuring consistent results for clients regardless of who does the work.
Ms Hurst said it also meant new staff would be more productive more quickly and that the business did not rely on her or her knowledge alone.
“It sounds like a cliche but it is true: the business is systems dependent not people dependent.”
The initial development was a one-off and the most time consuming part, but Ms Hurst thinks that now it is in place it is a matter of continually monitoring and improving things.
In hindsight, however, she acknowledges the overall implementation of the system was not as smooth as it could have been.
“I would probably have gotten more external help – it is easy to get caught up in the day-to-day activities of the business,” Ms Hurst said.
“I’ve recently engaged a business coach and having an external, independent perspective on things has been enormously valuable.”
