|
Jean Cannon, Managing Director of Enviro Action, helps businesses to become sustainable with online training in simple and effective management systems like ISO 14001, ISO 9001 and Safety. In a former "life" she was an internationally recognised environmental scientist and marine biologist who has presented in Europe, the USA and Japan.
She is the author of 3 business books, articles and scientific papers, is a qualified Auditor and has won numerous industry awards, including 2009 Premium Small Business Award from the Environmental
Management Systems Association, 2008 FarmBis Award for Distance Learning/eLearning and 2007 Seafood Industry Training Provider of the Year Award as well as being a finalist in the 2001 Telstra Business Women’s Award.
Jean’s Story
In the late 1980s I was working as a research marine biologist when my then husband had an entrepreneurial spasm and decided to build and sell computers. It was the classic case of a technical guy with an ability to sell and no business understanding buying himself a job.
I became increasingly involved so that we did not lose money and I ended up managing the business when he worried himself into a breakdown.
Like so many small business people we worked almost around the clock as we grew to a $5million turnover and 17 staff. So close to round the clock that I ended up with a mattress in my office so I got some sleep.
It could not go on like that so I studied quality assurance and implemented an ISO 9001 quality management system or AS 3902 as it was called then.
Wow! This revolutionized our lives. A lot of that growth to $5 million turnover came after I put in the system.
We stopped having errors from people who were doing their best but were run off their feet, we had a really good feedback system to sort out why things had gone wrong and we saved a heap of money by having really clear documented contracts and contract amendments
And better than all, we had well trained staff who followed procedures and this gave us TIME.
The system also reduced the risks so that we were not worrying about whether staff could make mistakes that landed us with legal issues that could put our house at risk.
Those of you who are small business owners know only too well that raising the money you need to grow your business generally means you have ended up borrowing from yourself and it has certainly got harder over the last eighteen months.
Some of you are like we were and like clients who tell me they have sold or mortgaged their houses to fund their business growth and you fully understand the fear of being only one lawsuit away from losing everything.
And you know, as we did, that a well meaning employee or contractor could easily make an error and trigger a lawsuit.
If this is you, you probably put it into the “much too hard to think about” basket and go on working your butt off.
BUT……
Wouldn’t you love to discover the peace of mind and extra time that I did back in the computer shop days?
We built a wonderful beach house with a stunning view on top of a cliff and went there every weekend and even took holidays. We managed three weeks in New Zealand and yes, the business was still there and making money with no dramas while we were away. What a change!
Even if you are more established and not on this treadmill, you’ve still got the time pressure and that overwhelm.
You’ve got targets to meet, meetings to go to – and they run over time making you short on time to get out that report or proposal so you end up late home and sacrifice time with your kids.
Imagine how you will feel when you have the recognition of an international standard for you business! Imagine being congratulated by your clients and your suppliers and the envy of competitors who still think that it is too hard for them.
I remember when Hagen Stehr of Clean Seas Aquaculture now a listed company was congratulated by his Japanese clients with full page colour adverts in the paper. How proud to you think he felt and look at how his business has grown since I helped him implement his systems!
You will have recognition from markets and regulators and the ability to access tenders and contracts out of your reach without those standards
And the big one is greater efficiency and reduced stress! Just imagine not needing to deal with staff errors and what is even worse, covered up errors that come back to bite much worse than if they had admitted it up front.
You know you can have this and you will be surprised at how easy and time effective it is using my training and coaching programs. You can even Do-It-Yourself!
When we left the computer shop in the late 1990’s and I decided what to do next I started helping businesses to implement the systems that had helped me so much.
In 2003 I made the change from traditional consultancy to using training courses and then online training courses that I have written and steadily improved as I get more feedback from clients and audits, both theirs and my own.
Jean Kennedy of Turf Producers told me that “We found that now we have ISO 14001 in place everything is much easier. It sounded like a big thing at the start but it is so easy to do because of the way you have simplified it and we loved the online training because we only need to take around 50 minutes each week away from taking sales calls”
In 2010 you can have Version 7 which has been make even easier to use with straightforward one point at a time PowerPoint slides and audio files you can listen to while you commute plus I have also added videos because I want you to be able to choose the learning style that suits you best.
You have a weekly teleconference where you get your questions answered and personal help. Version 7 has split some weeks where I know a few clients had asked for more time so it is now three five-week modules and you get an extra week of my coaching on the phone in each module. And I am available for email questions when you need me.
Enviro Action practices what it preaches and has been certified to ISO 9001 since 2004 and is now also certified to ISO 14001.
Our Environmental Policy and Quality Policy can be viewed here
Enviro Action is certified to both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 because this is simply the way we do business. |
