The reality of finding success in the business world is a culmination of putting new methods of thinking and behaviour into practice, as well as the acknowledgement and avoidance of some of the more common mistakes made in business. We work with an extensive range of companies on a day-to-day basis improving their businesses with management systems and business education. Here, we outline the five most common opportunities for improvement we find on a regular basis:

1.    Avoid sweating the small stuff.

In the words of Richard Carlson, who wrote ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff’, “Reflection is one of the most underused, yet powerful tools for success”. In the context of Carlson’s book, he’s not talking about success in business. Instead, he’s addressing the need for reflection to improve our lives, but his advice can be adapted to the business world. Reflection, i.e. the observations made while viewing your business operations from a management system like ISO 9001 should focus only ...