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 AS3902 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 biz 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 mortgage 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!  Imaging 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 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.

Why waste any more time?  You can register for my next group starting towards the end of March

OR…..
With the version 7 launch, I have 16 only copies of my previous version ISO 14001 Do-It-Yourself training packs which normally sell for $770 inc GST including 30 minutes phone coaching.

You will get my “Green Your Business: The Do-It-Yourself Manual” book as well as all the audio files and templates.

You can have this training package for only $330 inc gst and if you want the coaching this is available for $110 extra – sorry I can’t discount my time because I am busy with my full price clients and I like spending time with my family as well..

There are a few extras here for you.  You can choose to have the latest version of the forms and manual templates for $66 and the draft version DVD of the videos to play in your computer for another $88 – they will be more after these 16 pack have sold.

This amazing bargain is only available for ISO 14001 and only for this very limited number of 16.

When they are gone, they are gone so don’t miss out.  If you choose to add the two upgrades, you are getting the full new version for only $440 +gst of $484 total

I only do past version sales when I upgrade and this has averaged once a year so don’t miss out.

Fax me on 618 8311 5233 or phone 618 8311 5232 to grab these packs before they run out

Here is a summary of the pricing:

• ISO 14001 Do-It-Yourself training pack $300
• Latest Version forms and manual templates on an extra CD $60
• Draft version DVD of the entire training program videos to play on your computer $80
• Plus 10% GST  tax if you live in Australia.
• And you can choose to buy extra one-on-one coaching any time you want when you want it.

This is the way to make your business truly sustainable

envirojean

Save Money with Simple and Effective Management Systems

Jean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.

Tweet This Post

But since the advent of the internet, the whole idea of training has got so much easier for employers to cope with.  There is now a wide selection of courses available.

This type of training regime is a world away from previous methods and helps employers to keep their businesses running smoothly and efficiently during an employee’s training period.

Online training is a brilliant idea and it is all so easy to organise. It is convenient for employers, morale boosting for staff and far less expensive than you would think.

When clients in one of my group courses asked me for online training instead of travelling to workshops please I said yes, gulped hard and started to find out how to do it.  That was late 2004 and by 2005 I had online training up and running.

I enrolled in a wide range of different courses, mostly in marketing and internet management and all in the USA and spent the next 12-18 months getting up around 3am several days a week to fit US Eastern Time midday training sessions.

One course had a teleconference “Graduation Ceremony” with an academy awards style virtual red carpet walk.  I was asked by a “reporter” to describe my gown for the event which was white towelling over PJ’s and I was being careful to avoid any “wardrobe malfunctions”.

You will find that the 2010, Ver 7 result is a series of very successful, simple and effective training programs to help your business become sustainable as you identify and minimise your environmental, safety, customer satisfaction and other risks, build in a feedback loop and save your self time, money and hassle.  Many but not all my clients choose to become certified to internationally recognised standards like ISO 14001, ISO 9001 or AS/NSZ 4801

At last you can have online sustainability training!  This is a brilliant idea, easy to organise, convenient for employers, morale boosting for staff and saves you more than it costs.

You can discover just how easy it is when you join the online group starting at the end of March and be the first group using Version 7 which also includes videos as well as audios and PDF’d PowerPoint slides.  You are supported by a weekly coaching teleconference and email answers.  You can choose whether you want to do environmental, ISO 14001; quality or customer satisfaction – ISO 9001; occupational health and safety, AS/NZS 4801 or even an integrated system including more than one system.

Or you can even Do-It-Yourself with a choice of programs to suit your business.
Fax 61 (08) 8311 5233 or phone me 61 (08) 8311 5232 to make a time to discuss what would suit you best

envirojean

Save Money with Simple and Effective Management Systems

Jean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.

Tweet This Post

I was in Brisbane last weekend and while I was there I heard about a very large WorkCover claim.  This was a building industry union official who contracted skin cancer and received a record financial claim.

This should not be a surprise because the bronzed Aussie is a careless of his health Aussie.

We have been having cover up and slip slop slap messages for several years now.  Twelve years ago when I was working in the fishing industry in Port Lincoln the guys were all issued with long sleeved shirts, broad brimmed hats, soft broad brim add-ons for hard hats and huge jars of sunburn cream.

I remember visiting prawn farms in Queensland and seeing the guys rushing about on quad bikes in only a pair of small “stubbies” and even bare foot.  I was told that it was too hot and too hard to get them to wear anything more.

I was amazed as it is often hotter in South Australia in summer and the lack of shoes is plain stupid on a worksite and skin cancer has been known about for years.

Hopefully this huge claim will scare employers into enforcing sun smart behaviour.

We have seen the results of management failure to enforce safety procedures and training with the insulation scandal and this is just another case of ignoring known safety hazards and paying for it.

Occupational health and safety is the responsibility of individuals to comply with the rules, work mates to look out for each other and employers to enforce a safe working environment

envirojean

Save Money with Simple and Effective Management Systems

Jean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.

Tweet This Post

As I child my father often moved which meant that I went to six different schools in different states and even countries.

From the age of nine when the moving started, I found that I was good at writing the lists and organising the packing for moves and holidays because my mother found it all very stressful.  So in effect I have been developing management systems since childhood.

Learning to work with systems plus living in so many different places produced a very adaptable, lateral thinking person who can fit into a wide range of environments and as a consultant; it means I work effectively with clients from a very wide range of industries.

I guess thinking very laterally enabled me to move away from the typical consultancy model that left clients dependent on the consultant.

I developed training programs to enable clients to have their OWN management systems and to manage them without ongoing consultant overheads.

Then, because clients asked, I developed ONLINE TRAINING PROGRAMS that allow busy businesses to access my help WHERE THEY ARE regardless of geography and only have a one hour per week fixed time commitment.

When you build a simple system you reduce waste, you save money, save time, reduce stress, you help the environment.  This is what sustainability is all about and if it is not simple it won’t work.

AND this is what I help you to do in your business.

You can reserve a place in the next online group course, or even Do-It-Yourself.

Both will get you ready for certification if you implement the simple and effective training and templates that I give you.

envirojean

Save Money with Simple and Effective Management Systems

Jean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.

Tweet This Post

One of the large TAFE colleges is now using my ISO 14001 training materials under licence so I recently spent time training the trainers and found this a very valuable experience.  It was great to see what I do through the eyes of other trainers and understand their needs.

The result is some minor extra tweaks to the new version I am releasing this month plus optional videos of the entire program.

I have split some of the sessions where there was more work for you so that you now have an extra week to cover those tasks, giving you five weeks in each module and an extra coaching session is now built in.

This will make getting ISO 14001 and the other management systems like safety and quality even easier for you.  That is part of my continual improvement program.  Version 1 was launched by the then Minister for the Environment, Dr David Kemp, in 2003.  In 2010, I am releasing Version 7 so I guess this is a steady annual review and upgrade based on current trends in business, client and my own audit results and the response of clients during the coaching sessions.

You now have three FIVE week online training modules instead of the four week ones.  There is no more to do but it is spaced so that it is easier for you to manage while you also do all the other things you are already doing full time.

Plus you will have access to streaming videos for each session so that you get:
•    PowerPoint slides
•    MP3 Audio files that you can listen to while commuting or even driving a tractor
•    Videos which combine the PowerPoint slides and the audio into a single presentation
•    Plus of course you get all the simple and flexible templates you need
•    AND a weekly phone conference so that you can get your questions answered

This caters for almost all the learning styles and allows people to fit their training and coaching into their busy lifestyles.  Version 7 makes getting your certification even easier.

The next group starts at the end of March and

YES – you can enrol for any of the systems or even for more than one.  Different choices are enrolled in different materials of course.  Because many of the sessions overlap these are coached as a full group and where your course varies, you will have individual coaching calls.

You can also choose to get started with the Do-it-Yourself programs, which are the same training materials as the coached courses but without the weekly coaching and mentoring.  Some people choose to start with this, then upgrade to the fully coached course, or book in for a few 30 minute coaching calls.  The Do-It Yourself training with an 8 CD pack is available for environment ISO 14001, safety AS/NZS 4801 and also quality ISO 9001.

I do some private consultancy for selected clients but obviously this is more costly and although you have my undivided attention, you miss out on the real benefits to working in a group where you have others who all contribute a variety of experiences and enrich your knowledge.

envirojean

Save Money with Simple and Effective Management Systems

Jean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.

Tweet This Post

I was just reading the latest of my friend Chen Tay’s truly sensible articles and I loved his line “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

That is not so very different from my regular statement that “If it is not simple it won’t work”

Chen went on to discuss his opinions on the emerging business/financial trend and I think this is worth sharing

He said that “there is a shift going on. Just look around, the world is changing. While the fundamentals will always remain relevant, it’s important to take the best parts of the old economy and learn the best strategies for the new emerging economy.

People are desperately seeking “authentic” people because there are so many sharks out there.

The global financial crisis wasn’t just a financial challenge, but it also revealed the lack of leadership around the world. What the world need is leaders with integrity… leaders who inspire vision, a dream or start a movement.”

One of my main reasons for writing my articles is so that you can get to know me, hopefully understand that I do have more experience and depth than most other consultants in the same space and that I do have the integrity that you are looking for.

I am originally a marine biologist with a deep environmental understanding, I have been involved in my own businesses for the last 20 years, I am a qualified Lead Auditor in both safety (AS/NZS 4801) and environmental management (ISO 14001) and been running quality systems (ISO 9001) since 1990.

I have been helping organisations from single family businesses to companies of over 1,000 people build simple and effective management systems since 1998 and have developed simple tools to make this easier for you.

I believe in helping my clients to build sustainable business systems and to manage them on their own so that they are not lumbered with lots of paper, gobbledygoop nor a consultant that won’t go away.  Of course I am happy to help if you want changes down the track but I work hard to do myself out of a job and make you independent.

If it is not simple it won’t work so I really cut red tape make things as easy as possible for you both to implement and to maintain.

For more information go to http://www.enviroaction.com.au

I was just reading the latest of my friend Chen Tay’s truly sensible articles and I loved his line “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

That is not so very different from my regular statement that “If it is not simple it won’t work”

Chen went on to discuss his opinions on the emerging business/financial trend and I think this is worth sharing

He said that “there is a shift going on. Just look around, the world is changing. While the fundamentals will always remain relevant, it’s important to take the best parts of the old economy and learn the best strategies for the new emerging economy.

People are desperately seeking “authentic” people because there are so many sharks out there.

The global financial crisis wasn’t just a financial challenge, but it also revealed the lack of leadership around the world. What the world need is leaders with integrity… leaders who inspire vision, a dream or start a movement.”

One of my main reasons for writing my articles is so that you can get to know me, hopefully understand that I do have more experience and depth than most other consultants in the same space and that I do have the integrity that you are looking for.

I am originally a marine biologist with a deep environmental understanding, I have been involved in my own businesses for the last 20 years, I am a qualified Lead Auditor in both safety (AS/NZS 4801) and environmental management (ISO 14001) and been running quality systems (ISO 9001) since 1990.

I have been helping organisations from single family businesses to companies of over 1,000 people build simple and effective management systems since 1998 and have developed simple tools to make this easier for you.

I believe in helping my clients to build sustainable business systems and to manage them on their own so that they are not lumbered with lots of paper, gobbledygoop nor a consultant that won’t go away.  Of course I am happy to help if you want changes down the track but I work hard to do myself out of a job and make you independent.

If it is not simple it won’t work so I really cut red tape make things as easy as possible for you both to implement and to maintain.

For more information go to http://www.enviroaction.com.au

envirojean

Save Money with Simple and Effective Management Systems

Jean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.

Tweet This Post

There is a lot of talk about this especially from Government and many of the suggestions are marginal.  Not very many are actually reducing greenhouse gas emissions or other pollution.

I think that every employee in a business that is managing its environmental risks and is becoming environmentally sustainable as they continually improve their performance with ISO 14001 management system has a true “green job”.

Not many of the so called “green jobs” are in sustainable businesses

envirojean

Save Money with Simple and Effective Management Systems

Jean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.

Tweet This Post

Israel is really leading the way in environmental sustainability other than the enormous energy and resources that it spends on warfare,   Now STOP and don’t protest about my war comment – that is not a political comment – It is a fact that war uses/wastes a huge amount of energy and resources.

That is not what I am talking about.

They grow food in sand, power homes using the sun and this year launches the world’s finest city-wide electric car system.

Electric cars built by Renault-Nissan need a network of re-charging points and battery changing stations and these are being set up in Israel, Denmark, Hawaii, California, Canada and the report I read said Australia )although I have seen no evidence of this yet).

“Israel will be the fi rst country in the world actually implementing this and Jerusalem will be the fi rst city.”

The car looks like a regular Renault Megane but has no exhaust pipe and an electric socket where the petrol cap should be.   It can run for about 140 miles without re-charging, compared with 300 miles for the average family car on a full tank of petrol.

Drivers will plug in their cars to recharge for several hours at home, work or at designated free car parks throughout the country. Or they will swap empty batteries for fully-charged ones at a network of up to 200 “swap stations” throughout Israel. The electricity for the cars will come from solar technology being developed in the desert in southern Israel.

There are more than 1,000 clean technology start-up companies in Israel, a country that has attracted more foreign investment in high-tech businesses in the past decade than all of Europe.

This has been brought about by major challenges.  Its main water sources are controlled by its enemies Syria and the Hezbollah in Lebanon.  The land is sandy and infertile. So Israel had to become sustainable to deal with scarcity.  The practice of watering of agricultural crops through the drip irrigation system was developed in Israel more than 40 years ago.

And the country is also a pioneer in geothermal and solar energy. Solar heating panels and water tanks on the top of almost every building provide solar-heated water to just about every home and business.

envirojean

Save Money with Simple and Effective Management Systems

Jean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.

Tweet This Post

The virtues and otherwise of becoming involved with Government schemes seem to me to be dubious.

The insulation scheme has been scrapped.  Intrinsically a great idea to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and people’s power bills but shockingly managed.

It may have been logical to sack the Minister for not managing it properly, and/or to enforce appropriate training and safety provisions………….

But it is hard to see the logic behind sacking the scheme instead and throwing huge numbers of people out of work and the well managed businesses close to bankruptcy.

Even the poorly managed businesses were allowed to operate that way because of the government’s loose controls.

Beware anyone signing up to a Government funded scheme is what I take from this and previous nonsense’s like FarmBis.

Some years ago I spend many days fulfilling all the requirements of FarmBis – not once but all the different requirements (and more days) in every state.  Then when they brought in a new National FarmBis I went through it all over again.

And I did this so that the government could squeeze me down to a barely sustainable price and give myself hours of additional bookkeeping which was different for every state.

No let’s be fair, I did this so that my primary industry clients could get a 65% subsidy which actually really undervalued my service.

Then at a moment’s notice the new Government cancelled the scheme retrospectively so that clients who had already had funding approval and started their systems were unable get the promised refunds on two thirds of their claims.  They announced the change two days after it took effect so that no one could rush in and finalise already approved claims.

Do you think there is a reason I have not put the hours of work into applying for other transient funding sources?

My sympathies go to those reputable insulation installers whose businesses are now at grave financial risk after they scaled up to fulfil a need.

envirojean

Save Money with Simple and Effective Management Systems

Jean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.

Tweet This Post

I guess many of us have been doing the same as me and taking some time out being amazed at the excellence of these athletes while we just sit.

Do you wonder how they do it?

The have a firm goal, a plan and they have systems, backup and a team to help them achieve their goals through all kinds of setbacks and problems.

They have falls, they break backs, neck, legs then get up and get going again.

They are inspiring and it is really good to let ourselves be inspired.

It was fascinating watching some of them make sure of their place in the finals by keeping things simple while others with more “bells and whistles” missed out.

So why am I discussing this?

Top performing athletes are a great role model for top performing business.

STOP
Don’t just say this is ridiculous name

If you are in business or you manage a business do you want a business that performs well even when times are tough?

If you want the best for your business, then like an athlete YOU need to set goals, identify risks, plan to manage them, put systems in place with feedback to make your plans work and continually improve AND have a great team to help you.

Name that is the role of your employees and contractors; – to be your great team to help you manage your business to perform well under a range of circumstances.

So involve you team in your system, train and support them to help your business and make their working life more enjoyable and sustainable.

Simple and effective management systems help you and your team to make your business the best it can be and to gain recognition with internationally recognised standards for quality, safety and environmental management.

Why not look at the options for you with coached online systems or Do-It-Yourself training programs so that you can work at your own pace and just ask for help if and when you want to.

You can choose any or all of ISO 14001,    ISO 9001,      AS/NZS 4801(Int OSHAS 1801) to build a sustainable business

envirojean

Save Money with Simple and Effective Management Systems

Jean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.

Tweet This Post