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When you begin your small business, one of the first actions you will need to take is to set forth business policies and procedures. Many people overlook this and they only consider business policy when something is called into question.

If you wait to create the policies, you could run into a great deal of a headache. By preempting any problems or issues, you can maintain a professional business. This is true if you have two employees or two hundred.

If you are new to business ownership, you may be wondering how to even go about creating policies and procedures. The first thing you need to remember is to set forth policies for issues that do not even exist yet.

You are planning to grow your business, so instead of having to modify policies as you grow, start out with policies that may not even apply yet. This way, you will be prepared for future issues.

You can include anything you want in your policies and procedures manuals, but there are certain items that you will most definitely want to include. Here is a list of some of the most common items as well as an explanation of why they are important.

You will need a mission statement. The reason for this is to set forth a clear and concise reason for your company. This can be helpful in letting your employees know what they are working toward. You may also wish to display your mission statement to your customers, so they know what your business is all about.

You will need to include a section about employees. This should cover pay rates, evaluations, chances for pay raises, bonuses, vacation time, sick days, and holidays. If you go ahead and let your employees know what to expect, you can avoid any future confusion.

Go ahead and plan exactly what holidays will be given to employees and create an easy to use chart. Also, decide how many sick or vacation days they have. You will need to decide whether their leave is garnered on a per month or a per year basis.

Questions you will have to ask include: will the amount of leave they receive go up as they stay longer with the company? Will I have an emergency leave program available? What will I need to do as far as maternity leave? Answer these questions in your policies, since you are thinking of them, your employees will too.

Make sure that you set forth a consistent evaluation and bonus or raise schedule. Some companies choose to evaluate their employees once a year and offer bonuses or pay raises at that time. Others choose twice a year or even quarterly. Whatever method you choose, make sure it is in your policies and you stick with it.

If you are confused or concerned about what to include in your policies and procedures manual, speak with other business people whom you trust. Whether your company has a board of directors or you consult an outside source, it always helps to have another’s opinion, especially if they are experienced.

You may wish to consult a lawyer to make sure that all of your policies and procedures are legal, and that you did not leave any confusing and problem inducing loopholes in the employee section.

Once you have your policies and procedures completed, have someone else read through them one more time to look for discrepancies or mistakes. You may choose to give each employee their own copy, or you may wish to keep several copies in accessible places.

Have every current and new employee read the manual thoroughly. You may even wish to call a meeting so that employees will have a chance to resolve any questions they may have about the policies. This will also give you a chance to see if you need to make any revisions.

Anytime you hire a new employee, they should be required to read and understand all policies and procedures even before they begin work. This will offset any confusion or questions they may have.

No matter how much thought and time you put into the policies and procedures, you will need to take some time once a year to read the manual. You may find that, as your business changes, so do your policy needs.

Make any revisions necessary and hand out revised copies to employees. Any time that you need to make revisions, make sure that you note where the changes were made and confirm that every employee is aware of the changes.

It is too easy for an employee to get confused and think that an old policy is in effect, and it is too easy to just skip out on reading the policies when they are busy. You will need to make sure time is set aside for policy reading.

No matter the size of your business, thorough policies and procedures can be invaluable, and they can save you a lot of stress in the future.