Policy as it Applies to Business Ventures: Four Key Elements to Policy

Businessdictionary.com suggests that policy, as it applies to business ventures has four key elements including principles, objectives, contracts and guidelines. 

No two business ventures are exactly the same, although many of them have similar policies. Business ventures tend to be broad in scope and their policies must be oriented in a specific direction that will lead towards successful businesses.

For an entrepreneur seeking to start a new business, writing and establishing a policy or set of policies that will govern a project may appear to be difficult.  

A policy is one part of the business plan, stating its basic principles of operation. Establishing objectives in the business plan leaves no question about the direction the business should be heading. Formal contracts help to clarify this further, as well as offer a certain amount of assurance to business owners, insurance or even legal protection. A management team appointed as the governing body of a business defines or interprets short and long-term goals stated in the policy and these lead to appropriate guidelines.      

Most people are relatively familiar with various kinds of insurance policies that offer certain clauses that help to guarantee their rights. Other policies may be on the local, national or international level. For example, banks have policies that govern the use of credit cards. These may be local, national or international. Government policies may be restricted to a local, state or provincial level, but may also include the entire country or other countries on an international level.

What is a policy writer?

A policy writer is a person who writes policies for organizations or companies whether he or she is an employer, a manager or an entrepreneur. The article, “Policy writer’s checklist” offers some tips for those who write policies and sample templates.

At times, organizations, groups or other people must be consulted with respect to the introduction of a new a policy or a change to an old policy. This may be local, national or international in scope, particularly when it involves governments or organizations that have global outreach. Enforcing any kind of policies is not always an easy task particularly when change is evident by social unrest or protest.

Because policies are subject to change, it is important to write appropriate policies that are relatively flexible, but at the same time, offer suitable directives. Not everyone will agree with policies or stipulations in a policy, so voting on specific issues or the policy itself may be necessary. In this kind of a situation, the majority generally rules. Groups of disgruntled people may choose to lobby against policies of which they do not approve.

The entrepreneur writing a policy for the first time in business should do extensive research on existing policies that may be pertinent to his or her enterprise. When a policy is motivational, positive and constructive, it is more likely to be accepted, but the policy writer needs to be open for further input, as there are times when others have a different perspective. Entrepreneurial policies may not be understood immediately, so further clarification may be indicated.