Ignoring proper English grammar in your business could be devastating to your bottom line. While you may not think of yourself as a writer, your role as a business owner requires you to write on a regular basis. You likely send out correspondence to potential clients, email back and forth with your employees, and write memos to the organization as a whole. If you do not use proper when writing these documents, you could look foolish and uneducated in the eyes of your employees, your superiors, and your potential clients. What are the consequences of this? One or two serious grammar mistakes could cost you that contract you have been working so hard to land! Besides making you look foolish, improper grammar can lead to confusion between you and the person you are writing to, because many common grammar mistakes actually change the meaning of what was written. For example, if you write a double negative, such as "You don't never need to come to work on Saturdays," you will not only sound silly, but you are actually saying that the individual does need to come to work on Saturdays. This lack of clarity in your writing can cause tremendous confusion.

Maybe you think that grammar is simply not important in your line of work. Before you "write off" your writing skills, consider what your potential client thinks when he receives correspondence from your business. He is trying to decide whether or not to award you a contract that will cost him a lot of money. He wants to make sure that he is getting the best possible work for his money. Sure, your business may have nothing to do with writing, but all he has to use to evaluate your professionalism is your written words. If you make some serious grammar mistakes that he catches, he may wonder how well educated you are. He may also wonder if you would be willing to skip important details on the job, since you obviously are willing to skip proofreading your written correspondence. Writing copy for advertisements is another place that proper grammar is extremely important. You have no way of knowing who will see your ad copy and what their educational background is. If you misplace punctuation in ad copy, you can turn away many potential customers. This lack of professionalism in your writing will cause them to think that you will not give enough attention to the other areas of your business, including the work you would have provided for them.

So how can you brush up weak skills? The good news is that technology can help. Use grammar and spelling checkers on your computer programs whenever possible. These may have been taboo when you were in school, if they were available, but now that you are in the working world, they are going to become your best friend. Second, always wait before sending out a written document if at all possible. Draft that letter to your client, and then put it on your desk for the rest of the day. Come back to it the next day and read it again. You will be surprised at the number of mistakes that pop out at you. If you really struggle with grammar, hire someone to proofread for you. You may have an employee already on staff that can do this for you. Finally, if you are unsure about the proper grammar to use in a situation, rewrite the sentence so that you do not have to use that particular grammar rule. Make sure that all written letters that come from your office are professional and contain proper grammar. It could mean the difference between landing your next contract and losing it!