ISO 9001 is the key internationally agreed standard for quality management systems. It is used by over 951,000 businesses in 175 countries worldwide.

ISO 9001 standard has four elements:
* Management responsibility - ensuring top level management shows commitment to the quality system and develops it according to customers' needs and the business' objectives
* Resource management - ensuring the people, infrastructure and work environment needed to implement and improve quality systems are in place
* Product realisation - delivering what customers want, looking at areas such as sales processes, design and development, purchasing, production or service activities
* Measurement, analysis and improvement - checking whether you have satisfied customers by carrying out other measurements of your system's effectiveness

Advantages of ISO9001 for your business:
* Greater efficiency and less waste
* Consistent control of major business processes, through key processes lists.
* Regulation of successful working practices
* Risk management
* Increased customer satisfaction
* Greater consistency in the quality of products and services through better control of processes
* Differentiation of your business from its competitors
* Increased profits
* Exploitation of new markets, both in the local and international

Disadvantages of ISO9001:
* The cost of getting and keeping the certification
* The time involved
* Overcoming opposition to implementing change from within the business

Here are some overviews of ISO9001. As you can see, having an ISO certificate can help your business grow and increase sales.