Evaluating A Small Business Strategy
Countless people set themselves personal goals in life
, but in many cases, small business owners dont do themselves the same favour. Without setting aside a little time each week to consider, plan and implement a solid strategy for any business, its success can be often hindered or compromised.In these tough economic times, owners are struggling to make their business grow, but strangely enough, there is great opportunity for companies to make leaps and bounds while the market is down.
Take a Step Back
Being in the day-to-day running of your business can alter your perception of how effectively it is run. Take the time to look at every facet of your business to gain the most unbiased perspective.
What kind of relationships do you have with suppliers? Is there any way you can leverage the associations you have with them to gain better pricing or additional extras (like longer trading terms to increase cash flow) that they dont usually provide?
Do employees see their position as a job or a career? One of the most difficult tasks an employer can face is motivating their staff so that they are more productive. Try to introduce creative, cost effective ideas to improve staff morale, which will ultimately allow your business to be more successful in so many different ways - Higher customer satisfaction, increased work output, less mistakes and a much nicer place for everyone to work.
What are your sales margins? Taking a realistic look at how much you are making on your products and services is crucial to allowing your business to grow. A 3% increase may not seem like much in isolation, but calculated over a year, this additional profit will make quite a difference to your bottom line.
Dont be concerned about upsetting or losing customers. In many cases, customers will often expect to see increases in prices every few years, purely because of inflation. If you do apply increases, be transparent to your valued clientele it will only reaffirm why they should continue to spend their money with you.
What are your competitors doing? If they are blazing trails in your area or industry, find out why and how. Start to follow their lead and see where you can even improve on their practises. But another, far more powerful way to knock down competition is to find out what they are doing badly. By being exceptionally great at what your competitors do badly, it will soon put you miles in front.
Planning What to Consider
After all the research has been done, its important to spend some time planning how you will turn all of these findings into meaningful actions. There is a fine balance between continuing to maintain a high service level in your business and being able to implement new processes, procedures and projects. Figure out what elements can be immediately implemented into your business and what will take more time and resources. Once youve determined this, you can then allocate timelines to these more lengthy projects so as not to interrupt the flow of your business. Many strategies tend to stretch over several years, so make sure you build some level of flexibility in to allow for changes in your business, the economy and the marketplace.
Implementation Getting Your Hands Dirty
Its all well and good to research and plan business strategy, but sometimes the hardest part can actually be doing the work involved. The best way to avoid being overwhelmed with implementing the strategy is to break up each task and set key goals and milestones. Once you have completed the task or project successfully, make sure you take the time to look back on what you have done and be constructively critical. If you have an upcoming project of a similar nature, it will allow you to become more efficient in implementing your business strategy.
All in all, business strategies give you the chance to recognise opportunities and shortcomings that may not have been realised otherwise. While each business can be very different, the foundations of a solid business strategy are the ultimately the same and can be applied to any company, regardless of its service offering or industry.
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