Start a New Year Revolution

 There’s nothing like the prospect of another festive season to get us all thinking about New Year’s resolutions. Healthy goals like eating less junk food and doing a bit more exercise usually top most people’s list.

Of course for many of us, without support the best intentions can quickly go astray. It’s not long before the cupboard is restocked with Tim Tams and that shiny new gym membership is gathering dust.

When it comes to the health of your business the end of the year is also a great time to plan a few New Year resolutions that build on your achievements and gets your business ready to tackle the year ahead. And like a new exercise regime or a new diet the best way to stay committed to those goals is to get support.

It can be tough to make changes but with the ongoing support of Wilson Teis your good intentions for the New Year will quickly become business as usual.

Benefit from our Experience …

Someone once said ‘experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it’. Learning from your mistakes is great but learning from others can be just as useful … and probably a bit more cost effective.

Over the years we have helped many clients overcome the challenges they face in trying to be proactive about business planning, so we’ve got a good idea of the common issues such as:

1. Time: business owners often spend more time working in the business and less time working on the business; it’s a short term view that risks missing business opportunities … and threats!
2. Strategy: many small business owners are so hands-on they can’t step back and take a big picture view, but you need to if you want your business to grow and succeed.
3. Budget: The financials tell the story of your business, but if you don’t know what to expect then you can’t tell if it’s a horror story or a fairy-tale. Even a high level budget will tell you how your business is doing when you see how the monthly numbers stack up against it.
4. Cash: Whether it’s paying bills or being able to afford a new Ute when your old one finally dies, if you don’t plan your cash flow you could end up paying too much … or just not being able to pay at all.
5. Tax: for most of us, paying tax is a fact of life but if you don’t plan for that big bill it can put pressure on cash and leave you without enough at the end of the week to cover your own bills.
6. Sales & Marketing: most business owners do what they do because they love it … they also want to make a living. That means spending time planning how and where you are going to find new customers. It doesn’t need to be elaborate but it should be a regular part of your business strategy.

… then create your own Experience

Once you know the issues it’s easy to identify the steps to tackle them. It’s not so easy to put them in place all at once.

With that in mind Coral and Mike recommend picking one to three of these practical tips to put in place at the start of 2017 to really see an improvement in your business. We’ve also included links to a few tools to help you get started.

1. Prepare a Business Plan: It only needs to be one or two pages long. Talk to Coral or Mike and check out this well-known One-Page Strategic Plan from Vern Harnish. For it to really work you need to review it every month and have a chat with someone you trust about whether you’re sticking to it, and what to do if you’re not.
2. Prepare a Financial Management System: sounds complex but basically it’s just a set of reports that make sure you’ve got all the bases covered at your monthly review. Include a budget, a monthly sales forecast, a cash flow plan and key performance indicators (KPIs). KPIs are the drivers of your business so if you’re a tradie then it might be the number of jobs you do in a month by type, tracking that will let you know if you are taking too long … or you need more customers, or an assistant. Book a meeting with Coral or Mike to set up a system that works for your business. There are a few templates on our website that will help you get started.
3. Boost your Brand: How you position yourself in your market has a big impact on the growth of your business. As your business grows and evolves so does your brand story, so your message needs to be clear and up to date. Check out this simple brand positioning template (download here) from Sustainable Marketing Services to generate some ideas.
4. Review your Product or Service Mix: Identify your most popular or profitable sales lines; will they still be as popular next year or do you need to introduce new products? Talk to Coral or Mike about diversifying, extending your product range and making your top sellers work a bit harder for you.
5. Prepare a Simple Marketing System: Marketing works … if your system is robust. Include a marketing plan, calendar, budget and measurements, and have regular marketing meetings to plan and assess campaigns. Download this useful ‘How-To’ Prepare a Simple Marketing System Guide from Sustainable Marketing Services (download here).  You can download a marketing budget template (download here), and a marketing calendar template (download here).
6. Identify Areas for Improvement: Identify the top three to five business processes in your workplace that really frustrate you. Chances are that’s what a potential buyer will pick up when you try to sell down the line … or an old employee will tell you is the reason they left. Use that list as a starting point for process improvement. Poor systems and processes leave a business vulnerable. Tackle the simple ones first. This checklist (download here) is a great starting point for areas to focus on.
7. Improve the Team’s Performance: Boost the team’s performance with a ‘people system’ that includes flexibility, regular formal and informal communication and appropriate rewards. Formal job descriptions, employment contracts, an induction process and a staff handbook demonstrate that you value the team. Coffee catch ups and daily ‘huddles’ are a great way to stay connected. Use them to supplement a formal training plan that aligns team goals with your business strategies. Check out this example training plan (download here) to get you started.

For more help on boosting your business performance call us on 07 3255 1455 or email us today and get your New Year revolution underway.