There is a subtle difference between working in a business and working on a business. Most small business owners focus on working in their company by making sure that it survives competition and thus barely spend time developing strategic ways to grow their business. Working on a business basically means laying out the business growth planning strategies that will be applied for the periods ahead. Here are a few tips that you may find helpful to use in your business.
Reviewing the business performance for last year
For each year, there are successes and failures. As you’re trying to put together a plan to perform better than last year, it’s important that you find out exactly what you did wrong and what you did right last year. Take a look at you fared with your employee performance reviews and business and marketing plans. Then, conduct a financial analysis to determine how your results compared to your budget.
Setting business goals
This step is necessary to find out about your maximum business capacity given your current resources. Meeting the business goals would indicate that more can definitely be done; which is the same as saying that the company may expand. On the other hand, missing the business goals would mean that there’s something amiss with the current resources. Either they are being used inefficiently or they are too limited to reach the business goals that have been set.
Assessing the business performance every quarter
Rather than waiting until the end of the year to conduct a business analysis of the company’s performance, it’s best to review the impact of the strategies applied at the end of each quarter. Based on what you notice, you may decide to set new goals or keep on pursuing those set initially.
Although the tips discussed in this article may seem to be simplistic, there are many small businesses that don’t apply them and end up realizing later that they aren’t following a clear direction.
Remember, running a business successfully does not need to be complicated. Keep it simple!
For more information on business analysis, business planning, and ways to grow your small business profitably, please check out our website www.portalcfo.com. Follow us on Twitter @portalcfo
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Manny Skevofilax is a consultant and speaker that helps his clients successfully navigate the challenges of growing their businesses profitably. Since 2003, Manny helps businesses enhance their results by using his experience in strategic planning, financial statement analysis, operations, organizational development, and team-building. His consulting firm, PORTAL CFO Consulting, Inc., has attracted clients from diverse industries in the United States and abroad.
Manny can be reached at 410-808-3441 or via email at manny@portalcfo.com.