Monday, August 04, 2008

Fast Track Business Review


Too Busy For A Proper Business Plan?


If you are like many business owners, you may be so rushed with filling orders, paying bills and getting through the day-to-day crises, that there is just no time to get organized, and put your thoughts down into a business plan, or even know quite where to start.

A Fast Track Business Review might be the way to begin your process of getting control of your business, fix those things that have been left undone that will bring the business fast benefits, and cut through some of the clutter that can turn up in a business, and prevent better results than you could be
getting now.

Getting Started
To get started on your review, take a few minutes and think about your business and how it operates every day. Think about what issues come up time and again and cause problems, and think about the improvements that you may have considered making in some parts of the business.
Now make a list of the things that you would like in the business to work better, stop irritating you or improve your financial position. Is cash-flow an issue for the business, or is something else holding you back?

Make your Wish List.

1. Things you’d like more of
2. Things you’d like less of

Look At Your Business Objectively


Your business has a need to operate efficiently across a range of areas in order to work as effectively (and profitably) as it may. Very often, business owners start out in a business because they have a skill in one area, and may be very adept at performing that technical skill. Of course there are more responsibilities that need to happen for the business to run smoothly.

A good business needs a Vision for what it is to become, so that everything that happens in the business can reflect that and move the business in the direction of fulfilling that ambition. Employees need to know what the owner has in mind, in order to buy-in and help deliver that end result. It needs sound financial management and effective marketing so as to drive new business, and great customer service to ensure repeat business and referrals to drive that cash-flow which is the engine of any business. A business needs good employees and good employees need good systems to follow, good management to inspire their loyalty, and good standards for delivery of product and services.


In each area of your business

Operations

Marketing

Financial Business Health

Sales

Customer Service

Service Delivery

Product & Service Standards

Information Technology

Employee Management

External Relationship Management

Procedures & Policies

Workplace Health & Safety

*Your business may have additional areas, EG Warehouse, Inventory management, Point of Sale, etc

Review
Write down the top 3 things in each section of the business you’d most like to change.

Be sure to include all areas of the business. Be sure to include any items that are particularly prone to producing stress in the workplace for yourself, or friction with employees.

Commit

Write down the actions for each change that has to happen.
Write down the deadline for this to be finished.
Write down who is responsible for making this change happen.
Commit to this undertaking, no excuses.



Thinking Of Getting A Business Coach?
Lindy Asimus
Design Business Engineering

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lindy,

What a nice post about your business information.

You are doing such a great job with the way that you communicate about your services and expertise to everyone on your site and in the forums.

I have to spend some energy in learning Merchant Circle now. I sign up for the profile sites that I am interested in, and then one by one really put my energy into them so that I can help my Social Networking clients use them.

I have a new product coming out on Friday 8-8-08, just like the Olympics, so I am so excited to put the information on all of my profile sites.

Best of Success,

Sally
www.drsallywitt.com

lindyasimus said...

Yes it is a good idea to get your Merchant Circle site populated with whatever information you want to 'get out there'. On the people side - you may find TeamCircle more useful for actually connecting with members as there is more facility for sharing and communicating generally.

Let me know if I can help in some way.