In the first blog of this series, I discussed why creating a vision for your business will help you articulate where you want to go. To get there, you need a detailed map – a plan – and to create that, you need to know where you stand today. Information is key to business growth.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Which of your products and services are successful? How profitable are they? What is their market share?
- How efficiently are you operating? Are you making the best use of technology and automation to get the job done? Are there areas you can save time?
- Do your employees have the skills, resources and tools they need to excel?
- What is your current capacity in terms of staff time, facilities, equipment and information technology?
- Do you have an accurate picture of your financial performance? Consider cash flow, working capital and cost basis.
- Do you have the resources in place to maintain your current business AND grow?
I advise our clients to assess and regularly review this information on a more frequent basis than once a year. Having an accurate picture of the current operations and finances will help you determine the next steps to grow your business.
