Business Management

How Good is your Business Plan?

Business Plans are a useful tool in managing and growing the business. The complexity of the plan varies with the size and nature of the business but here are a few areas to avoid in planning.






1. Don’t delay.
Too many business owners only create a plan when banks or investors insist on it. Find the time even if you are too busy getting things done. The busier you are the more you need a plan. Don’t spend all the time just putting out fires; the entire business may be lost if you focus on one burning issue.

2. Cash Flow insensitivity.
Most business owners seem to focus on profits instead of cash. The reality is that businesses spend cash to operate, not profits. Understanding cash flow is critical. If you only get one report to manage the business make sure it is a cash flow chart.

3. Planning fear.
Preparation of business plan is not that hard. This is not a doctoral thesis or a book that has to be written. Help can be secured from books, small business development centres, local university business schools and planning software from the internet.

4. Undefined goals.
Plans should omit vague undefined goals that are just hype. The purpose of the plan is to define specific goals that are achievable and measurable and provide focus for the managers. Follow guidelines for specific milestones and hold people accountable for results.

5. Overly optimistic projections.
Revenue projections that accelerate too quickly create a false impression and unrealistic expectations. Generally more conservative projections are easier to defend with bankers or other potential sources of financing and also may prevent the owners from overspending with the anticipation of generating income that may not occur.

A good business plan presents an overview of the business -- now, in the short term, and in the long term. However, it doesn't just describe what the business looks like at each of those stages; it also provides a roadmap to follow.

Business Management

Reap Benefits of Strategic Planning 

Strategic Planning is a process to produce innovative and creative ideas which serve as the core framework for the company and designing its’ future. It provides a road to follow for success.
Strategic planning can have an immediate impact on the business; here a few benefits than can occur.

1. Make your future happen.
It is the difference between being proactive or reactive. Not every situation can be foreseen but you can make decisions and react to changing market conditions with the end in mind.

2. Establish direction.
Clearly define the purpose of the organization and establish realistic goals and objectives which can be clearly communicated to employees.  Provides a base from which progress can be measured, employees compensated and boundaries established for effective decision making.
 
3. Make wise business decisions
How do you distinguish between a good idea and a great idea?  Without a clear vision of what you want to achieve, and a mission or purpose for doing it, everything seems like a good idea.  What project do you invest in?  How should you prioritize?  Having clarity about what you want to do, who you need and how to get there will focus limited financial and people resources.

4. Increased profitability and market share
Focused planning and strategic thinking will uncover the customer segments, market conditions, and product and service offerings that are in the best interest of your business.  A targeted approach to markets and opportunities will guide your sales and marketing efforts, distribution and other business decisions which ultimately may mean more profit to the bottom line and a stronger market position.

5. Unique differentiation:  avoid “me too”
Companies often get used to looking at their competitors and their best practices and then trying to duplicate them that it becomes harder to tell the companies apart.  They all start to look the same with less distinction in unique value.  Strategy means having a unique differentiation that sets you apart from your competitors.

6. Increased job satisfaction. 
Consistently one of the top reason for leaving a firm is the lack of job satisfaction.  People need to have a motivation to come to work and feel like part of the team.  Employees are often the greatest source for innovative ideas.  The purpose and meaning of work gives a new focus and reason to show up each day if they participate in developing the Strategic Plan.

I hope these ideas provide some clarity on the benefits of developing an overall plan.

Business Management

Sharpen Business Communication

Communication is at the core of all our relationships, both business and personal. Business communication needs to keep pace with the warp speed digital communication that bombards us with messages we often did not ask for and are irrelevant to our business activity.
Here are some important tips to improve communication and break through all that digital noise and allow us to reach the intended audience.

 Pitching for Business?
- Ask the right questions by understanding your customer’s needs.
- Communicate professionally. Make sure written communication is proofread and has an appropriate signature. Make sure phones are answered professionally and people speak clearly.
- Schedule and prepare well. Make sure you provide potential clients with adequate uninterrupted time to speak. Prepare an agenda and share it before the meeting so all parties can prepare.
- Communication is a two way street. Express your ideas clearly but be sure to listen. Silence can be a powerful communication tool.  Ask good questions to show your interest and involvement with the customer.
- Follow-up in writing. Give your customer an overview of the meeting and ask for feedback.

 Customer Service
- Quality products should be supported by equally strong communication with customers.
- Make your customers feel they are a priority in your business.
- Make sure if problems occur they are addressed and fixed.
- If miscommunication seems to be the source of the problem use a different method; make a phone call to replace email. If the issue requires more than a few sentences to explain, call and speak with the customer personally.

 Networking
- Communicate confidently. Firm handshakes, eye contact, and smiles are important communication signals.
- Have a 30 second “elevator speech” that presents an effective first impression.
- Speak in a relaxed way that makes your audience comfortable.

Work on refining these communications skills to maximize your opportunity for success. That is my take on the subject. What is yours? Please let me know. gerry@polarisgroupmc.com

Business Management

Manage for Success

Let’s look at some key factors that contribute to business success. The role management plays is critical and management must focus on and achieve the goals and objectives set for the business. This can be facilitated with a number of key management functions.

1. Planning: 
The key to your success is having a business plan in place. Whether you're about to launch a start-up or you've been in business for years, your business' direction is guided by your business plan. To begin the planning process, you'll need to do some critical analysis; business planning is about realistically forecasting where your business is going.

2. Organizing: 
Organizational design is the way in which you set up your company (employees, information and technologies) to best meet your business objectives. How you structure your business has a major impact on how well it functions. There is no single best organizational design for all small businesses. Each business structure is as unique as the organization it represents.

3. Leadership:
An effective leader has a vision, a drive, and a commitment to achieve beyond that vision. The leader must then also have the skillset to enlist the support of the organization to achieve the stated goals.

4. Controlling:
Many small businesses lack proper control systems because they are focused on production or service issues.
Having a control system allows you to monitor, measure, and adjust your organisation’s performance, whether it is sales, production capabilities, or general efficiencies. In other words, the purpose of business control is to identify unfavourable business performance so appropriate actions can be undertaken.

5. Communicating:
Communication is essence of management. The basic functions of management as shown, planning, organizing, leading, controlling cannot be performed well without effective communication. Business communication involves constant flow of information and receipt of feedback. This is essential for the growth and success of the organization.

In the end, management will determine the success or failure of a business. Success surely cannot be attained without the appropriate skillset to manage.

Are you a Procrastinator?

Think the time you spend answering e-mail, composing IMs, and trolling Twitter doesn’t have an impact? Think again. Procrastinating in making business decisions generates enormous costs from time wasted and decisions delayed.

There are several approaches that may be considered to eliminate this waste.

1. Don’t delay. 
Any time you put something off the problem usually gets bigger leading to more stress and possibly more procrastination.

2. Focus.
Reduce the issue to small tasks and work in short bursts to complete each portion. This focused activity for short periods allows you to get the feel for accomplishment. It gets you started.

3. Prioritize. 
You may never get caught up with everything you need to do. To be an effective leader you have to prioritize and decide what’s important and manage your time effectively.

4. Tune out. 
Turn off distractions. If necessary turn off email, stop answering the phone; give 100% attention to the task at hand.

5. Plan.
Create a daily plan. At the end of each day spend 3-5 minutes setting up the next day’s schedule. It may save an hour the next day while you try to determine where to start your work activity.

6. Be accountable. 
Make yourself accountable to someone for what you want to accomplish. This could be an associate, friend, or business mentor.

A task can more easily be tackled if you visualize it completed. Remember the “Law of Expanded Time”. Work will fill the time available to complete it. By making less time available to complete a task, you will spend less time completing it.

JUST DO IT.

Business Management

Build Cash Flow

In times of a slower economy and when growth is difficult to sustain it is important to stay on top of the company’s finances and to preserve cash.

Here are some ideas to maximize cash availability in the business.

1. Track Cash
Track your cash as it comes in and goes out throughout the month. That will help you stay on top of problems and make adjustments, such as delaying discretionary payments.

2. Work with customers and suppliers.
You can increase cash flow by offering discounts to early paying good customers and preserving cash by having suppliers help by extending payment terms.

3. Protect working capital.
If cash is tight don’t pay for long term investments in equipment. It is better to use debt to finance these projects. Debt can be used to re-finance fixed assets to free up capital.

4. Cut waste.
Make every effort to improve productivity, eliminate inefficient equipment and other sources of waste. Engage staff to get involved in developing solutions.

These are just a few suggestions to improve that most vital business tool – cash flow. I hope you agree.
gerry@polarisgroupmc.com

Management

Are the right managers in place?

It’s important to motivate and reward your best people, but is promotion really the right call? Promoting your best people into management roles seems like a quick fix to show employees you recognize their hard work. Unfortunately, many companies find out the hard way that not every great employee is management material.

Before promoting your best people, here are some thoughts to consider:
1. Is the role correct?
Too many companies have a flawed methodology for selecting people into management. How? They base hiring and promotion decisions on an employee’s past experience, and then reward them by giving them an entirely different role.

2. Managerial talents
Management candidates should have a broad set of skills including:
Ability to motivate employees
Take initiative to resolve problems
Support a culture of accountability
Are able to develop trust among employees
Can make well-reasoned unbiased decisions that benefit their team and the organization.

3. Alignment with Company Goals & Vision
A manager will be representing your company in a more visible way. They’ll be interpreting company goals for a team and ensuring organizational objectives are achieved. It is important the employee in question is strategically aligned with company goals and culture. If your company culture says, “The customer is always right,” then managers should embody this mission statement. Just because an employee excels at the day-to-day work of an organization, however, doesn’t mean they’ll be great with big picture initiatives.

4. Are they Communicators?
Communication is important, but listening is essential.
Managers need to listen up and down the organizational chart so they can clearly communicate workflow to their team. They need to not only listen to what is being said, but understand what is unsaid among the employees they manage. If a manager is more focused on their work than their workers, this could spell bad news in a management setting.

5. Do they want to manage?
Not every superstar employee wants to become a manager.
Your top-notch sales rep might have become invaluable because they really love the work they’re doing. You want to reward them by giving them a manager position, but what you’re really doing is taking them away from the work at which they excel.
If the candidate doesn’t seem motivated to manage, find another way to recognize and reward their hard work and find someone more suited to the management lifestyle.

Bad management can truly hurt your company, kill employee morale, and bring down your bottom line. Before promoting someone to a management position, ask yourself these questions in order to ensure you’re making the right decision.