With consumer spending declining and production costs increasing, the average business owner has to wonder how he or she can stay competitive. While this can be discouraging for businesses, Bryan Hawker has some ideas to help your business both survive and thrive in the coming year.

The following steps have been used by some of the most successful businesses in the world. They are standard operating procedures for how they conduct business.  By applying these steps to your own business, you will build a more sustainable and successful business.

Step #1 – Have a mission that defines where your business is headed.

According to Bryan Hawker, you need to know where you want to go with your business. A good mission should do the following:

• Provide direction
• Promote a sense of shared purpose
• Give a clear idea of the results or outcome that is expected

Step #2 – Create a strategic plan for the upcoming year.

A strategic plan is important to have a road map to follow in the coming year. This plan doesn’t need to be complicated. You need to identify the three most important areas to focus on in order to accomplish your mission from step #1 says Bryan Hawker.

How to create your strategic plan

• Make a list of what’s working and what’s not working currently and what needs to be different in your business to accomplish your mission.
• Take the list of what’s not working and rank it from most important to least important.
• Now look at that list and determine the following:
  • Which of the items listed, if corrected, would have the greatest impact on reaching the company’s goals?
  • Which of these items would have the most impact on reducing costs and increasing revenues?
  • Which of these items is the best for the company in the long run?
  • Which order should these occur for the best efficiency?
• From your list select three key items to focus on in the coming year.
• For each of these key items above, determine the following:
  • Person responsible
  • Cost associated with execution
  • Measurable results – three goals for each key area of focus
  • Then, identify three actions for each of those goals
  • Assign time frames for completion on each action (total of 9 for each key area of focus)

By following these steps you can break your goals down into manageable pieces.

Step #3 – Have an operating budget.

Bryan Hawker says that successful companies do budgeting. This process allows you to identify the specific financial goals of the year.

A good operating budget is in writing includes:

• Sales Goals – determine where your sales will come from
• Gross profit margin targets –percentage of income after direct costs
• Net pre-tax profit margin targets – what is left over after overhead and expenses before taxes.
• Overhead costs – include costs that you identified in practice #2 that will support you in reaching your goals for the year, i.e., what investments do you need to make to the business to reach your goals.
• Labor costs – calculate overall staff labor costs including taxes and insurance.
• Equipment – the need for additional equipment to help generate revenue such as computers, machinery or large equipent.
• Additional costs – Determine what other costs will be associated with running the day-to-day operations.
• Cash flow projections for items that are not on a profit & loss statement.

Step #4 – Be concise about who is responsible for what.

Put together an organizational chart identifying all positions in the company and corresponding responsibilities. Then create job descriptions for each position, starting with the top management positions.

According to Bryan Hawker, good job descriptions include the following:

• Descriptions should be written for the position, not the person currently holding the job. What should that particular role contribute to the overall success of the company?
• Define the main responsibilities for the this position.
• For each of these responsibilities, identify the three to five end results they should accomplish. These should be measurable.
• Specific projects or key initiatives for that individual employee.

Step #5 – Have good feedback systems.

Successful companies manage by results says Bryan Hawker. They know their numbers and interact with staff regularly on performance.

A good feedback system includes:

• Actual monthly financial results compared with the budget
• A report with key numbers that are tracked on one page (daily or weekly) which includes:
  • Budget vs. actual numbers
  • Sales backlog showing amount of signed work outstanding, plus target and variance.
  • If bidding work, an estimating summary that shows the close rate on jobs bid, i.e., jobs won or lost including percentages, target and variance.
• Review of strategic goals progress and results as identified in practice #2
• Perform staff reviews of performance every six months (or more often). If a staff member isn’t doing his/her job, give immediate and relevant feedback to address problems. This way everyone can stay on track and build a cohesive team.

 

[ Source: Suiter Business Builders ]