How is the health of your business? Take a quick pulse by
looking at the following areas:
1. Financials - key items to look at are your balance sheet,
income (or profit & loss) statement and cash flow statement. Is
your equity, profit margin and cash flow growing? If not, why
not? If so, what plans do you have with your growing cash flow?
Reinvestment? Expansion? Capital Investment? Acquisition? Do you
have any major expenditures coming up on the horizon? If so,
will you have sufficient cash or will you need to finance?
2. Market Analysis - start from scratch and see if you have a
targeted niche market. If not, how can you further define your
niche. Remember, oftentimes the more narrow your target, the
better off you will be. If your niche market is perfectly
defined, is everything you are doing geared toward that market?
Are you doing everything you can to reach that market? And only
that market. Are you wasting resources marketing outside of your
target?
3. Customer Data - Are you keeping a full, updated and accurate
data base of your customers, prospects and leads? Who are your
biggest customers( (top10, top 100)? Do they provide you with
enough repeat business? Are there other products or services
they don't use that you can offer them? Do you have any
opportunity to increase the size of their orders? Remember the
80/20 rule and make sure that this 20% of your client list is
generating 80% of your business. How about the rest of your
client list. Divide the list into five groups based on volume
sales. Then come up with a plan to move each client into the
next higher group.
4. Competitive Data - Who else is serving the market you are
serving? What are they doing? What competitive advantage do you
have, if anything? What weaknesses do you have? What are their
strengths? Are you keeping a profile on your competitors? You
should be doing this and update the information regularly.
5. Employee Data - Are you performing regular reviews. Is
everyone performing to your satisfaction? If not, are they
salvageable? What's the downsize of cutting them loose and
replacing? Do you know each of your employees birthdays? Do you
know their families? Have you identified certain employees for
possible promotions should you expand or need to replace someone
who leaves?
Being intimate with your financials, market, customers,
competitors and employees can go a long way in the successful
operation of your business.
About the author:
Mike Shannon is the owner of Shamrock Business Coaching, a
professional coaching practice that helps owners of small and
medium sized businesses increase their profits. You can visit
Shamrock Business Coaching on the web at:
http://www.shamrockcoaching.com
