1. Goal setting and success go hand in hand

A very small percentage of the adult population sets goals. Further, of those who do, only a handful actually write them down. Various percentages are thrown around but the number of people who actually have written goals is probably less than 5%. This is a very scary thought. Yet this is something that we can control yet we avoid to control.

The main cause why people Fail To Implement is that they Failure To Set Goals.  A study that was conducted revealed:

• People who had written goals were 50% more likely to achieve them than those without written goals.
• Even more importantly, those who had written goals accompanied by written action commitments AND who submitted a weekly progress report to a friend, mentor or coach were 78% more likely to achieve their goals than those people who were simply asked to think about what they would like to achieve.

When you have a goal you have something to aim for, something that will challenge you, which is a primary source of personal motivation. A goal gives you an objective criterion for measuring your success… indeed, a case can be made that in the absence of a written goal accompanied by an action plan and an accountability process, success will be extraordinarily difficult to realise. As we always say during our business camps if you aim at nothing you will hit it with amazing accuracy every time. Therefore we must set goals and work out how we are going to achieve those goals.

We can help you establish and document your goals and then work with you well into the future so you can achieve them. For more information on how to set goals that are achieved please call us.

2. The Business Planning Framework™

We have put together the business planning framework as this is what we believe needs to be followed to ensure that your business is running at it’s optimum level. Most people in business do not tackle the things above and therefore the business does not reach it’s full potential. Every business owner must ensure that the foundation of the business needs to be solid. To do that you need to have a vision, mission and core values. It is very important that all stakeholders (owners, team, customers, suppliers) know where the business is going and why it is going there, what the business stands for and what is core to the business and therefore not negotiable.

From there you must move forward and review your structure and then your strategy. You can only really look at the structure and strategy once you have your foundation under control. As part of this process you would really delve into your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

From there we need to ensure that the business has all of the pillars under control. All of these areas are important and must be focussed on. Most people do not focus on these and therefore the business does not reach it’s full potential.

The key performance indicators (KPI’s) are the first thing that can be seen and that is why we have them as the roof of the structure. If the roof is falling apart or there are issues you will notice it first. Having KPI’s and tracking them is very important. Every business must be on the lookout for indicators that are not as planned. Sometime s they could be better than planned and sometimes worse. But you will not know unless you have indicators set up.

This is a very serious and detailed area of any business and we would be happy to work through the business planning framework™ with you. For more information on the BPF™ please call us.

3. 5 Key things you should do to help improve your cash flow

Small business owners are not planning ahead enough. Small business is getting riskier for many owners, with tens of thousands of SMEs now more likely to experience financial stress in the coming year as per research conducted.

Credit rating agency Dun & Bradstreet says one in 10 businesses with fewer than 20 employees now face a higher risk of failure than a year ago. It’s no wonder when so many SMEs are reportedly struggling with reduced cash flow and more businesses are failing to pay their bills on time.

When businesses go under, it’s generally not because they’re not making an accounting profit, but because they simply don’t have enough cash to pay their bills. In fact, there are plenty of profitable businesses that have ended up in administration because of cash flow issues.

There are ways to improve your SME’s cash flow.

1. Chase Up Payments

The first step is to chase up those who owe you money. A cash crunch could be the result of just a few late-paying clients so it’s imperative to keep track of who’s running late with their payments.

It could be a mail-out or a simple phone call reminder to let them know the payment is due. You just need to be active.

2. Reduce Payment Terms

Consider offering just 30 days credit terms instead of the longer 45 day plus terms, communicate with customers and offer discounts for those that pay straight away.

3. Review Financial Products

Review your financial products – transaction accounts, credit cards, loans – and if they aren’t working for your business talk to your financial institution and make sure you shop around for a better deal.

4. Ask For Help

Don’t be afraid to ask for help – ask us how we can assist you to improve your position. One of the keys to running a better business is having profit and loss and cash flow budgets prepared annually. That way you can see ahead what your profit and cash flow will look like. This then gives you an opportunity to act. If you know ahead of time that you are going to have a cash flow problem then you can do something about it. Most businesses do not know they will have a problem until they actually have the problem. Typically, by then it is too late to do anything about it.

Another great strategy is to monitor and compare the budgets to actual data. That way you can see how you went compared to the budgets.

Another strategy is to conduct ‘what if analysis’.  What we do there is we consider what impact there would be on your business if:

• Sales decreased by 10%
• Accounts receivable are collected in 65 days instead of 40 days
• And so forth

It is a great way to see what would happen to your business if certain things happen.

Speak to us so we can help you get all of the above in place.