<\/p>\n
As analytical as I am, it took me way too late into my career to discover that I should always be planning backwards.\u00a0 My hope is that you learn this tactic earlier rather than later in your business life.<\/p>\n
If we establish a benchmark of where your business is today and then set a goal of where you would like\/need to be at a point in the future, we can then establish the difference, or delta, between those two numbers. Let\u2019s say that your business revenue is one million and you need it to be two million within two years, or two years from today.\u00a0 That means we need to develop a 24-month plan that can grow our revenues by one million dollars\u2026right?<\/p>\n
All too often, we open the doors to our business and work as hard as we can and let our business grow organically, at its own pace, if you will, this is a mistake that I made years ago, please learn from my mistakes rather than your own. Growth needs a plan, and owners need to work to a plan to realize the business that they richly deserve and have put their life savings and efforts into.<\/p>\n
A farmer without a plan is a gardener.\u00a0 A farmer plans to maximize the yield of his\/her crops, and so too must the business owner. If we have a goal to add an additional one million to our top line revenue within 24 months, then we best get started figuring out how we will accomplish that.\u00a0 Perhaps it is projecting out how many more units we need to sell each month, how many new customers we need each month, what additional products\/services we can offer to our existing customers, or possibly a price increase.<\/p>\n
If revenue is the goal, then there are only so many ways to achieve that:<\/p>\n
If net profit is the goal, then you have some other options too:<\/p>\n
The answer usually a combination of your choices above, and once you have decided which vehicles to use to get you to your destination a route must be established.<\/p>\n
Most of these questions, that answers are required for planning, will not be answered immediately, but will become apparent over time IF YOU stay focused.\u00a0 Getting distracted can derail your plan before it has had a chance to succeed.<\/p>\n
So now you have decided (for example) that you need more customers.\u00a0 How many will you need to add each month for 24 months to get you to your goal.\u00a0 Map that out AND each month write how many you got.\u00a0 If you fall short this month you now know that you need to make up that shortfall next month.\u00a0 Keeping track each month is your early warning system which allows you to analyze and adjust.<\/u><\/p>\n
When you are not hitting your targets more analysis is required.\u00a0 Ask yourself why.\u00a0 Do we need to adjust our marketing message?\u00a0 Do we need to audit to make sure everyone is asking \u201cdo you want fries with that?\u201d\u00a0 Did we give our customers a reason to say yes to us over our competitors?<\/p>\n
You are probably saying, \u201cWhen you lay it out it is a simple concept.\u00a0 But I see it as overwhelming in practice.\u201d\u00a0 And I say, \u201cThe simplification is so you can understand what needs to be done.\u00a0 But you are correct it can be a handful.\u201d<\/p>\n
But here is why it is important; the big players in your market are out planning you.\u00a0 They probably have dedicated people that do nothing but these planning, strategizing, and marketing.\u00a0 And your small competitors are not doing these things at all, thereby giving you a competitive advantage.<\/p>\n
This is your opportunity to carve out your fair share of the market, to hold the big players back while eating the other competitor\u2019s lunch.\u00a0 If it were easy, you would have even more competitors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"