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Archive for Business Strategy & Development

Sep
29

Strategic Business Planning

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Strategic planning is key to successful business development. It is imperative to know what your future goals are, and what you realistically need to do to achieve these goals.
In order to improve performance, prepare for unexpected problems, grow the business and maximise profits, you need to carefully plan strategies based on extensive research and backed up by accurate data.

Successful strategic planning means you:
  • have a thorough understanding of the market, including your competition and important market trends, before formulating any strategy
  • base your goals on actual financial data and not just estimates
  • avoid goals that are too generalized and not specific enough to convert into actionable items
  • avoid goals that are too narrow and do not use a holistic approach to increasing overall profitability

Strategic business planning involves thinking out-of-the-box and coming up with fresh new ideas.

It’s a good idea to think about the so-called ‘PEST’ factors: Political, Economic, Social and Technical. In other words: the competition, the strengths and weaknesses of your business, customer feedback, and the efficiency of the cost management system currently deployed.

Strategies need to be broken down into small implemental steps – often called chunking. Deadlines and targets are assigned to each stage of the process; responsibilities assigned to appropriate individuals; and an effective method of tracking the results and measuring performance set up.

Categories : Business Strategy & Development
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Sep
23

Developing Your Business

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Once successfully established, you’ll want your business to grow steadily and develop so that your venture remains profitable.

Expanding your business means detailed planning, analysis and innovation. Besides an overview of the current state of your business, you must have reasonable expectations for the future. You also need to continue to maintain and control the day-to-day operations.

Developing your business means you might:

  • reassess your goals and strategies
  • find new customers
  • aim to increase sales figures
  • aim to increase productivity, and
  • utilise emerging technology.

The following information will help you develop your business in the most efficient way.

lady writing planThe Business Plan

Chances are, you created a business plan during the early stages of setting up your business. The development stage of your business is a great time to reassess your objectives, and identify areas of improvement or opportunity.

Business Plans not only help in the assessment of financial situations, they also help give focus and direction to all business activities. It’s a good idea to regularly draft and implement well-researched plans at various stages of the business cycle. Remember: your business plan should continually be revised to reflect your current financial situation and include realistic expectations for the future.

Before starting, it’s important to have all the information required to devise a business plan. This could include financial reports, past sales and marketing performance reports, market research and customer feedback surveys. It’s also a good idea to perform a ‘SWOT’ analysis of the business (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) in relation to the company and the industry sector.

Reviewing the marketplace, segmenting target customers and understanding their specific needs, and analysing the competition, are all important steps involved in drafting a good business plan.

Creating a successful business plan requires a lot of information, in-depth analysis and careful planning. During this important phase of your business, it might be worthwhile to enlist the help of a financial expert, such as an experienced accountant.

Categories : Business Strategy & Development
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