Thriving Or Surviving 2007

Wednesday, 29 November 2006, 12:24 am
Opinion: nzbizbuysell.co.nz

Thriving Or Surviving 2007

As the year draws to a close it is a good time to reflect on the past year and start planning for a more successful 2007.

Analyse what happened in 2006 and determine whether your business was actively ‘thriving’ or merely ‘surviving’. List the key factors that have determined the success (or not) of your business – what worked, what didn’t, and identify the tools and relationships that will help you get the results you want in 2007. Use this information to formulate a plan you can implement in the coming 12 months. There is seldom one component alone that will enable you to achieve success in business; it is a combination of factors backed-up by well thought out and implemented strategies that will help you achieve it.

Re-evaluating your business provides the opportunity to reassess your commitment to success by becoming a smarter operator, ensuring your business is one that will thrive in the New Year. Optimise your business model by regularly reviewing it and looking for ways to be more effective and efficient. Find ways to sharpen your competitive edge, to reduce the number of steps in your processes or other unnecessary overheads. Identify the key things you need to be doing to make your business more successful and turn these into a plan. Remember, your goals need to be inspiring and specific. Your goals must motivate you, and should be a mix of short, medium and long term activities that propel you towards the attainment of your key objectives, and towards having a thriving business.

Look ahead and anticipate change. The world is a dynamic place and changing fast. The internet is now a major communication tool and identifying what systems, processes and technologies will assist in the advancement of your business is vital. Anticipating change and revising your business model accordingly allows you to plan ahead and adapt to meet the changing market – are your customers now using the internet as a market place?

Re-visit and reassess your goals in your business plan with an eye to the future and ways in which you are going to steer your business towards success. Establish and maintain an excellent working relationship with your customers. Become a partner to your key clients, working alongside them to help them achieve their goals, identifying and acting on their perceived and real needs.

As with any business, customers pay for the value you add. Ensure you add significant value, understand what’s important to your clients and make sure this is clear in your offer.

These tenets are good common sense business practice and taking the time at the end of the year, away from the demands of daily work to re-visit them, is a sensible way to jump start your business into 2007.

One day your goal may be to sell your business, for more on building the value into your business for the day you sell visit; www.nzbizbuysell.co.nz

ENDS

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