It was great to kick-start the New Year in style at our January WIRE Networking meeting with Maisy Owen of www.momanagement.co.uk. Maisy gave us all nothing short of a Business Masterclass that delivered on every level giving us building steps to make sure 2017 is a great year for our business.
Maisy helps small business owners with monthly one to one coaching or virtually (via Skype) anywhere in the country at a remarkably affordable cost for this kind of in depth expertise, accountability and guidance.
So if you were wondering what you missed, here is a summary of a very full session.
During her presentation Maisy showed us some easy steps on what to goals to set goals in a Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time specific (S.M.A.R.T.) way. Based on the 9 foundations of business here are some thoughts about the goals you might need for the future growth of your business with S.M.A.R.T in mind.
Taking Self-Inventory Is Your First Step. Ask Yourself These Questions.
Are your personal goals the same? What do you want to achieve personally and how is your business going to help you get there?
Has your USP morphed over time to keep pace with your market? Make sure you are aware of it and your marketing reflects this.
Would qualifications enhance what you offer? There are free courses on offer around the country on-line and face to face look around and see if you can apply.
What you are offering does it match the requirements of your potential clients? It is easy to answer yes, but have you asked any of your potential clients if this is what they really need?
Have you had to expand your range of goods or services to keep pace with your market? If so have you checked what extra cost this has incurred?
Has original target market when starting stayed the same or has it changed? If so have you modified you messaging and marketing material to reflect this? Reflect on your client base and ensure that you have not restricted your opportunities to grow into new markets by servicing just one type of client. If you find you have, go back to the opportunity and see if you can break into a new market and set new direction.
Have you had a new competitor come into the local area? Have they made an impact on your business? It is always good to keep up to date with what is happening locally to make sure you minimize the impact of your market share. Equally, have any of the local competitors gone out of business? If so what was the cause? This could have an impact on you, look at what you could do to avoid the same issues.
If you have a website have you reviewed it to update the content? A website is only as good as the information it provides so if you have not updated the information visitors will click straight off and potentially go to a competitor that is more engaged with their audience.
Have you considered your media campaigns and reviewed them? If you don’t keep the updates current your potential clients will not want to enquire further as they will have seen the information before and believe you have nothing more to offer.
Have you revisited the costs of your products or service? All your costs will have increased since you began, make sure your prices have kept pace with the core costs of being in business to maintain your margins.
Has your market moved outside of the local economy? If your products and services have gone national have you charged delivery costs accordingly? Or have your supply chain prices increased? Make sure you have increased your prices to ensure you maintain your margins.
Do your delivery of goods and services match your service levels? Make sure they have not moved due to external changes and your clients get the service you have advertised.
If you supply goods, have you gone back to them to make sure you are still getting the best deal possible? Often after a period of time, you have established a trading history with your suppliers, they may be willing to offer better terms for payment or even better discounts.
Have you created a cash flow forecast? Now you have been trading for a while, you should be able to identify the patterns of income for the business. Creating a cash flow will help make sure you are on target to growth and will show you if you are beginning to fall behind so you can put measures in place to stop it becoming a problem.
Summary & Where to Contact Maisy For More About Her Management Consultancy Services.
Maisy explained that not all the questions will apply but this broad brush approach should make you think and pick a couple or more to explore in more depth so that you don’t get too bogged down. If you find you do have a lot to think about, make them “bite size”. Tackle a couple at a time so you start moving forward and maintain the progress throughout the year.
This is a repeatable exercise and should form part of your business review, if you want to know further Maisy gives a free one hour no obligation consultation and can help you work on your business not just in your business. Look at www.momanagement.co.uk for her background and testimonials, she makes the whole process time efficient and affordable so you don’t get lost in jargon and time in a cost-effective way.
Good Luck!
