Oftentimes, as business owners we don't think about how best to hold our employees accountable for results. Accountability plays a huge role in how employees react to new goals and where they see themselves as part of the solution. Make sure that you have your bases covered by conducting your business audit - NOW!
CC Consulting put together these tips to help you get started. If you need assistance with your business audit or if you uncover some suprises and need help with an action plan, contact us to learn more about our business audit and planning services.
Tip One: Create a Budget
What dollars are you budgeting for resources, operational expenses, marketing and sales? Have you visited your website and really taken a look at the content and the language? Does your website continue to reflect where you are heading in the New Year? What does your profit and loss statement look like for the previous year? How does it compare to the previous year? Are you continuing to grow? If not, have you analyzed where you are having difficulty and what changes you need to make to ensure your profit margins don't erode?
Tip Two: Employee Accountability
Communicating your goals for the New Year and letting employees know how you are going to hold them accountable for results is a must for each new fiscal year. Don't assume that your employees know how they fit into the big picture. Make sure they can articulate how they are going to contribute to the goals you set. Make sure that they have the skills and you have guidelines in place to check their progress on a fairly regular basis. Sometimes we call these goals management objectives or performance measures. Whatever terminology you use, every employee must have a set of objectives you are holding them accountable to reach. Employees also need to understand what happens if they don't reach their goals. Goals should be reviewed with employees at least monthly. Make sure the goals you establish are SMART goals-specific, measureable, attainable, realistic, and timely.
Tip Three: Conduct a Product and Service Review
What products and services did well for you this year? What products and services need to be overhauled in the New Year? Are you sustaining leading edge technologies? Do you have a mechanism for ongoing communication with your customers? Do you know what they want and need from you? Are you flexible enough to change to meet these new needs? How about your pricing model? Are you satisfied that you are reaching the profit goals you've set for the year?
Tip Four: Take a Look at Your Staff
As businesses grow, services change, and new products are introduced, it may be time to take a look at your existing team and determine whether you have provided the tools they are going to need to take your business forward. Even if you are a sole proprietor, you need to think about how to develop skills that continue to keep you ahead of the curve as a knowledge leader in your industry. Do you need to attend a conference? Do you need to team with other people who have complimentary skills that can add strengths to your existing business model? Sometimes, employers make the decision to change out the team? You need to make sure you weigh the possible downside of making these decisions. It typically takes 3-6 months before new employees begin to make an impact on your business. Don't underestimate how much time it takes for new employees to be accepted as new team members? Don't underestimate how long it takes for new team members to work into a new system?
Tip Five: Values Review
Without operational values, most companies flounder. Operational values are guidelines for how you want to conduct business. What are the values that are most important to you? How do you expect employees to treat each other and your customers? Values are oftentimes lost in the day-to-day world of just conducting business, but values reviews should also be an activity that is conducted at least quarterly. Are we conducting our day-to-day activities that continue to provide us with a company culture that promotes business success?
Obviously, these quick reviews simply scratch the surface. Once you know what it is you have to do, then it is time to put an implementation plan together to get the results you are looking for! Conducting a business audit can be fairly tedious, but in order to enjoy business success in 2008, it becomes an absolute necessity.
For those business owners that need help and guidance, please give CCConsulting LLC a call. We are adept at conducting business reviews and will also provide you with the implementation steps you need to be successful. Have a wonderful new business year!