Don’t let the holiday season get in your way to begin planning for the quarter ahead. December is National Write a Business Plan Month and whether you’re gearing up for a new start up or you are seeking to redirect your company goals, a business plan can help you map out every aspect of your strategy and approach.
When structuring your plan there are four areas you should consider and are essential to your business.
Increasing Revenue. Often times when people say revenue they think of sales or income but all of these have different meanings. Increasing revenue refers to your profit from sales. To increase your revenue:
Review your pricing strategies. Finding out what your competitors pay and charge can give you advantages to either lower or raise your prices. If you lower your prices, this can increase revenue and make up for lower margins and raising your prices can be perceived as higher value to consumer and increase your margins.
Expand your distribution channel. Changing where you sell your product or service can increase revenue without you having to change your marketing or pricing. So consider whether online, direct mail, hiring sales reps or the use of wholesales/retailers/distributors to expand your business.
Diversify your business. If you are a seasoned company you may want to consider adding a new product or service. Or if you feel you have saturated the market this may be a good time to evaluate the products your customers buy that you are not selling and replace your old products with new ones.
Developing Relationships. The more people you meet and tell about your business the more people promote your product or service. You may also want to network with other companies that you do not compete with but have the same target market as you for cross promotions.
Change of Marketing Strategies. Evaluate your current method of marketing your products. While traditional marketing is your grassroots, everyone is online. So don’t be afraid to join tech world and promote your business. Creating a mixture of marketing activities this will help your business grow and drive traffic into your doors as well as online sales.
Online involves: creating/maintaining a blog, scouting for online customers, social media and online purchasing that includes incentives for purchasing online. For your traditional marketing make good use of good floor displays, effective mailings to your target market and customer service.
Raise customer satisfaction. The key to a great business is knowing how to respond to your customer needs, handling problems and responding to issues timely. Listening to your customers and interacting with feedback demonstrates you are concerned. Look to treat the customer the way you want to be treated (offer assistance and don’t challenge disgruntled customers), let your customers know that you value their support of your business.
Hiring reliable and effective employees. When you are seeking to hire someone most of us look for the basics which are skills, experience and demeanor but as business owner, while those qualifications are the standards, you want employees who are consistent with the goals of your company. Therefore when hiring, seek candidates who have positive attitudes, great work ethics, excellent communication skills, who come prepared for the interview, reliable, hard-working and are loyal.
For assistance in preparing your business plan please visit the SBA- https://www.sba.gov/offices/district/mo/st-louis for a list of resource organizations such as SCORE, SBDC or WBC in the area.
Tracey Clark Jeffries is president and owner of Capital Consulting Services, a management consulting firm that focuses on providing strategic planning and growth opportunities to small businesses, community and economic development. Visit www.capitalconsultingservices.com or email tjeffries@capitalconsultingservices.com.
