In our ebook Tips to improve financial and operational performance we examine the top 4 business elements a business owner or manager needs to regularly monitor, review and analyse.
This week we're examining the external elements you need to keep on top of to effectively manage and improve your financial and operational performance.
As well as knowing your business intimately, it’s important to also know your industry like the back of your hand.
Research, network, be inquisitive. Get to know your business’s external environment: market trends, competitive pressures, potential issues and opportunities.
Ask questions like:
- What factors are currently impacting the industry? What’s coming up? Is that conducive to growth, or is it negative? Will my business be sustainable in that environment?
- Are there any regulatory changes coming up?
- What does the competitive environment look like? Are there any new players coming in? Is there consolidation happening that will affect my position?
- What is my competitive advantage? Is it strong enough to deliver me a return?
- Is there any new technology coming that could disrupt the industry? Is it likely to be a positive or negative for my business?
You can’t control everything that happens in business, but you can control how you respond. Keeping up to date on market trends will allow you to plan ahead to get the best out of any potential change, or mitigate the risks around it.
Take the newsagency sector, for example.
Ten years ago we knew this sector was under pressure. The world had moved on because of online media, the gradual whittling away of the lotteries’ monopoly and introducing marketing and advertising restrictions for cigarettes – all the traditional product lines were under pressure.
The good newsagency owners didn’t sit around and wait for their competitive position to be eroded – they saw it coming and considered like, similar and complementary products and services they could offer their customer base to help replace, maintain and even grow their margins e.g. giftware, clothing, personal accessories, food retail, online sales channels etc.
Use our Financial and Operational Actions Timetable
Every business is different and every business owner has different goals, objectives, priorities and schedules.
In working with clients over many years, we have learned that, despite these differences, it is critical for financial and operational performance to have discipline and a deliberate focus around the key elements you monitor, review and address as an owner or manager.
Our free timetable covers the critical items to focus on in running and managing a business.
If you would like to improve your business’s financial and operational performance, we’re keen to help you. Feel free to get in touch by calling 02 6360 0360 or 02 9893 1803 for a confidential, obligation-free discussion.
