Wishing and hoping for success are one thing, and knowing that you have planned and scheduled with skill and certainty are another matter altogether!

Are you one of those people who has overindulged at Christmas and now vow that it was the last time and that next year will be different.

Do you start the new year with new year’s resolutions only to ignore them the next day?

Well you are not alone. Many people do exactly that in their businesses too.

They don’t set financial goals, or they set goals but take no action. They overspend on some things, cash flow falls in a heap and stress levels go through the roof!

CAN YOU RELATE?

Instead of setting new “New year’s resolutions” rather look at what your Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAG) were at the start of the financial year. If you didn’t have those BHAG then maybe it’s time to look at some now?

Take a deep breath and tackle the BHAG and that Budget you set some time ago.

Sometimes if we have a stretching budget and we feel slightly (or very!) nervous it causes us to feel excited and pushes us to take the right type of action.

It forces us to spend some time to rethink, replan and reforecast our numbers.

It forces us to get excited about our business and see the possibilities.

If anything it should excite you to see the potential money you are going to be making, or what you can do with the money – that dream holiday, that new investment, the difference you are making in other peoples’ lives, whatever your reason is for being in business!

Are you happy with what you have achieved to date or would you like to increase your sales?

Do you need to sell more, increase your prices or employ more staff or spend more on advertising or a combination of all?

Products | Sales | Customer

Have you thought of reviewing your product mix – are you promoting the more expensive product that brings in the most profit or are you spending your life selling the smallest product with the smallest profit!

In some cases this might work but remember in every business there is the 80/20 rule – 80% of your sales will come from 20% of your customers; or 80% of your sales will come from 20% of your product range.

Having a large and extensive product range might tie up your resources for a long time and then there is the added risk of stock becoming obsolete too and would have to be written off or worse still be sold below cost.

If you apply the 80/20 rule to your customer base have you thought that maybe you can up-sell or sell other products to them?

Have you asked them what else they are buying and would they buy it from you if you had it in stock?

Did they even know you can order some items in specially for them?

Taking an interest in your customer’s business might increase your knowledge and can show opportunities for growth in your own business.

Encourage your staff to be interested and ask the right questions.

Remember “products” can be different services too and this applies to all businesses – what are your products and how do you promote it?

Do you know which expenses are driven by your sales or cost of sales?

Some expenses will not change regardless of how much you buy or sell – rent is one of those expenses. However commissions, advertising etc might be driving your profit numbers. Do you need to tweak this?

Have you taken the most important action?

That is to make sure your numbers are up to date and meaningful so that you can make those informed decisions.