What does 2019 have in Store for your Business?
About the Author:
Paul Wilton (editor)
CA with degrees in commerce, accounting and information technology. Paul worked overseas in the “Big 4” accounting firms and served as a director at Audit New Zealand before setting up his own consultancy. Author of A-Z of New Zealand Business Law, Paul has over 20 years of experience as a business owner and consultant. He joined FBA in 2004 and is totally committed to providing excellence in quality and value to our subscribers.
In short, it is mainly up to you. New Year is a great time to inject fresh enthusiasm, energy and ideas into your business.
Now is the time to pause and reflect on the year that has been and consider what you would like to achieve in 2019.
Focus on ideas that can help you improve your business and don't commit to anything unless you are serious about giving it a go.
To make the most of this opportunity, treat the exercise as brainstorming for your annual planning with a view to updating your business plan.
Make sure that you discuss your goals and ideas appropriately with staff and others who count, in a way that will achieve buy-in and hold you all accountable for delivery. Knowing that you are going to do this, will also help you to focus on strategies and targets that are achievable.
Summarise these in a working document that is no more than one or two pages. The purpose is to set out, in bullet point form, just so much information as is necessary for all concerned to understand clearly the who, what, how, why and when for each objective.
Budgets, resource allocation and the impact on other work needs to be carefully considered to ensure that the plan is workable.
Ensure that there is a review process in place to monitor progress and deal with issues that arise. The frequency and timing of reviews may depend on the nature of the objectives and target dates for completion, but aim to check in at least monthly to ensure that plans are on track and likely to deliver the desired results.
2019 BUSINESS PLANNING IDEAS
1. Review your goals, priorities, and recent performance and update your business plan;
2. Be bold, but realistic.
3. Address or scrap areas that are not going well.
4. Are some staff under performing? Is it their fault? Can you help? Train? Warn? Restructure? Tackle it head-on.
5. Financial performance? Get on top of your numbers.
6. Focus on income generation.
7. Update and refresh your website.
8. Review your marketing plan.
9. Anything really humming? Look to duplicate and expand your successes.
10. Not sure what to do in some area? Seek expert advice.
11. Business trending down? Struggling a bit generally? Get a mentor.
12. Want to try something new? Go for it! Think it through, conduct a feasibility study and proof of concept.
13. Need more time to work on your business? Delegate.
14. Customer relations? Obtain feedback. How can you improve? Are some costing you more than they are worth? Better off without them?
15. Contingency planning. Are you covered for unexpected events?
16. Succession planning. Consider options (sell? hand over...?) How, who, when?
17. Work-life balance: Prioritise time for yourself and your family.
18. Want to contribute / give something back to your community? Consider how to do this in a way that is effective and works for you and your business.
Related Articles
As we head into 2021, consumer facing organisations in New Zealand may be lagging behind a dramatic shift in consumer behaviour.