Owning a business requires constant effort to try and make it profit or just enough to keep it afloat. Most often than not, companies perform a year-end analysis of its sales and overall revenues.
But what most business owners don’t know is that apart from the once-a-year assessment, the mid-year is just as important and should be done, whether it’s a small or a large scale company.
The problem with just doing an annual analysis of your performance is that it tends to make you rush into a solution if ever you found out that your company is in the red zone. What happens is you, the business owner, plans and executes half-baked ideas in an attempt to remedy a problem, which causes complications.
You know what? That doesn’t have to happen because as a competent entrepreneur, you should check your company’s performance half-way through the year. You may think it’s hard, but it’s really easy. However, how would do you start? Well you start by asking these five simple questions:
1. Where Do You Stand? Are you ahead of the pace on achieving your target revenue? Are you a bit in the slump? Are you extremely behind your target? Or are right where you want to be?
They say acknowledging the problem is always to first step to a solution. So what if you’re behind your target, what would you do? We don’t really know, but since you discovered this issue just half-way through the year, you’ll have plenty of time to think about it.
2. Are You Bringing in New Accounts as You’ve Projected? If not, what’s wrong with your plans? If you are bringing in new accounts, what can you do to improve it even more?
3. What Should You Adjust to Improve Your Revenue? Should you double the working hours? Contact your trusted business broker in the Victoria area? Use cheaper equipment? Create promotions that will bring out customers? Fire underperforming employees?
4. What Can You Change? You know the prayer “grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference,” never really made sense until now.
This prayer does not only work for alcoholics, it also works as a business mantra!
5. Is Someone Stealing From You? So you checked out your numbers and carefully examined your marketing plans. Everything seems to be in order, but you’re still lagging behind. What could be the reason?
Someone IS stealing from you.
Check the numbers and run them with your employees or partners. If a discrepancy appears, let them explain and then cut-off ties with them anyway.
