|
|
|
|
StrategicPlanning360.com - Strategic Planning Information At Your Fingertips... |
|
|
 |
|
Alice In Wonderland - A Parable for A Business Plan
Remember reading "Alice in Wonderland?" She asks the Cheshire Cat, "which way I ought to go from here?" "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat. "I don't much care where," said Alice. "Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat. Alice was floundering because she, like many in business management, have not defined what they want or where they need to go. They don't have firm short-term and long-term goals. They don't delegate, lead, or follow-up. Often, like Alice, who jumped down the Rabbit's Hole, they jump at opportunities without considering whether those opportunities are appropriate, affordable or too risky and then have to deal with the results later. If you, unlike Alice, do care where you and your business are going, "then it does matter which way you go." Businesspeople who know and understand their goals and ambitions write business plans, marketing plans, and action plans. They develop projects that are appropriate to their plans. They don't find themselves turning and spinning like Alice at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. I'd love to tell you that, when you know where you want to go, the road is smooth and traffic flows. Unfortunately, in the real world, even with a good roadmap (or business plan) the road is often bumpy and potholes abound, but without disciplined planning that road will seem as crazy as "Wonderland." So take the time and write your roadmap to success instead of jumping down that Rabbit's Hole and ending up at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Larry Galler, a Coach and Consultant, works with Owners and Managers of small and mid-size businesses to substantially increase sales volume and profitability through creative marketing strategies and streamlining or eliminating "administrivia." To learn about ways Larry helps businesses achieve their goals visit http://www.larrygaller.com
 Strategic Planning News for Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010...
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Parking Business, the Details on Increasing Lot Revenue If you are in the parking business and own or manage parking lots you may want to think on some additional concepts to increase lot revenues. Whether you are looking to add value for your customers, expand your customer base, or simply increase your revenue, the addition of a car wash and/or detailing service to your parking facility may be the answer. There are many options available to you if you want to provide these services. You can contract with a local independent company in your area with a good reputation, co-market with a detail shop nearby who will service your lot, buy your own unit and run it in-house or purchase a franchise name and equipment from a national company. Strategic Planning and Total Quality Management No matter what product or service you provide you will have to face this issue of quality and systems. Whether it is distribution of services or streamlining of processes in manufacturing your product; you will need to address the issues of total quality management. Yes, you can call it whatever you like; change the name, but no matter what you must consider these issues or you are doomed to failure. I therefore recommend the book; Akron OH; A great place to do business When looking at Akron carefully one cannot help but notice it's brilliant location to rivers, water, large cities and middle class consumer spending populations. With Canton to the South, high-end and growing Fairlawn to the North, Kent State and University of Ohio both a stones throw; the potential for any business is quite apparent. There are 160 trucking companies many of which are located in the area due to its proximity to large markets on a major freeway. Everything you want is there or can be delivered within days. The Tables Have Turned - Its Officially a Sellers Market Private equity firms have raised so much capital over the last 12 months that they are vigorously competing with one another for opportunities to put their money to work. Business owners, who previously would have had to go hat-in-hand to investors, instead find themselves inundated with unsolicited offers for their companies. Companies with solid balance sheets, good management and strong growth prospects are able to tailor deals to their liking, and get solid valuations. Mobile Franchise Business Expansion Strategy If you own a mobile franchise business and wish to expand you will need to have a strategy that involves your franchisor. Additionally if you are a franchisor it is important to have some sort of policy in place in advance so that there are no hurt feelings as franchisees expand. How To Get More Business During The Winter Months Business seems to drop, slow or even stop during the winter months. As tourist traffic slows or stops during the winter months so does the incomes of many local business owners. The first step in overcoming this problem begins in your brain (don't they all?) For Business Owners Only - You Can't Be Fired But Neither Can You Quit The decision to sell, or not to sell your business is a difficult one. There are many questions that need to be answered before an informed decision can be made. Is selling your best alternative? Will one of the kids want to take over the business? Timing is everything. Is now the right time? You do not have to sell or decide right now. You are quite busy so maybe you will look into it after. . . Regroup - How To Do It And Why It Works Regroup - is this a new management trend? Not a chance! Regroup is simply an opportunity to end one month's business cycle, recap the performance of your company and outline a plan of success for the new upcoming month. Why does it work? Because it allows each person on your team to assess their performance from the previous month, and make any necessary adjustments for the new month. Here's how it works: Business Results - Four Critical Success Factors Scenario One Strategic Planning Fundamentals Strategic planning is vital while starting a new business or expansion of an business or planning to boost the performance of an existing business. But it requires detailed strategic planning and controlled deployment activities. Strategic planning is used to delivers its value proposition and achieve its mission. Documenting the Exit Strategy in Your Business Plan All investors greatly desire and are motivated by a clear picture of a company's exit strategy, or the timing and method through which they can "cash in" on their investment. This picture best comes into focus when the key valuation and liquidity drivers of the company are clearly delineated. An excellent method to accomplish this is through descriptions of comparable firms that have had successful liquidity events, either through acquisition, merger, of initial public offerings (IPOs). How to Achieve E-commerce Success ?You Gotta Plan! Before becoming a netpreneur, I was an entrepreneur. First, I owned a successful child care center which grew to capacity in less than two years. When I sold that, I bought a little flower shop that had less than 300 customers and grew it to what it is today, one of the most successful, award winning companies in South Florida with more than 7,000 customers who purchase from us on a regular business. To better serve our customers, we took our business to the Internet. We still have a brick and mortar storefront, yet everyday we receive more and more customers via the Internet. Seasonality: What's the Big Deal? Do you work in or own a business that's affected by seasonal cycles? Do you live in a community whose population changes significantly during the year (e.g., tourist influx, students returning to college)? Do you ever feel stressed out or frustrated by the seemingly constant changes or the extreme highs and lows of your life or your business? Offense: Beat the Odds When in doubt, cut that out! Yeah, yea, doubting Thomas may have had a point in his day, and life may not be what you want it to be, but if you constantly doubt yourself, how can you accomplish anything? Do You Have A Customer Identity Crisis? The trick is to determine what uniquely identifies your best customers. Fortunately, deriving this information is not difficult, and in many cases can be obtained from innocuous questions. Consider a manufacturer of baby goods and the fact that families with new babies often purchase multi-passenger vehicles. This manufacturer could build an effective mailing list by surveying recent car purchasers and noting which respondents had traded in sports cars for SUVs. Your information gathering technique of course will vary, but the identifying information always comprises the same three pieces -- demographic information, geographic location, and purchasing history. Demographic Information Questions to Ask Yourself When Starting a New Home Business I love the excitement of starting up a new home based business. I enjoy trying out new ideas and approaches with the new venture. I dream the big dreams and hope to obtain some of them (if not all of them). I am sure you have those same feelings as well. Organization is imperative when starting any business. Some say that a well funded business has the best chance to sustain losses until it's profitable. However, if you are on a shoe string budget like me, money management is the key. Home Improvement Construction Project Planning The first task before hiring a contractor for home remodeling is laying out the details on what exactly you want done. This will ultimately save you time and money, as you will be able to choose the perfect contractor for your construction job, and get the job done correctly the first time. Personally, I have always found that writing out every detail initially will help you think of the task more clearly in your mind. This will also aid in your description of the job to the contractor, and will allow for a better estimate of time and cost, which are coincidentally the two most important things to consumers. Don't Allow Yourself to Get Burned I am not a big fisherman, but I do enjoy it whenever the opportunity comes my way. I have some friends who are fanatics and occasionally I will go out with one of them. They have nice boats and it makes for an enjoyable day. Urban Flight in Ohio Many of Ohio's downtown areas are in need of upgrading as folks pack up and move to the suburbs. Many downtown revitalization projects are currently going on there. Competition for sales tax, real estate, middle-income housing and quality of life is a power struggle, urban flight has been growing in Cincinnati and we do not see that stopping, but the expansion in the suburbs is very strong indeed. Art of Succession Planning Succession planning, like any business acumen, is both an art and a science. That is to say, there are many proven strategies that can and must be followed so that successful transition can occur.
|
Copyright © 2005 - 2010 StrategicPlanning360.com. All rights reserved. Legal Info Site Map |
 |
