Health Check for your business

Every business needs to grow; even if you’re happy with your current performance, you need to be constantly looking for ways to develop. If you don’t, you risk allowing your competitors the room to grow and take market share from you.

It is possible to identify a number of key requirements needed to make your business grow faster.

You have, most likely, already demonstrated sufficient entrepreneurial, leadership and business skills, including sales and marketing, to get your enterprise where it is today. You may also have a balanced team around you, consisting of key players in finance, accounting, marketing and production which are hopefully motivated towards growth, either by share options, performance related bonuses or other means whereby they feel that they ‘own’ some of the business.

It is important to develop a culture that rewards innovation, either by regular ‘team brain storming’ meetings, customer satisfaction questionnaires or merely a suggestion box for ways of improvement.

With the prospect of impending changes in legislation and taxation, in order to meet any shortfalls in the Guernsey budget, maybe now is the time to be asking yourself how many boxes can you tick in answer to the questions listed on the following page.

Common challenges facing existing businesses; do any of these statements apply to you?

• My business has been established too long to change it’s ways now
• We’re full to capacity
• Can’t find the right staff to recruit so that we can expand
• Our current premises are too small, there are no alternatives
• With so much ‘red tape’, health and safety (with more legislation in the pipeline), I don’t want to expand
• Competition is too fierce; other people seem willing to work for no profit
• I don’t have the time

Maybe these are perfectly sound reasons, but spend a moment longer, because just as your personal health deserves a regular check up, so does your business. We have outlined just some of the questions that may help you to point your business toward a healthier future

With regard to controlling your business financial position, small business software is now inexpensive, readily available and easy-to-use. Even the smallest business should know at the end of each month its true position in terms of cash, revenue, gross and net profit (at least approximately) and overall stock, debtor and creditor positions.

How many of the following questions you have asked yourself in the last year;  

¨                 How does my gross and net profit compare with my original business plan?

¨                 What aspects of my business have been the most/least successful and why?

¨                 What is my annual stock turn, how does it compare with industry norms?

¨                 What is my return on capital employed?

¨                 Could I profitably broaden my customer/ product base?

¨                 What do I most admire about the way my competitors operate?

¨                 How efficient is my distribution/storage system?

¨                 Have I kept pace with technological advances to assist efficiency?

¨                 What is my strongest USP (unique selling proposition)?

¨                 How can I optimise my assets (personnel, property, equipment, and stock)?

¨                 Do I have a ‘Brand’, if not should I be working towards one?

¨                 When is the last time I thought about merger or acquisition possibilities?

¨                 Would I benefit by introducing a staff ‘profit share scheme’?

¨                 When did I, or a member of staff, last go on a training course to improve our skills?

¨                 Do I have a health and safety or data protection policy, am I regulation compliant?

¨                 Has my business got a well visited, vibrant, topical web site?

¨                 When did I hold the last staff meeting? Do I have a staff handbook, HR policy?

¨                 Does my business have a 5 year plan, are we on track, if not, why not?

¨                 How frequently do I hold ‘brainstorming sessions’ with senior management?

¨                 Have I reinvested in the business, if not, has the money shown better returns elsewhere?

¨                 How can I improve my credit control, shorten my debtor days?

¨                 When did I last try a marketing initiative, mail shot or customer survey?

¨                 Have I ever bought a product from your competitor to gauge their customer service?

¨                 When did I last think of sending a ‘satisfaction survey’ to your customers?

¨                 Do I trust and believe in my staff, do they trust and believe in me?

¨                 Do I have a personal ‘exit strategy’?

If you have taken the time to ask some of these already, and decided to seek some answers (either from your workforce, senior management or partners) then those answers will help to guide you towards a healthier future.

Like many business owners you may not have had the time to prioritise issues that our questions have raised, or to develop those issues into positive goals. You may not even be sure how to get started in some areas, no one can be expected to be expert subjects as diverse as financial controls, health and safety and websites all at the same time.

So, if your business needs a Health Check, or you have done your own and would like some further guidance, why not come and see us at The Enterprise Agency. The service is free, confidential and impartial. We have no magic wand and may not have all the answers, but we more than likely know someone who can help in all major business areas.