Business Advice
• Is it scaleable? • How do you stand out from the crowd? • Do you have loyal and reliable customers? • Are you making an acceptable margin?
If you can’t answer these questions satisfactorily, don’t just put them at the bottom of the pile. Get your senior team together and consider what needs to change. Even if you can answer them satisfactorily, banish complacency and look at what can be improved.
Being a perfectionist can pay off. Sir Clive Woodward, manager of England’s successful world cup winning rugby team, famously said that when his team won a match, they would go back to the classroom, work out what they did well and how they could improve on it. If they lost, they went to the pub!
By assessing and analysing your current position, key themes and opportunities should become apparent. What is your competitive advantage? Are global markets and exports important to you? Do you have the right resources? Do you have the competencies and capabilities to grow a successful business? What about your online strategy? Ask yourself what is missing. The questions will differ from business to business, but examining them in detail will enable you to fill in the gaps.
units and geographical locations. But when your team is excited about your business’s future, you are well on the way to success.
Assess and analyse your
current business position Always begin at the beginning. By examining the wider environment in which your business operates, by considering your strengths and weaknesses, as well as your opportunities and threats,
you will
be far better positioned to create a sustainable, long term strategy.
So consider what’s working in your business and what’s not. Remember that
Ask yourself some difficult questions. For example, here
are just a few around sales: • Is your product or service fit for purpose?
• How could it be improved? • Is your pricing competitive? • Is there a demonstrable need and sufficient demand?
For further information on how to develop your vision and strategy please contact Guy Rigby on 020 7131 8213, or email guy.
rigby@smith.williamson.co.uk.
if you keep turning the same handle, you’ll get the same result.
Disclaimer By necessity this briefing can only provide a short overview and it is essential to seek professional advice before applying the contents of this article. No responsibility can be taken for any loss arising from action taken or refrained from on the basis of this publication. Article correct at time of writing.
Smith & Williamson LLP Regulated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales for a range of investment business activities. A member of Nexia International.
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