STEP ONE: Get Clear On Your Vision
For Business Success When was the last time you set aside time to consider what the ideal vision of your business in the next year would look like? Whether on your own as a small business owner or in conjunction with your management team, begin your planning process with this overall vision.
In the ideal vision for your business:
• Who are you working with? What are the characteristics of your target audience in the upcoming year? What industries are they in?
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Is their testing regulated under one or more regulatory modes?
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Do they operate as for-profit or non- profit organizations?
■ ■ Do they include government agencies?
What is their average size? Full-time employees? Annual revenue?
• What are the services and/or products that your company will provide in the upcoming year?
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Are they different from what you are providing now? How have they changed, if at all?
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What are the primary and unique benefits you provide to your customers?
• How are you leting potential clients know about the services and products you have to offer?
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Are you speaking to businesses directly, making in- person connections individually or in group setings, such as trade shows and educational events?
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Are you connecting more electronically, through email, social media, and/or webinars?
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Are you advertising your products and services and, if so, using what modes? What is your reach?
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Do you make use of referrals and/or partnerships with other businesses?
• How are your internal operations running? ■
Are your processes systematized and documented?
18 datia focus
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How are people working in your business interacting with each other?
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Are your technology resources sufficient and effectively utilized?
• What is your financial vision for your business in the new year? Once you have developed this vision,
take the process a step further by considering what the achievement of this vision would mean for your company’s stakeholders: your clients, investors, employees, management team, and for you? Take a moment to revel in the feeling of business success in 2016.
STEP TWO: Analysis By Key Business
Category Once you have the overall vision for your business developed, drill down into the key aspects of your business and determine the primary objectives, strategies, and action steps for the upcoming year.
“Products And Services” Evaluation And Objectives
Te following is a set of general questions for your consideration that relate to product and service offerings. If some questions do not apply, skip them. Add other statements pertaining to your business in particular.
Quality and quantity • Is the quality of your services and products at its highest level?
• Do your services and products have something about them that makes them unique?
• Are your services and products well defined and relevant to your target market?
• Do you offer a comprehensive set of offerings to address all client needs in your business area?
• With the many changes in the drug and alcohol testing industry, are you prepared to adapt your services and products?
• Do you offer services and products that should be eliminated from your offerings due to lack of desirability or obsolescence?
Packaging • Are your services and products packaged in a way that will best appeal to your customers?
• Do you offer bundled as well as separate services and products?
• Can your products and services be repackaged or tailored to beter serve individual client needs?
Pricing/fees • Do you have an effective pricing/fee strategy? (i.e. high-end, middle of the road, low-cost)
• Is your pricing/fee structure sufficient to cover your costs, plus a sufficient profit margin?
• Have you adjusted your prices/fees as the experience and quality of your services and products have improved?
Delivery • Do your delivery systems operate effectively?
• Are you providing timely services and support to your clients?
Research and development • Do you have systems in place to ensure you keep up-to-date on regulatory requirements, trends, tools, and/or technologies affecting your business?
• Is your product development proactive rather than reactive?
• Are your offerings reflective of ongoing changes in the drug and alcohol testing industry? Examples include, but are not limited to:
■ ■ ■ Marijuana trends Alternative testing modalities
Anticipated DOT regulatory testing changes
Aſter thinking about these and other
questions that may have come to mind about your products and services, identify and describe the objectives most important for making your vision a reality in this category. To keep the focus on key priorities, list your company’s top three to five objectives in this category. Using a format similar to the image
provided at right, list the strategies and action steps necessary to accomplish
Fall 2015
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