2. THE IMPORTANCE OF REVIEWING YOUR BUSINESS PERFORMANCE
• You want to know how well your
business is performing
• You want to know which areas need
improvement, and how to prioritize
• You plan on expanding
• You want to understand how to get
the most out of market opportunities
• Your business plan is outdated
• You are moving in a different direction
than the one you had planned
• You are reacting to everyday
emergencies rather than moving in a
specific direction
Assessing where you are at is particularly important if:
3. • Is there demand for your products
/services?
• Unique features, how are they
different than the rest?
• Are you filling a gap in the market?
How effectively are you matching
your products to customers’ needs?
• Which of your products/services are
succeeding? Which are not?
• Lifetime value of your customers
(one-time vs. repeat)
• Can you stand the test of changing
trends?
• At what prices are consumers buying
your products/services? Does it
work?
• Upfront investment
• Upsell potential
ASSESSING YOUR CORE ACTIVITIES – PRODUCTS/SERVICES
4. • PESTLE – Political, Economic,
Social, Technological, Legal,
Environmental
• Key success factors in your industry
• Barriers to entry, size of industry,
number of players (is it crowded?)
• Do your offerings meet market
needs? How can you be most
competitive?
• Cost of customer acquisition
• Are you considering regional,
national, international expansion?
ASSESSING YOUR CORE ACTIVITIES – INDUSTRY TRENDS
5. • Who are your top competitors?
• Remember “confusers” as well
• Range of products/services they offer
• Are they satisfying same target
market?
– Are some customers not
targeted?
• Do they operate in same geographic
area?
• Are they profitable? Growing? Scaling
down?
• Customers’ perception
• How do you compare / differentiate
yourself?
– Price, quality, durability, image,
value, name recognition,
customer service, location,
convenience, hours of operations,
employee satisfaction etc.
– How easy is it for others to copy
you?
ASSESSING YOUR CORE ACTIVITIES – COMPETITION
6. • Profile
– Demographics (age, gender,
education level, income,
occupation, ethnicity, family
lifecycle etc.)
– Geography
– Psychographics (attitude toward
change/risk acceptance, values,
priorities)
– Lifestyle (media habits,
influencers)
– Buyer behavior
o How will the product be used
o Frequency of purchase
o Location preferences
o Shopping preferences (do
your customers research for
best value? Or Impulse
purchasers?)
o Purchasing roles (influencers,
decision makers, purchasers,
users)
• Is target market large enough? Need
to find your largest core users
ASSESSING YOUR CORE ACTIVITIES – TARGET MARKET
7. • Do you really understand your customers
and what influences them?
• Target customers determine how and where
you sell to them
• The 4 Ps
– Product (what makes it
unique/differentiated)
– Price (impacts profit, supply, demand
and marketing strategy)
– Promotion (social media, PR, email
marketing, trade shows etc)
– Place – where are the ideal places to
convert prospects into clients?
• Are your goals clearly defined
(e.g. mentions of your brand name on
social media sites, positive reviews on
Google or Yelp, number of shares your
blog posts receive)?
• Are you using the right metrics to evaluate
your current strategy?
– E.g. Goal: brand awareness; metrics
could include website traffic, page
views
– E.g. Goal: engagement; metrics could
include blog comments,
likes/shares/tweets
– E.g. Goal: lead generation; metrics
could include form
completion/downloads, email
subscriptions, conversion rate
– E.g. Goal: sales; metrics could be
online and offline sales
– E.g. Goal: up-sell; metrics could be
new product sales
• Prioritization and associated costs of your
decisions
ASSESSING YOUR CORE ACTIVITIES – MARKETING
8. • Do you find necessary suppliers
/equipment?
• How reasonable are your costs?
• What suppliers best fit your needs?
(consider turnaround time, quality,
payment terms, willingness to retain
inventory, response time, tech
support, on-time delivery etc.)
• Having difficulty integrating demand
and supply?
• How much inventory do you need?
• What is the weakest link in the supply
chain?
• Do you have back-up plans?
ASSESSING YOUR CORE ACTIVITIES – SUPPLY CHAIN
9. • Production methods
• Mfg/assembly/packaging -- flow and
(in-)efficiencies
• Subcontracting arrangements
• Analysis of material, labor, overhead
costs
• High indirect costs (e.g. utilities,
maintenance, supplier quality issues,
insurance etc)
• R&D requirements
• Equipment / facilities requirements
(annual maintenance and expansion)
• Assessment of
quality/reliability/warranty/repair +
associated costs
• Company certifications?
• Room to grow or to cut back?
ASSESSING YOUR CORE ACTIVITIES – PRODUCTION/ OPERATIONS
10. • How comfortable are you with your
financials?
• Overall trends (sales, costs,
profitability)
• Cash Flow – balance of $ flowing in
and out, must regularly review/update
• Working capital ratio (current assets /
current liabilities)
– Do you have enough short-term
assets to cover short-term debt?
– High ratio not always good (do you
have too much inventory? Are you
not investing excess cash?)
– Have your requirements change?
Do you need to source additional
capital?
• Costs – must constantly monitor them!
– Make sure costs are covered in
your sale price
– Customers should not be expected
to pay for inefficiencies
– Can you lower your costs?
• Growth - do you have plans to adapt
your financing to your business’
growth?
• Borrowing / your position on lines of
credit and loans?
– Look for better/cheaper
alternatives
ASSESSING YOUR CORE ACTIVITIES – FINANCIALS
11. • Does your HR plan support your
business objectives?
• Structure/staffing
• Roles and responsibilities / do
people know what’s expected of
them?
• HR procedures and policies
(employee handbook, anti-
discrimination etc.)
• Compliance (legally required
postings, proper documentation,
appropriate payroll withholdings,
records, documentation etc)
• Benefits
• Skills inventory / what’s missing?
• Recruitment strategy
• On-boarding
• Performance evaluations
• Safety / insurance
ASSESSING YOUR CORE ACTIVITIES – HUMAN RESOURCES
12. • To the extent possible, automate:
– Processes
– Marketing
– Payroll
– Automatic withdrawals for
recurring payments
– Cloud storage
– Etc.
Simple systems help you reduce
inventory costs, eliminate
purchasing errors, improve
production efficiency, analyze
production costs and integrate
manufacturing and accounting.
ASSESSING YOUR CORE ACTIVITIES –
DO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT SYSTEMS IN PLACE?
13. SWOT ANALYSIS / INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL INFLUENCES
Financial resources (e.g. funding, sources of income, investment opportunities)
Physical resources (e.g. company’s location, product attributes, facilities, equipment)
Human resources (e.g. employees, target audiences)
Current processes (e.g. employee programs, software systems, efficiency of production)
Trademarks, patents, copyrights
Market trends (e.g. new products/technology or shifts in consumer needs)
Relationships with suppliers and partners
Demographics (e.g. target audience’s age, race, gender and culture)
Political, environmental and economic regulations (e.g. increasing interest rates)
14. • Helps to crate a simplify picture of a
complex situation
• As part of a regular review process
– brainstorming/business planning
– To examine your business
performance
– To assess your prospects
– To identify areas for change
• Use it for general business overview
• And/or specific assessments
(e.g. competitive assessment,
marketing, etc.)
WHY A SWOT?
15. • It is a feasibility study – is your
business viable?
• It is a reality check – tells you where
your strengths and weaknesses lie
• It helps you anticipate problems and
make more informed decisions
• It is an implementation plan
– Use it as a guide
– Stick to a realistic timeline
– Fosters accountability
• It helps you to think long-term (as
opposed to being in survival mode)
• It is a marketing tool
WHY DOES DEVELOPING A GROWTH PLAN MATTER?
16. • Where do you want to be?
• What markets should you compete
in?
• How is the environment changing?
• How will it affect your positioning?
• What is the competition doing?
• Where is your competitive
advantage?
• What do you need to succeed
(assets, $, partnerships, technology,
skills, staff etc.)?
CONFIRMING / (RE-) SETTING YOUR COMPANY’S DIRECTION
17. • Reviewing Your Business
Performance
• Preparing for Various Scenarios
• Strategic Top Line Growth
• Effective Product Design and
Design for Manufacturing
• Operations
• Supply Chain Strategy to Grow Your
Business
• Marketing Plan
• Financial Strategy
• Creating a Roadmap for
Sustainability
• Human Resources
• Incentives and Access to Capital
• Other (e.g. Legal)
DEVELOPING A GROWTH PLAN OUTLINE
18. • “Homework” after each session /
discipline
• Write things down
• Outsource when it makes sense
(e.g. graphic designers, CPAs etc)
• Careful when hiring
• Decide what to measure
– Pick the right Key Performance
Indicators (KPIs) for your
particular business
– Financial targets of course
(e.g. revenues, gross and net
profit, profit margins, aging
accounts receivable etc.)
– Non-financial targets as well,
e.g. market share, number of
new products, customers
(trends, frequency of purchases,
returning customers…),
customer service (waiting time
for assistance, complaints,
reasons for complaints), time it
takes to fulfill an order, staff
satisfaction
• Set SMART targets / Specific,
Measurable, Achievable, Realistic
and Time-Bound.
• Excuse yourself
• Networking is key
• Think big
FINAL THOUGHTS
