You already know that running a business can be a challenge. It takes a lot of work to keep all of your plates spinning – balancing customers, employees, operations and cash flow against your long-term goals for growth. To help keep things moving forward in a positive direction, we offer you this special 2018 Business Planning Guide. Whether you use it as a reminder, a to-do list or plan of attack in preparation for the year ahead, we hope the information will further your success.
Business Value
ο Review your supplier and partner contracts. Are you being held hostage by having too few relationships? Are your terms as strong as they should be? Are your partners providing the level of value you need to remain successful?
ο Map the competitive landscape. Who poses a real or potential threat to your business? This includes other tire dealers, corporate-owned retailers, warehouse stores, car dealers – even online vendors. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of each and how your business is able to compete and win business over them. And if you’re not sure how to stay competitive against any one of them, determine the changes you need to make and get a timeline in place for it.
ο Look at the numbers to identify trends in spending, fees, volume, etc. Sit down to review your year-over-year, month-over-month numbers line by line to identify ways to “sharpen the pencil” to make adjustments as needed.
ο Audit your pricing strategy. Are you pricing your products and services appropriately? Be aware of the financial implications of your pricing strategy and determine if it still makes sense based on the current market conditions. Lowest price is but one factor in consumer purchase preference – what additional value do you provide (perhaps not promoting as much as you should be) that can help justify your current pricing strategy? Are your charges and fees in line with others in your area?
For more business planning checklist items, see our Facilities and Equipment checklist, Tax and Legal checklist, Online Reputation checklist, Website checklist, and Employee Handbook checklist.
To print an easy checklist of the full 24-point, 2018 Business Planning Guide click here.