It’s time to start thinking about your business plan for next year. You might be thinking that it’s too early to start planning for the following year, but you would be remiss if you waited too long. The following are some things you can proactively do to prepare and improve your Chicago Business for the future.
1. Evaluate and Measure the Success of Your Current Plan
Measuring the success of your current business plan will help uncover ways you can improve your plan for the next year. Did you hit all of your goals? Was your execution perfect, or can you improve the efficiency of internal processes? We are already over halfway through the year, and by now you likely have a pretty good idea of what worked in your current business plan and what turned out to be a colossal failure.
However, know that some things take more than half a year to produce tangible results. If you know that your endeavors are a long term investment, it may not be time to throw in the towel. On the other hand, your time is valuable, and if you haven’t seen any return on your investment of time or money for a specific goal, it might be time to acknowledge defeat. Though failures are often cursed, they also provide opportunities. Look for areas of weakness or flat out failures in your current business plan to move in the right direction.
2. Open Internal Communication Channels with Surveys
Even though surveys are a great way to uncover and address problems in your organization, too many leaders fail to correctly apply this tool. By surveying subordinates, you will be able to get honest feedback that indicates how your employees feel about your internal processes, management, and progress.
If you opt to make your survey anonymous, as you should, you will be shocked to discover people’s perception of your company. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that it will just create negative criticism – it can also give employees the chance to offer their own unique ideas to improve your organization.
3. Make it a Habit to Constantly Improve
If you don’t continually reflect on the choices your organization has made, the impact of those decisions, and how closer they brought you to your goals, you will have a hard time making progress. Self-reflection is tremendously important, and you need to reflect on your numbers such as customer-acquisition cost, profits, expenses, and where the majority of your sales are coming from.
Savvy business leaders know their numbers like the back of their hand, and if you haven’t been monitoring these numbers it’s time to make a change. Then set new goals that are realistically achievable based on your current numbers. This will create a roadmap that will help you understand when you are deviating from the path to success.
Preparing for Next year
To get a leg up on the competition and prepare for next year, contact John. The sooner you prepare, the greater your chances of success in the future.
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Written by John Ruh
John M. Ruh and Associates are mission based business advisors who partner with growth oriented leaders to create the right P.S.T. support: the right People, the right Structure and the right Tools.