As the new year approaches, business owners should review the past 12 months, looking at what worked and what didn’t, and making sure they don’t repeat any mistakes in the year ahead. It’s important to look at all aspects of your business, from sales to marketing to operations and employee relations.
A great way to find out how your business is regarded is to just ask your customers directly. Send an email or conduct a short phone poll, and discover what they value about your company most—and what problems they may have.
Continuing investment in mobile and tech is crucial.
Nicole Kroese, vice president of marketing and partnerships at Likeable Local, says in many cases, technology can add a lot of efficiencies to your business by automating things that used to be done manually.
“Take a look at what processes could become more efficient and look at what tech tools could help,” she says. “If the tech is creating more efficiency in your business, do a quick cost-benefit analysis to validate the cost, or cut costs in unnecessary places. Some of the most successful businesses are lean and mean.”
According to the 2015 First Citizens Bank Small Business Forecast, 73 percent of small business owners surveyed planned to grow their business in the next six to 12 months, and planned on doing so by adding new products or services, increasing their advertising or marketing spend, and upgrading current facilities or equipment.
“This outlook makes managing cash flow more important than ever,” Teel says. “The key is to collect payments due to you as quickly as possible and hold onto your cash as long as possible.”
A few useful tips include:
Be diligent about monitoring your transactions so you know how much money is coming in to cover funds going out. An online banking tool or spreadsheet software will improve efficiency in this regard.
Remember to schedule customer payment due dates sufficiently ahead of time so you have the cash you need on hand at the right time.
Expand your customers’ payment options. Many banks offer services that make it easier for businesses to accept credit and debit card payments and enable you to deposit checks directly from the office—improving transaction efficiency, reducing costs and boosting the bottom line.
Consider using a credit card to make your own payments so you can hold onto cash for longer. In addition, try negotiating with your supplier—sometimes you can get a discount for making early payments.
Liz Erk, principal partner for The Jaxson Group for CDM Media, notes that all organizations, no matter which industry, should prepare a blueprint for planning, implementing and managing a secure, agile cloud in 2016.
“For investigating and planning, focus should first be given to new/incremental initiatives as opposed to a wholesale shift of core systems/services to the cloud,” she says. “This will allow an organization to begin transitioning to the cloud in a focused and meaningful way within a manageable scope.”
The top reasons the majority of businesses are investigating cloud adoption are flexibility, increased productivity and cost savings.
Kristin King, vice president at Rockford Bank & Trust and a government guaranteed lending specialist, notes that as 2015 comes to a close, business owners should be reviewing their financial statements and business plan. And if you don’t have a written business plan, you should write one for the next year.
“A business owner should always know where they want to go and a business plan will help to keep them on track during the year,” she says. “Small and medium business owners should always reinvest the earnings in the company in order to grow the company and improve the financial health. That investment can be in the form of purchasing equipment, investing in technology, reducing debt or holding the cash for working capital. Try not to take all profits out of the company but instead concentrate on growing the company for the future.”
When planning for the new year, diligently monitoring your transactions, expanding customers’ payment options, optimizing your cloud strategy, and reviewing your financial statements and business plan will ensure you build and expand upon your previous success.
planning, efficiency, collaboration, business, productivity