Setting The Foundation For Small Business Growth.

Setting the foundation for growth in your small business entails taking your small business to the next level. As a small business owner there is always a desire to take your business to the next level, but have you examine where you’re at today and why you want to take your small business to the next level? If you need help in navigation this process, call our office today for guidance.

In your quest to get to the next level, the small business owner should be asking themselves the following question:
Are they in a rut?
Are sales leveling off?
Are they having trouble finding quality employees?
Are they overwhelmed?
Do you find that your bottom line is not what you want you want it to be?
Or are you thinking about your exit strategy?

When the small business owner thinks that they are ready to make the big move, it is advisable that their starting point is with the implementation of a strategic plan.
A strategic plan is like a blue print that lays out the action for the future, it consist of a mission statement, a vision statement, a values statement which is the guiding principles, a gap analysis, an environmental scan, a SWOT analysis, the setting of strategic objectives and an implementation plan. Metro Accounting And Tax Services is always here to help the small business owner in getting through this process, don’t hesitate to call our office @ 404-9903365 if help is needed.

One of the major component of a strategic plan is the business mission statement.
The mission statement clearly defines why the small business exist and what its operations are intended to achieve.
It is important to note that the mission statement although changeable over time, doesn’t change every year and is something that resonate with the business for the long term.

Next, the small business must have a vision statement of the future. It is really defining the small business future, where you want to go and where do you want to grow. The vision statement is a short concise statement of the organization’s future and answers the question of what it intends to become.

Along with the mission and vision statements, the small business must define its guiding principles or values statement. This relates to the distinctive core beliefs of the organization. These beliefs are part of the organization’s strategic foundation and rarely change.

Conducting a “gap” analysis between the organization’s current state and vision state will amplify what actions are need to be taken in-order to close the gap. A gap analysis can take the form of an environmental scan or a SWOT analysis.

An environmental scan allows the small business to perform an analysis and evaluation of both internal and external forces that affect the organization.
The small business might want to evaluate their customer base, asking question such as who are their clients. Are we meeting the needs of our clients?
Technological changes should also be evaluated, what are the effects changes in technology is having on the business.
Regulatory compliance issues should also be examined. What regulation issues are affecting the company?
The economic climate should also be examined. What are the likely effects of a downturn in business?
Relationships with suppliers should be examined to see what makes the company most vulnerable to changes in the suppliers?
Quality of employees should be evaluate to see how do we retain top talent?
An eye must always be focus on the competition, always evaluation what differentiates us from our competition?

The other part of the “gap” analysis is the SWOT analysis. This analysis supports the gap analysis with additional information about what actions are needed to be taken in the organization to get it to the desired state.
This is where we look at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats face by the small business.
Typically the strengths and weaknesses or things that are internal to your organization. Opportunities and threats are things that are external to the organization.
It is important to note that these are not analysis that you do independent they’re really done across the firm and can include customers and clients.

The SWOT analysis coupled with the environmental scan allow the small business owner to look at the gaps that exist between where you are and where you want to be. This then allow the business owner to create the company’s strategic objectives by identifying the things to focus on for the next three to five years. They answer the question of what the organization must focus on to achieve the vision.

The strategic objectives must always be checked and calibrated for changes as it’s not something you create and put on the shelf and forget about. Performing a review and making the necessary changes every six months to a year is recommended.

The next stage in setting the foundation for growth is the implementation of the plan. You have completed the hard work, you know what to do now you have to figure out how you’re going to break that down into bite size pieces to achieve the strategic objectives. This can be broken down into short-term and long-term goals. The small business owner might consider what are they going to do this quarter, next quarter, next year and who does what and by when. Then there has to be a monitoring process to ensure performance and attainment of these goals.

The final step in setting the foundation is examining the value proposition of the small business. Setting the foundation is really looking at your firm’s value proposition. This is typically what your business can do for your clients, the tangible benefits that clients get from using your products, service or solution.
What is your product for your clients what is your product or service somebody wants to use your firm services and when you write
Your value proposition should be short, concise and defines what you do and explains how you’re going to solve the problem of your client or customer.

User | 15/12/2021