- January 3, 2007
- Posted by: Rosemarie Harvey
- Category: Uncategorized
The holiday celebrations are over, and your business is back in full swing. Along with the holiday reasons to celebrate, you may have had many accomplishments to celebrate as well. Congratulations! If you did not, then it is time to make changes.
At the end of 2006, you reviewed organizational and operational methods and developed new plans to employ in 2007 and beyond. (If not, you should have…) For those of you who are new to the small business world and have struggled for the last three or so years, you are probably making a hard decision on whether or not to continue with your present mode of operation. You are looking at your income for the past year, the services you provided, regulations that may have impacted your set of services, and the type and quality of your service or product. You may be even considering the option of exiting the small business arena. Wait!
As you ponder your business viability, don’t forget to examine your mission, vision, goals, and objectives. Find the answers to these questions:
- Why are you in business?
- Are your strategic and tactical plans in alignment with your mission and vision?
- What do you plan (not hope) to accomplish in 2007, in three years, in five years?
- Do you know what your customers expect?
- Do you have the necessary capabilities to meet your customers’ expectations?
It is important to analyze your strategic plans and determine what to incorporate in them. How vital is quality to your business? Do you need to integrate more technology into your daily operations? Include components that will have bearing on the performance of your particular business. A common mission and vision with goals and objectives to follow must be in place to guide the business to success.
For those of you who did it right in 2006, keep what worked and build upon it. For those of you who are not certain about the future, take some time now to eliminate the problems or turn them into opportunities.
Wishing you success.
Rosemarie Harvey
Virtual Assistant
RH Business Support
(Adapted from “Looking Ahead” , Harvey, R. RH Business Support: Business Briefs Et Cetera 2005, Vol 1, Issue 3)