So, how is your garden (business) growing?
We started the COVID A.C. blogs with references to taking the time to weed, prune and replant your business. Let's take a moment to see how you are growing….
What has survived the drastic measures taken to renew, strengthen
and grow?!
Your business plan was dusted off and you took a look at
how/why you started your journey. What
changes did you make:
Staffing: - this was a huge factor in the
business world. Between February and
April over 14 million Canadians became unemployed.
-
As a business owner/manager we take things personally
and I know you struggled with these hard decisions. Please don’t beat yourself up about what happened. It was out of our control. We have to remove the pest (COVID) before we
can strengthen and grow!
This was a good time to look at everyone’s roles, processes,
etc and see if there are ways you can improve.
Services/Product -
how have you improved?
-
Have you reduced stock? Is stock still available? Break downs in the Supply Chain have affected
all areas of life.
-
Did you move to an online presence? Keep it up!
Even with restrictions slowly being eased people will not be flocking to the
stores in the same numbers as before.
-
Did you remember to Thank your customers and
Employees? Kindness and respect makes the best soil conditioners…
Goals -
Are you still striving towards the same goal?
-
Has a new opportunity shown itself?
You have survived! Some
changes have occurred but if you continue in this new direction then the harvest
will be strong and plentiful!
Did you remember to record your changes? Now we need to take these changes and put
them into a more concrete plan.
As an employee I used to hate the Annual Review questions….where
do you see yourself in X number of years?
But as a business owner that takes on such an important role! Think of this as the crop rotation plan! How are you going to stay strong? Improve
your soil (basis for all crops)?
The drum roll please …..A Strategic Plan!
This is like your business plan but on fertilizer!! Your
business plan was for the here and now.
Setting up the processes, markets, etc.
You planned and seeded the garden.
Now you need to look at guiding your business towards your long term (2-5
year) goals and establish the steps necessary to attain them.
You know the processes, the market, the supplies, and the
staffing of your business today but the Strategic Plan takes it that one step
further. It is a challenge to review
markets and review if projects are falling within the parameters of your
visions and objectives.
Strategic planning allows you to capitalize on your strengths,
take advantage of opportunities and become more forward-thinking…Forward
thinking is hard today, but if we don’t keep looking and moving forward we will
go nowhere. Having a plan and changing
it as things change is much better than not having one. It is easier to weed and thin out then to try
and start new plants in the middle of the season!
Just like a business plan this is not something done in an
evening or on a napkin. Look for resources
to guide you through the process: The
Didsbury & District Chamber of Commerce has links to various resources: Your
local financial institution; the BDC; Alberta.ca (https://www.alberta.ca/small-business-supports.aspx).
And one last thing….don’t forget to include your Emergency
Response Plan – you know the one you have been working in ….that little garden
plot of perennials that once planted only needs maintaining and occasional
pruning…
Share your garden/business success with us by Following the chamber
blog and see how others have worked toward a strong harvest!
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