After a few weeks of lockdown many business owners are now moving from survival mode to recovery mode. Now may well be a good time to go back to basics.
As I have said on many occasions, running a business is simple in theory but in practice tends to be difficult. If it were otherwise everyone would be doing it and we would all be millionaires this time next year.
Simplicity: All we need is a product or service the market is willing to pay for at a price that gives us a profit.
Questions to ask:
What do I know about the Market?
Has the market changed?
Will the market change in the future as far as we can see?
Is the market still keen to buy my products or service?
Do I make it easy for customers to buy from me?
Do I stand out from the crowd in my market?
Do my customers marvel at the excellence of my customer service?
Product/Service
Are all my products profitable?
Which ones provide most profit?
Which ones are the easiest to sell?
Which ones are the easiest to provide?
Should I develop new products?
Should I get rid of some products?
Profit
Is the current mix of products or services maximising profit?
Does the cost of servicing some customers make them unprofitable?
Can I up-sell to existing customers higher value and more profitable products?
Can I introduce new technology/methods to reduce cost of provision within the business?
Would it be possible to use competitive procurement to reduce my buying costs?
Am I getting best value for money from my procurement?
Going back to basics is always a good place to start in any business.
If we can get the simple things right the complex problems tend to disappear.
By Peter Smith.
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