Business Planning

Now that our 2008 records can be finalized, it’s time to print them out and take a good, hard look. Were you up or down when compared to 2007?  What about a month by month comparison? Were there increases or decreases in foot traffic to your retail store or visitors to your webstore? What kind of advertising did you do - or not do - that you can connect to those increases or decreases in customer traffic?

While things are quieter during this last holiday weekend and the new year has just begun, take the time to reflect on the reality of your past business year. Not the wishful thinking, not the hopes and dreams and not the fears of the worst. The numbers make a difference in everything you do or can do in 2009. Gaining a realistic perspective is the first place to start.

Once you’ve done that, you can begin to think about the actions you need to take to survive and thrive in the coming year. Do you need to eliminate unsuccessful products? What about adding or diversifying the products or product lines you currently have? Is it time to advertise and market to loyal customer groups or new, promising ones?

And as always - review your 2008 monthly expenses to see where you can cut costs and still deliver the same excellent quality of product and service. Minimizing your losses is an area of your business that you have more control over than the number of customers coming through your door or how much they will spend. Reducing your breakeven numbers where possible will reduce pressure on you and your business, as well as the income you need to generate to survive.

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