Getting the Most out of your Business Plan
After bootstrapping my business for several years, I broke even on my investment and began experiencing the success of profitability. It's a struggle sometimes to accomplish the objectives that'll keep your business productive. The challenge is to keep your business objectives aligned with the overall strategy of the company.
It's an arduous task to continuously monitor your cash flow, market your product, constantly research the industry and your competition while balancing daily productivity objectives. These challenges need a best option to refer to as you plan and organize your way through the first few years of operations. You have to refer to your business plan.
As an entrepreneur in the real estate industry, having my solid business plan has been extremely effective in guiding my property maintenance business through the shifts in consumer demand and market volatility. More than anything, its helped me plan and design cost effective marketing strategies, although the expectations it creates for operational processes has been instrumental in making my business run with more efficiency.
Growning my company from a one man sole proprietorship to an LLC with 24 employees means developing the right type of structure for managing the business. Personally I've found that using a decentralized approach works best because it gives me more latitude to pass along responsibilities to my employees. I like the freedom it provides and I trust they they will complete the tasks I ask them to do. By using a democratic style of leadership it seems to motivate productivity and encourage innovative thought. Projects get done faster and decisions are more effective. When you look at the level of satisfaction of your employees and you see a dedicated work ethic, you know it that it works.
The approach I use in management allows me the time to handle all the essentials our business needs to operate. I emphasize quality and professionalism among my people, while I tend to concentrate on growing our customer base by what I liked to call "stategic marketing finesse." It's just basic marketing know-how, but it isn't always easy.
When you have to define a slow market, adjust your rates and concessions and then align them together into an effective advertising technique that will attract new clients, it really does require a certain finesse to generate clients when the market has seemingly been unresponsive to traditional martketing efforts.
If your budget can't stretch the dime far enough to buy billboard time or 5 seconds of air time, you have to get creative.
I've been using a lot more Internet marketing and social networking techniques, and so far, they've proven effective in generating leads, and in increasing my bottom line. "That's not to say that social media is the best resource for marketing your product. In our case, it has created value through its cost effectiveness, while generating enough revenue to justify the time you have to put into it. It's been a win-win situation and the best part is that it hasn't reached it's fullest potential yet.
Getting through the first few years of operations required a lot of penny-pinching. Now that the business is growing doesn't mean you let up on finding cost effectiveness wherever you can. We generally look to improve the bottom line through regular payroll evaluations and accurate inventory counts. In both, we review them for any unusual variances or dramatic increases in the rates that we pay. I also decreased my liabiliies by implementing a security system which has reduced the cost of my insurance coverage by having theft prevention mechanisms written into my policy. Ways to lower costs are there. You just have do the research and find them.
My industry is highly competitive, so it's really important to have a business plan to reference when using your marketing and operational goals to create a competitve advantage. Having a business plan gives you the overall perspective to assess shifts in the market and modify your business objectives to meet changes in customer preference and demand. You have to stay a step ahead of your competitors if you want longevity for your business.
The last thing I'll tell you about business plans is that they put the fudamentals of your company into a context that keeps you informed of all the specifc requirments and essentials you need to adopt in order to operate. It's the key to every aspect of your business, whether its marketing strategy, maintenance requirements, accounting liabilities or creating a sales forecast. They all originate from what's laid out in your business plan.
Final piece of advice, being an entrepreneur, I know first hand the importance of knowing what the rules and laws are that regulate your industry. In real estate, you have to operate within state and federal mandates that govern the housing market. Property management requires professional training, strict adherence to laws and staying current of any changes in the rules.
The same concept can be said about marketing, as shifting trends in consumer tastes need to be consolidated into your business model. Making adjustments for a shifting economy and doing the research for any change in regulatory issues are just part of being an entrepreneur. These are just some of the challenges that the forebearance of a solid, well-designed business will help you get through.
