The economy is slow and jobs are disappearing by the day. The outlook for most businesses is not so rose-colored these days. How’s a small business owner to survive this economic storm?
Over the next five entries, we'll look at strategies that small business owners can employ to re-evaluate their business model and operating efficiencies. This is no time for halfhearted management. Times of economic distress call for decisive action and clear plans. You need your whole team working to forward your plan in the most efficient and productive manner possible.
Corporate Dashboard
Start by re-evaluating your corporate dashboard. What’s a corporate dashboard, you say? It’s like your car’s dashboard in that you have a few gauges that tell you the important aspects of your cars performance. For instance you have a speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, temperature gauge and voltmeter. Perhaps your car has more, perhaps less. In any event, these few gauges measure and tell you in a visual way, how the most important functions of your car are performing. In the same way, you and your management should evaluate and determine the most important functions of your business and then keep your eyes on them every day. By creating a ‘dashboard’, you have a single sheet of paper or even better, a single computer screen displaying the vital characteristics of your business. If one of the gauges is off, you should investigate.
On a regular basis, you and your team should determine if your dashboard is still serving as the most important measures of your business. If not, make the necessary changes. Once you've determined what to look at, then actually look at it. Having a nice dashboard set up in your corporate intranet and then not using it to better manage your business is like buying a new car and not filling it with fuel. It might look nice sitting there, but it doesn't provide you any transportation and it costs a lot of money.
When your dashboard tells you that something is amiss in your operations, investigate further and get to the bottom of the problem. Determine the best course of action to fix the problem and then measure your results. Continue tweaking the problem and measuring your results until the problem is solved or the process is improved. The key is to take action and measure results.
NEXT: Reviewing Profitability
Over the next five entries, we'll look at strategies that small business owners can employ to re-evaluate their business model and operating efficiencies. This is no time for halfhearted management. Times of economic distress call for decisive action and clear plans. You need your whole team working to forward your plan in the most efficient and productive manner possible.
Corporate Dashboard
Start by re-evaluating your corporate dashboard. What’s a corporate dashboard, you say? It’s like your car’s dashboard in that you have a few gauges that tell you the important aspects of your cars performance. For instance you have a speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, temperature gauge and voltmeter. Perhaps your car has more, perhaps less. In any event, these few gauges measure and tell you in a visual way, how the most important functions of your car are performing. In the same way, you and your management should evaluate and determine the most important functions of your business and then keep your eyes on them every day. By creating a ‘dashboard’, you have a single sheet of paper or even better, a single computer screen displaying the vital characteristics of your business. If one of the gauges is off, you should investigate.
On a regular basis, you and your team should determine if your dashboard is still serving as the most important measures of your business. If not, make the necessary changes. Once you've determined what to look at, then actually look at it. Having a nice dashboard set up in your corporate intranet and then not using it to better manage your business is like buying a new car and not filling it with fuel. It might look nice sitting there, but it doesn't provide you any transportation and it costs a lot of money.
When your dashboard tells you that something is amiss in your operations, investigate further and get to the bottom of the problem. Determine the best course of action to fix the problem and then measure your results. Continue tweaking the problem and measuring your results until the problem is solved or the process is improved. The key is to take action and measure results.
NEXT: Reviewing Profitability
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