Is your business at a road block?

Are you not reaching your set goals and receiv ing the results you initially aimed for? Here are 6 steps you should follow, whi ch will work wonders in putting your business back into shape. Week 1. Take a good Assessment of your Business Figures Give your business figures a realistic assessment. Size up your business against others in the industry and come to a feasible conclusion as to where you would picture yourself. Are you content being at the level you are now or would like t o reach out to bigger targets? The goal you set for yourself will determine how to restructure your business. To get the best advice and help in this assessment you can contact the SME Counselling Centers and other local resources for bench marking information. A good accounting counsellor will help gauge where your bus iness stands and will help you forecast revenue, sales , measure profit margins and assist you in setting out on the path from where you are to where you aim to be. Week 2: Identify your market niche The next step in the strategy is to figure out your place in the market. To esta blish ones presence in the market small businesses have to be inventive and resou rceful. Capturing even a small share of any given market gives your business a f irm foothold. According to a well experienced professional, pinpointing a profita ble niche and owning it is the best way to stay thrive in business. To carve your own niche you first have to find out if there is any possibility of exploiting one particular zone exclusively, in your specialty. One sure shot method is to s tudy your customers. Who are the most loyal, who are the most profitable and whe ther there is an area where these two groups have common characteristics. You ca n examine your products and services in the same manner. Which products are in d emand and which are the most profitable. Your niche lies in that magic area wher e loyalty, demand and profitability coincide. Week 3: Send out a clear and impactful marketing message To stay in the race, you need to communicate. You know who your loyal customers are, and now its time to expand this customer base. Create a message which descri bes your business USP in effective, incisive and simple words. Find out from you r customers, how they came to know about you and why they prefer to buy from you . This will give you the best idea for creating a marketing theme which will bri ng in more customers looking for your product or services. Develop customer rela ted programs, online or print newsletters. This way you can quickly update custo mers with information, offers and expertise. Keep track of which products are pr oducing the best results and focus on that strong area for future investment, ad vertising and growth. Week 4: Use the Latest technology to your Advantage Study your business processes keenly and decide whether updating the technology would bring in better outcomes. Most importantly it should improve cash flow, cu stomer service or both. The technology upgrade should be able to increase overal l sales by 20 percent or cut down on cost of field operations by 15%. Only then can it be called a must have investment. Generally, it is always an advantage to a utomate good business practices. When going in for an upgrade, the best option i s to identify that area of your business which is holding you back, figure out a better way to get it done and then choose hardware and software based on your t rue needs. Make sure that your staff are well trained to use this technology. Week 5: Strengthen Your team Getting the right people in the right jobs is the only recipe for success. You c ould start off with writing or updating job descriptions for your key people and see if your current employees fit the bill. Compiling clear job description wil l give concrete shape to your expectations. Once this is done, you can decide wh ether additional training will benefit the employees existing skills or whether t hey are better suited to another position. Dont take your most invaluable employe es for granted and find ways to retain them. Dont recruit until youve prepared the

job description and specific requirements for education, training, experience a nd salary. Ask a set of prepared interview questions to each applicant. Pay atte ntion to what candidates are hesitant to discuss- This can be a clue to weakness es. Document their responses, and take notes. Always check references before set tling on a candidate, but trust your instinct as well. Week 6: Keep Money in the Business If marketing, technology and employees are burdening your budget, then its high t ime you made some wise cuts. Keep money in the business as much as possible beca use youre not able to just go out and borrow. Anything that distracts from runnin g the businessany cash that you use to do anything that doesnt move the business f orward, even paying yourself excess cashis going to inhibit your growth. Meet wit h your bank anyway to build relationships and keep apprised of options such as s mall-business credit cards or lease-to-buy programs with tax advantages. So take these regular checks on your customer relations, marketing strategy, tec hnology plan and human resources to stay in business and expand with confidence. Entrepreneurial Learning This infallible six week strategy will help you make a practical assessment of y our business and enable you to identify and rectify the non performing areas whi ch are resource draining, and will help accelerate your progress beyond your exp ectations. Read more! http://www.kuzabiashara.co.ke