The Power of a Performance Action Plan for your Business
In your business you may have a marketing plan, you may have a business plan, you may have a cash flow budget or financial plan but do you have a Performance Action Plan. You see for all of the decisions that are made when you prepare a marketing plan or business plan and for all of those expectations you may have when you prepare a cash flow, the reality is without action is little chance such plans will come to fruition.
If you are in business there is a good chance you would like to improve the performance.
Thats why I love the Performance Action Plan. It works like this:
1. Review business operations
2. Identify potential improvements
3. Whittle down to the activities that will drive the improvements
4. Document the action plan
5. Implement powerfully – provide both resources and accountability
6. Actions undertaken
7. Performance monitored
8. Next actions identified
9. Back to number 4.
Of course, not every action will provide the desired outcomes, which is why items 7 to 9 are the real power of the plan. And without 5, there is likely to be a difference between the actions documented at 4 and those undertaken at 6.
I have found that this method works brilliantly with a structured planning session where we sit down with our clients and go through their business and their goals and develop a clear view of the desired future. We have clients who have called it the best thing they have ever done for their business and for themselves. For me it is also a fantastic day, an opportunity to really help our business clients move powerfully towards their goals, supporting them and their future.
Thats why I love being an accountant. There is so much more we do that just numbers and tax.
So what do you think? Do you think a Performance Action Plan could help your business? Leave a comment below, and the best response will receive a coffee from me.
Did I not mention how much I love coffee?
Almost as much as Action!
Go on, take a little action, post your thoughts below.
Why I love Xero – perfect? or not?
Born and bred on a sheep farm in country Victoria, I came to Melbourne seeking knowledge and learning experiences.
I door-knocked the longest continuous shopping strip in the southern hemisphere (Sydney Road) to secure my first non-farm job.
19 years later I own that accounting business, and I can assure you, times have changed.
In 1993 after reconciling my fathers farm accounts on my custom macro driven Lotus 1,2,3 spreadsheet I discovered Quicken for DOS. Brilliant cashbook software, fast and efficient, I stuck with it through Windows 3.1 and beyond, before GST drove me to Quickbooks.
Now I have seen the future of business accounting software and, boy, does it have the “X Factor”!!
Xero is its name and I can happily describe it as Beautiful Accounting Software.
No updates for the user to install, no desktop software, no backups you or I have to do, mobile (iPhone/iPad/Android/laptop) access, and I can work with my clients on the same data hundreds or thousands of miles apart.
It is the way of the future, but best of all it is available today for Australian Business Owners.
For me, I love that one ledger means no data re-entry for Financial Statements, LIVE data feeds from banks so the information can always be up to date.
And did I mention platform independent! Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux… as long as you have a browser and an internet connection, you have Xero.
Great reporting, EASY to use, an open API (if you know what that means you will like it) so it can “talk nice” with other software. Saves you time, saves me time. What is not to love about that?
Perhaps it is not perfect. But it’s damn close for me!
I would love to hear what you think, or if you have any questions, just comment below and I will respond.
Customer Service Workshop
In conjunction with Business Victoria, and our 10X business, below is the email that has been circulated to business in Moreland.
If providing great customer service sounds like your business, or how you would like your business to operate, then join us for a session full of ideas you can use the very next day. (Simply click on the link below to register)
AS CIRCULATED BY THE BRUNSWICK BUSINESS INCUBATOR
Our final learning event for 2011 is scheduled for 10.30am on Wednesday 30 November and the topic is “Giving Your Customers a “Wow” Experience.”
Successful organisations have a common focus:- CUSTOMERS… This is no secret. We all know that it’s our customers who keep our business going, pay our bills and even determine our fate!! Having satisfied customers isn’t good enough anymore. Competition demands that if you want a booming business, you need to create ‘Raving Fans’, who will provide the ever important positive ‘word of mouth’ message in the market place. This comes from delivering the WOW factor… exceeding expectations consistently in every aspect of your business.
This is an opportunity for business owners to learn the latest skills and technology to increase market share through improved customer service techniques.
Interested!!!!!!! Then, join presenter Catherine Gurr, Business Coach from 10X for an action packed 2 hours of strategizing and information sharing, where you are guaranteed to walk away with an action plan to implement your WOW strategies.
This workshop will be held at the Brunswick Business Incubator from 10.30am – 12.30pm on Wednesday 30 November.
The cost is $20 and includes the presentation, gifted resources, lunch and networking opportunities.
To book, click on this link:
https://services.business.vic.gov.au/ems/viewEventDetails.do?enterfrom=findandview&eventid=8107
Business growth strategies to get that elusive X Factor
Ever wondered why some businesses flourish – in fact, it seems they can do no wrong – and yet others struggle? Consider the answer is having …
“The Edge”. And here’s your chance to bring that edge to your business and increase your profits immediately …
We’d like to give you a first-hand, no-cost insight into just how quickly and how profoundly that can happen for your business …
So, we’d love for you to join us at our next series of VIP, exclusive events we’re hosting, in April and May 2011 called
“The Edge – Gaining the
Unfair Advantage & Increased Profits”
In this COMPLIMENTARY, hard hitting 3 hour event you will learn specific tools that will empower you to achieve the things you’re dreaming of for 2011, so that you are 100% set for success.
We will take you through some of the best kept secrets of success that we have acquired over the last decade by studying and working with elite individuals and businesses around the world.
This exclusive event is being hosted by MBR Group / 10X Moreland, and it’s literally designed to add value to your business and frankly – your life.
We launched 10X so we can play a far more proactive role in helping you manage and grow your business and expand the value of your very special asset.
10X is designed to help you increase the revenues and profitability of your business – and to help you adopt strategies that over time, improve your quality of life while we’re at it. To begin that important work on your business, you’re invited – on us – to this fantastic event.
Upcoming dates:
Tuesday 12th April 2011 / Wednesday 13th April 2011
Tuesday 3rd May 2011 / Wednesday 3rd May 2011
Venue:
MBR Group / 10X Moreland, Unit 15, 306 Albert St, Brunswick
To reserve your seat or for more information:
Contact Karlie at 10X Moreland, 03 9385 7700, Karlie.hinchcliffe@10x.com.au
Actions define you and your business
It is said that your businesses a reflection of you, and that is certainly the case for business owners.
If you purchased an existing business, then that business reflects what you saw as an opportunity, and it took your action in purchasing it to make it yours.
If you have built your business from scratch, then it is a culmination of many actions over the course of time.
If you are only a part owner, one key action that had to occur was that you had to agree to share ownership. This could have been by merger, acquisition of part interest, or sale of part interest.
To develop your business further, it will be the actions you take that determine the future.
You may think it is your strategies which matter most. I disagree. The best strategy in the world today is nothing without action.
So do you know where you want to be in 12 months, 2 years and 5 years? Do you know where you want your business to be?
And more importantly, if you know that, have you identified the actions required to take you and your business from where you are to that desired future?
Do that, and the reflection noted above will be brighter and much more attractive to you!
This is just one of the ways we work with our clients to help them grow their business and bring a brighter future to the fore. For more information, you can subscribe to our newsletter, or email me today at adam@mbrgroup.com.au
Do you want a brighter future?
What a cash-flow budget can do to help your business grow
Although only 5% of businesses have an up to date cash-flow budget, here are 8 reasons your business can benefit from having this done:
1. A document to use to discuss your finances with your banker (or another bank)
2. An understanding of why “cash is tight” at a particular time
3. Great motivation to undertake business growth strategies
4. The opportunity to put measures in place to minimize the impact of cash shortfalls
5. The ability to budget for the impact of additional business
6. Understanding the impact of a new investment in capital equipment
7. An understanding of cash available for use outside of the business
8. A reference document for ongoing monitoring of actual business performance
Of all of the above, utilizing the cash-flow budget in conjunction with a performance monitoring system provides the greatest value. Such a system provides ongoing business intelligence, motivation for change if necessary, an up to date assessment of performance, a baseline for testing new strategies, and early identification of opportunities and problems.
If you would like to explore how this can help your business email adam@mbrgroup.com.au today
The importance of communicating with your team
As a business owner you need to actively work to ensure the lines of communication are effective in your business. To do so actively, either personally in your role of leader or by ensuring your management team are charged with that role, is vital. If you do not it is likely communication will be merely left to “happen”.
If this is allowed, then you will soon see (or feel the impact) that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and a chain of communication will soon become ineffective if the importance of the message is not respected by the entire team.
For you or your management team, here are 4 keys to effective communication in business:
1. Commitment to a culture of effective communication from the top down.
2. Policies and procedures in place (enforceable) to support that culture.
3. Technology is only an enabler of communication (even if it is a powerful one) and is no replacement for a supportive culture and committed management.
4. Building culture (re communication or anything else) requires trust, and trust can be easily broken if management are not walking the talk.
Is there an opportunity for your business to improve its communication? If you would like the opportunity to review your Communication Culture, contact our office for a Business Health Check.
The Pareto Principle
To think that the Pareto Principle was developed in a garden in Italy in 1906 examining that 80% of peas came from 20% of pods, and yet that analysis is so relevant today in business and in life.
In your business one of the keys to maximising results is optimum resource allocation. It is in this that the Pareto Principle provides powerful guidance. By focusing on that 20% of inputs that are responsible for 80% of results, you can make powerful decisions about the allocation of resources, be that finance, labour, time, capital or equipment.
To assist the decision making process, identifying and monitoring your key performance indicators can provide your focus.
Every business will have Key Indicators. The question is, how are you measuring and monitoring yours to maximise your results?