Your Business Plan: The Best Road to Success
May 30, 2011
By Nerida Gill, Admin Bandit
Do you have time to fail?
Twenty one percent of small business owners obviously do, claiming they don’t have time to write a business plan, yet one third of small businesses fail because they lack one, according to an NAB survey.
Overall, the survey continues, 40% of small businesses don’t have a plan, which means about 800,000 Australian enterprises are flying by the seat of their pants.
So what exactly is this elusive plan statistics and experts alike say we need? Many liken it to a road map, but I’d like to suggest it’s more than that: a business plan doesn’t just tell you how to get somewhere; it also helps you decide exactly where it is you want to go.
Put simply, your business plan is a written document that defines your goals and sets out procedures to help you achieve them.
It’s not just about preventing failure
Of course, despite what the shocking statistics above may suggest, a business plan is not just a tool to reduce your chances of failure. It’s far more exciting — it actually maximises performance, so much so that independent studies in the US suggest businesses with a good one enjoy a whopping 63% higher sales growth and 58% higher profit growth than those without.
Photo credit: Justin Wasserman
Need more incentives? How about:
- Reduced costs
- Better cash flow
- Higher moral
- Less uncertainty
- Faster decision
- Improved competitiveness
- More efficient use of resources
A word of warning
Are business plans a “subgenre of contemporary fiction” as writer and television presenter Alain de Botton accuses in his book The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work? As much as I hate to admit it, he’s right to some degree.
Unfortunately, it’s easy to look good on paper, but too much “creative license” or even just going through the motions because you know you need a business plan doesn’t fool anyone, especially banks and investors. What’s more, it won’t make an ounce of difference to your success or failure.
The key is to keep it real and to do that you:
- Research, research, research… verifiable statistics from agencies like the Australian Bureau of Statistics are your best friend.
- Back up everything you say about your business and industry with evidence and examples (see above).
- Speaking of examples, read other business plans… take the time to go through the links at Business Victoria and you’ll uncover gold.
- Get credible, independent advice when developing those parts of your plan that are subject to speculation or “guestimates,” such budgets and sales forecasts… head straight to your nearest Business Enterprise Centre or state government small business website.
What to include
While there’s no set presentation and contents for a business plan, you need to cover six basic sections:
- Executive Summary: a one or two page synopsis of your plan, which you write last
- Business Goals:
- Vision
- Mission
- Goals
- Milestones/benchmarks
- Management Plan:
- Operations
- People
- Products/services
- Suppliers
- SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats)
- Marketing Plan:
- Industry overview
- Target market/customer profiles
- Competition and competitive advantage
- Distribution/sales channels
- Pricing policy
- Sales and advertising strategies
- Financial Plan:
- Start-up costs
- Profit or loss forecast
- Cash flow forecast
- Sales forecast
- Assets
- Sources of finance
- Supporting Information:
- Resumes
- Statistics in graph format
- Logo
- Floor plans
Phew… what a ginormous list! The bad news is that it’s just the beginning, but the good news is that there are a tonne of resources to help you flesh out your business plan. Check out business.gov.au for a comprehensive array of guidelines and templates that walk you through every step of the process.
Put it into action
This is where the rubber hits the road, where your business plan gets dog-eared and covered in coffee cup rings! You need to USE it every day as you manage operations, measure performance and plan ahead… and, most important, remember that your business plan is a “living” document that needs to be reviewed and updated as you reach your goals and your business grows or changes.
Admin Bandit won the Business Plan category at the 2008 Canberra BusinessPoint Gala Awards.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY NERIDA GILL
- How to Be an Inspiring Speaker (and Promote Your Business for Free)
- Put Down Your Gloves: How to Resolve Conflict the Right Way
- Show Me the Money: How to Get Your Debtors to Pay
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Nerida Gill - Admin BanditNerida Gill is the creator of Admin Bandit, a web-based accounting package designed specifically to make keeping the books easy for volunteer treasurers in community groups. After winning numerous business awards, Admin Bandit is in a growth phase after recently attracting external investment.
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Things I’ve learnt About Business!
May 25, 2011
By Julie Wise, The Silver Owl
Recently, I was asked to speak about the things I know now that I wish I knew back when I first started in business. This really got me thinking through everything I have done, what I have seen and the mistakes I’ve made. Here is my list of insights that I wish I had known way back when:
- You can save yourself a lot time, redundant emails (and maybe some hurt feelings) simply by picking up the phone or walking across the room to ask the person that question you’re typing right now.
- Employing people who don’t fit is hard work. Look for people who fit your values. Most other things can be taught, picked up, or beaten into them.
- If you’re lucky, your employees will always be smarter than you. Employ for that.
You’ll learn more from people who think differently than you.- That person who you just ‘back stabbed’ will be your boss tomorrow.
- Get a mentor – or 3. Their role is to ground you, build you and comfort you, but never do for you what you must do for yourself.
- You will become who you align yourself with. Pick your advisors/role models wisely.
- Always take the business card. You never know who that stranger really is. (This is how I met my mentor Richard!)
- No is a totally acceptable answer.
- If it’s not your strong skill, hire an expert. It’s a waste of your time, business and money to do it yourself.
- Always remember why you’re doing this. Know what you’re trying to build and why you’re trying to build it. It will see you out of some difficult times. Make sure your team remembers it too.
- You won’t always know what you’re doing or have all the answers. You just need to know where to go to find them.
- It’s never the product or concept that you like that will be successful. It’s what *they (customer)* likes that will sell. Remember that.
- You’ll get more from promoting others than you will from promoting yourself. You’ll also learn more, be introduced to cooler people and hear about things sooner.
- Think before you execute, but don’t procrastinate. A mediocre idea that’s acted upon will always trump the genius idea still in your head.
- You are going to meet some amazing people as result of all the blood, sweat and tears. You just have to relax enough to enjoy it.
Those are the things I wish someone had sat me down and told me when I started on this path. What are some of yours?
MORE GREAT POSTS BY JULIE WISE
- YOU: Your Business’ Most Important Asset
- Networking – Improving my ROI
- “Think & Grow Rich”: Who’s sitting at your table?
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Julie Wise - The SilverOwlJulie has over 25 years in business operations, strategy and performance improvements. She is an accredited Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and an alumnus of the Institute of Executive Coaching. She established The SilverOwl specifically to help businesses with their strategies and operational efficiencies. With Julie’s wealth of experience, and network of associates, The SilverOwl provides access to a vast range of business performance solutions and experienced professionals. Julie is on the Australian Business Women’s Network Advisory Board and the NSW Committee for the Australian Women’s Archive Project. In Jan 2010, she joined the Fred Hollows Foundation.
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How to Hook the Media With Your Story
May 24, 2011
By Johanna Baker-Dowdell, Strawberry Communications
What is it that makes you sit up and take notice when you hear something in the news or read beyond the first few words of the headline?
To get the media interested in even considering your story, you need a hook. And there is no point pitching to the media if you have no hook – journalists will consider you as wasting their time and they may not read your media release next time it comes across their desk. So treat each pitch to the media like it could be your only chance.
Some of the best advice I received as a cadet journalist on where to start when writing a news story, was to think about what I would say if I was telling someone about it at dinner that night. The most interesting angle immediately presents itself, so use this as your hook.
It is worth noting at this point that not everything you consider news will be newsworthy to a journalist. The reality is stark, but sometimes the media will pass on a story about your business. You need to spell it out to them as much as possible, because journalists don’t have time to think up an angle for every single news item.
When considering your hook, craft it to the media you plan to target. Here are some ideas:
- Are you hoping to get local coverage for your retail premises in the main street? Look for a national story you can localise.
- Do you want to create a big bang in your publicity nationally for your service-based business? Conduct a survey relevant to your industry and publish the results with your expert comments.
- Or you could partner up with another business to raise money for a charity close to your heart, such as a pink ribbon event during breast cancer awareness month, with the story being the higher profile the charity gained as a result and what the money raised will be used for.
Think carefully about why someone outside your immediate friends and family should be interested in your story and craft your pitch accordingly.
So, what is your hook?
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Johanna Baker-Dowdell - Strawberry CommunicationsJohanna owns and runs writing and public relations service Strawberry Communications. The agency builds relationships with the media and key stakeholders on behalf of its SME clients. This service is provided through careful research and strategic communication, then maintained by telling the business’s story through amazing publicity and expertly crafted words. Strawberry Communications is based in Launceston and was launched in 2007. Johanna has more than 16 years experience in the media industry and is also a freelance journalist and blogger.
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The Waiting Place
May 23, 2011
By Cat Matson, Alito
In ‘Oh, The Places You’ll Go’, Dr. Seuss tells us with brains in our head and feet in our shoes, we can steer ourselves any direction we choose. And with that excitement and free will, comes the inevitable consequence that sometimes we’ll end in place of indecision and ‘slump’. And rather than make a decision, Seuss says …
“You can get so confused,
that you’ll start in to race…
…and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…
…for people just waiting”
I see Business Owners in The Waiting Place all the time. Waiting for the government to change, the economy to turn, that staff member to leave or the marketing to work. They wait for the latest IT platform, that next big special, they wait for their tax refund and they wait… waiting for the arrival of ‘perfect’ conditions… until they can wait no more. Seuss is right – the Waiting Place is a most useless place.
Successful Business Owners don’t hang out in The Waiting Place. They get on with it… appropriate to current conditions.
It is what it is, and it ain’t what it ain’t.
And waiting for it to be different is as effective as watching the storm clouds roll in and hoping it doesn’t rain.
Owning your own Business presents the ultimate opportunity to ‘OWN’ your reality. Sometimes it means tough decisions have to be made. Sometimes you need to try different things… many different things… before YOUR conditions change. But ‘waiting’ for the external conditions to change is a recipe for failure. The ONLY thing you really have control over is your OWN attitude and your OWN actions… and as a Business OWNer, choosing attitudes and actions that will get you closer to your goals is the only way to OWN the business you want.
So – What are you waiting for? I’ll kick the conversation off 
For me, I’m waiting for a lot of things… being able to see in my mind the ‘perfect’ business model of an idea I’ve been working on forever before I even start with the 80% that I know works. I’m waiting for an appointment-free, distraction-free week to write my web-copy (with 2 young kids that’s unlikely to happen this decade)… I’m waiting to understand everything I need to understand about WordPress so I don’t have to rely on others… and I’m waiting for some imaginary person to give me permission. I’m waiting to lose 10 kgs so I ‘look the part’ and I’m waiting for everything to line up ‘perfectly’.
So over to you…
What are YOU waiting for? And what would be different if you stopped waiting?
MORE GREAT POSTS BY CAT MATSON
- Boldly Going Where Others Don’t
- Games Your Customers WANT You to Play
- Done! It’s time to get things finished and ‘shipped’.
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Cat Matson - AlitoCat is a Business CATalyst, sparking ideas for peak business performance. With a keen interest in strategy, marketing, social media and personal effectiveness, Cat works with clients to have their business firing on all cylinders. Appalled by the notion of ‘silver-bullet’, ‘one-size-fits-all’ approaches to business success, Cat works with savvy business owners to connect the RIGHT resources with the RIGHT strategy to produce the desired business outcomes. When not working, Cat enjoys time with her 2 young boys, her husband and exploring the ever-evolving possibilities of social media. She is a connection junkie – getting a buzz out of connections both on- and off-line and is often seen with iPhone to ear and iPad at fingertips.
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Getting on board to overcome professional isolation
May 20, 2011
By Susan Wareham McGrath, Susan Wareham Immigration Services
The professional isolation experienced by solopreneurs and work-at-home business owners is well documented, as are solutions – such as regular networking with colleagues, becoming an active member of your professional association or Chamber of Commerce, attending conferences and seminars and participating in online forums and discussion groups, just to name a few.
Today, I’m writing about another, less well known strategy, serving on a third sector (charity, not for profit or community group) board – which has the altruistic advantage of allowing you to give back to your community, cause or profession at the same time as overcoming professional isolation.
While these positions are generally unpaid, they are an excellent way to build professional reputations, develop a high profile, obtain leadership experience and take the first step towards gaining experience that could lead to a paid position on a corporate or government board in the future.
Australia’s third sector is growing rapidly, comprising over 700,000 organisations to date, so there is sure to be a board or management committee that’s right for you! If you need inspiration, you could visit www.ourcommunity.com’s Boardmatch service, or www.seek.com.au’s listings of volunteer roles which include serving on boards or management committees.
When you’ve located a role that interests you, you will most probably be required to submit a CV or résumé for consideration by the selection panel or recruiter. To present yourself in the best light for a board position, it’s important that your board CV is targeted to highlight your leadership skills and the attributes you can bring to the board.
It’s not difficult to write a third sector board CV – it just requires a slightly different perspective from the standard employment résumé. In general terms, your board CV should be strongly targeted to highlight your leadership skills, knowledge of and commitment to the community or industry in which the organisation is working. It should be succinct – 2 to 3 pages at a maximum – and the following information should be included at a minimum:
- your name, telephone and email contact details – making sure that any email addresses you use sounds professional
- a concise and tailored statement of the experience, skills and networks you can bring to the relevant board – bullet points are fine
- previous roles you’ve held on boards or management committees – even if they’re not relevant to the position of interest, they all demonstrate your commitment and leadership skills
- membership of any professional organisations or community groups
- a succinct overview of your employment history – include the name of the organisation, the dates your employment started and ended and your job title – unless a role is of specific relevance to the board you’re interested in, try to keep the information you include about your responsibilities to a maximum of three lines
It’s not unusual for boards to ask applicants to also address other requirements, such as providing brief biographies and listing referees, so before submitting your application, make sure you’ve read the recruitment information kit carefully, doubled checked your application for grammar and spelling and provided all the requirement information to demonstrate that you’re the best candidate for the role.
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The Australian Businesswomen’s Network recently presented an exclusive, one hour webinar with governance expert Julie Garland McLellan. This presentation dispelled the popular myths and provided viewers with the practical information needed to decide whether, how and when to enter the boardroom. |
MORE GREAT POSTS BY SUSAN MCGRATH:
- Quotas on Boards. What’s the real issue?
- What I Want for International Women’s Day
- “Tell us a little about yourself” – How to answer tough interview questions
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Susan Wareham McGrath, Susan Wareham Immigration ServicesSusan Wareham McGrath is a skilled and experienced Australian visa and immigration consultant; jobsearch strategist and career management consultant; professional writer, blogger and social commentator. She holds a degree in psychology, an advanced diploma in human resource management, a post graduate qualification in public policy development, a national training accreditation and registration as an Australian migration agent with the Migration Agents Registration Authority. Susan is a strong advocate for the personal and professional advancement of women, and after serving as an Advisory Board Member of the Australian Businesswomen’s Network since 2007 is now the ABN’s National Special Projects Manager.
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BOOKED for Lunch – Enchantment with Guy Kawasaki
May 19, 2011
How do companies such as Apple create such enchanting products? And how do some people always seem to enchant others?
According to bestselling business guru Guy Kawasaki, anyone can learn the art of enchantment. It transforms situations and relationships, turns cynics into believers and changes hearts and minds.
Join us on 30 June when Guy Kawasaki, author of Enchantment, is our guest for BOOKED for Lunch – Free webinars with the world’s leading business book authors and thinkers.
BOOKED for Lunch Details:
Enchantment – National Webinar
| Date: Times: |
Thursday, 30 June 2011 12.00pm to 1.00pm AEST (Check your timezone.) |
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| Venue: | Webinar, from the comfort of your home or office. | |
| Price: | Free | |
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Note: You will need internet access to participate in this GoToWebinar. Call costs may apply if you do not use VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). |
About the Author
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Guy Kawasaki
Guy Kawasaki is the co-founder of Alltop.com, an “online magazine rack” of popular topics on the web and a founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures. Previously, he was the chief evangelist of Apple. Kawasaki is the author of ten books including Enchantment, Reality Check, The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream and The Macintosh Way. Kawasaki has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA, as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College. |
About the Book
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Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions
Enchantment n: 1) To charm, delight, enrapture. Enchantment is Guy’s tenth book. In it, he explains how to influence what people will do while maintaining the highest standards of ethics. The book explains when and why enchantment is necessary and then the pillars of enchantment: likability, trustworthiness and a great cause. The next topics are launching, overcoming resistance, making enchantment endure and using technology. There are even special chapters dedicated to enchanting your employees and your boss. Finally, because there are times you may want to resist enchantment, there’s even a chapter about how to do this too. If you want to change the world — or even part of the world, this book is for you.
Here’s what the experts are already saying about Enchantment:
Photographs and testimonials courtesy guykawasaki.com. |
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About the BOOKED for Lunch Webinar SeriesThe BOOKED for Lunch webinar series are free lunch-time webinars that feature bestselling business authors and thinkers. Presented by the Australian Businesswomen’s Network and GoToWebinar these events are open to men and women who seek to expand their business education and to be inspired by thought leaders who will present new trends, big ideas and pose thoughtful questions. To participate all you need is access to the internet. So, book yourself in for the next Booked for Lunch series and get ready for some powerful food for thought. |
What is a webinar?
A webinar is a web-based seminar. To participate you need internet access. Instructions will be sent to you on receipt of your registration. This webinar is brought to you by GoToWebinar, Web events made easy. Visit GoToWebinar and start your free 30 day trial today.
IMPORTANT – LIMITED SPACES ON THE DAY
Your registration today indicates your intention to attend. This event is a free event. We therefore expect a percentage of those that register to not attend on the day. With this in mind, the ABN/Citrix GotoMeeting will oversell the event. We recommend you login early on the day (lines will open approximately 15 minutes before the webinar commences) for the best chance of securing your place. In the event that you arrive at a time when the capacity has been reached you will not be able to attend the live session. You will however be sent a link to the recording of the webinar.
Gaining insights for priority setting
May 18, 2011
By Kate Tribe, Tribe Research
Does your feedback cycle give you clear priorities for marketing and development?
I often see this aspect only partially completed and it negatively impacts the rest of the feedback cycle.
Asking about overall satisfaction in some way is very useful.
- Internally tracking the business: ‘Last year, we scored 7/10 for satisfaction but this year it has improved to 8/10′
- Marketing: ’99% of our customers recommend us’
- Benchmarking: “Apia led the way with a high score of +69 in the renowned 2009 Net Promoters Score. Far ahead of its competitors, the average score for this category was only +2.” Source APIA
Be clear about your aims so you ask about satisfaction in a beneficial way.
Big picture question: How likely are you to recommend The Australian Businesswomen’s Network on a scale from 0-10, where 0 is very low and 10 is very high?
- Good for measuring change over time as you can compare the average score between surveys and between segments of your customer base.
- Can benchmark your business against others as it is the question for calculating the Net Promoter Score.
- Don’t use for a quick marketing grab as you won’t get a useful number for that purpose.
- Be aware that people generally think about 7 as average in a 0-10 point scale, not 5.
Detail style question: How satisfied are you with the following services provided by the Australian Businesswomen’s Network, on a scale of 1-7 where 1=not satisfied and 7= very satisfied?
- Good for measuring views about specific aspects of your business if you word in a clear and simple way.
- Can use a ‘traffic light’ colour system to show the results to others internally – the aspects with the highest ratings are green (6 or 7) and those with middle scores orange (3, 4, or 5), then low scores are red (1 or 2).
- Don’t ask about too many aspects, otherwise participants will get tired and not individually rate each aspect.
- Be aware that you need to include a ‘not applicable’ option if some participants have not used the service you’re asking about. If you don’t include a ‘not applicable’ then they will leave the survey out of frustration or guess an answer, which will give you misleading results. For example, not everyone involved with the ABN has been involved with MentorNet so they can’t rate their level of satisfaction with it.
You can’t set priorities properly if you only ask about satisfaction.
If you ask about importance, as well as satisfaction, you can then identify aspects that are:
- high importance + low satisfaction = you need to improve as they are seen as weaknesses
- high importance + high satisfaction = you should be marketing as your strengths
- low importance + high satisfaction = stop investing time and money on
- low importance + low satisfaction = stop having this as part of your offering
Ask about the importance of the aspects in your business before asking about satisfaction. This can be easily done by asking: How important are the following when thinking about a business networking and educational group, on a scale of 1-7 where 1=not important and 7=very important?
- Good for orientating you to be thinking about your direct and indirect competitors.
- Can display as a scatter plot with satisfaction which easily shows priorities.
- Don’t change the wording of the aspects. Ask them the same way for both the importance and satisfaction otherwise you won’t be able to compare them later.
- Be aware of using your customer’s language, not yours, when talking about aspects in your business (for the satisfaction) or in the market generally (for the importance).
The benefit of these questions is that results can be presented 3 ways:
- visually
- written up descriptively
- as a simple number
This allows different types of people to absorb the information and think about ways to grow your business.
MORE GREAT BLOG POSTS BY KATE TRIBE
- A survey isn’t the only way to capture information
- The 9-Step Feedback Cycle
- Survey Reveals Diversity Within the ABN Community
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Kate Tribe - Tribe ResearchKate Tribe is the founder and Managing Director of Tribe Research. Kate has developed Tribe Research into an innovative and creative company focusing on accessible ways for business, non-profit and government sectors to grow from a better understanding of their tribe. Tribe Research aims for customers to explore their tribes of clients, customers, suppliers and staff, to uncover their views, and drive change in each clients business. Kate understands that as leaders of an organisation you need to be clear-headed about your marketing and business planning priorities and has made this a primary focus of Tribe Research’s solution. Kate believes that getting to know your tribe should be an enjoyable journey of discovery that gives you a clear head and direction to move forward, to drive change in the right direction.
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Startup Savvy – Leveraging Your Budget
May 16, 2011
By Lisa Murray, Revive Business Coaching
When a startup business owner has never run a business before, one of the biggest challenges is knowing where to use your startup funds for maximum results. The risk is you’ll spend the budget on things that aren’t necessary for business success, often due to friendly service providers you meet who tell you they should be first and their service is the most important to the success of your business… just remember they have a vested interest! So how do you move forward?
1.
Create a budget based on the essentials (e.g., product to sell), the legal requirements (e.g., registering your business name) and your marketing plan. Ensure you have enough start-up capital in place. Yes, you can start an internet business for $100 – but in most cases, you’ll need quite a bit more than that to build a sustainable business. Be realistic – triple your startup budget!
2.
Identify what is required in order for you to make your first sales. Unless you are primarily an online business, it won’t be a website. Business premises? Visibility and profile? A database? A product prototyped and tested?
3.
Focus on the next ‘one thing’ that is going to make the biggest difference to making your first sales. Temporarily forget the ‘nice to have’ ideas and prioritise the purchases that will deliver profit – without profit, you won’t need the ‘nice to haves’!
4.
For anything you outsource or purchase, be as specific as possible about what you require and ask for recommendations in your networks. There are plenty of people who spot newbies at 1000 paces and fill your pretty brain with unnecessary complexity in relation to what’s required. Stick to your core goal – to sell something as soon as possible! Fill the basic requirements quickly– you can always upgrade later.
5.
For most businesses, there is a natural order of priorities. If you are a retailer, premises and stock are pretty important. If you are an online business, your web presence is critical. If you are a service provider, developing relationships will be a priority. Until you know your product sells, hold onto your money, unless you are convinced you can’t make a sale without it!
If you are unclear about your first steps, talk to other business owners, a mentor or coach. I talk to too many startups that have spent months on business planning and branding, without ever selling anything. Finally it is all ‘perfect’ and they launch, only to find that demand is not what they expected, the audience they were aiming at is uninterested and they’ve invested their budget in the wrong areas, so there’s nothing left in the kitty for marketing or making changes to the business over the longer term.
The sooner you can get into your market and test it, ideally with only the business basics in place, the sooner you’ll know if you have a viable business. You can always upgrade as the business grows and if you have managed your investments carefully from the start, you can always change your focus if you need to.
Starting a business is a time when less is definitely more, unless you are talking profile that leads to sales!
MORE GREAT BLOG POSTS BY LISA MURRAY
- 5 Strategies for Leading Consciously
- Digging Out The Gold From Your Annual (P)review
- To Achieve or Not to Achieve?
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Lisa Murray – Revive Business Coaching/Bliss TribeLisa Murray is an experienced business mentor who brings bliss back into your business. Her holistic, unconventional and creative strategies help small business owners design authentic, ease-filled and profitable businesses. Through her BlissTribe community, Lisa is a catalyst for business owners to choose a phenomenal, rich and joyful life without compromise! The sky is not the limit… there are no limits… unless you choose them! Lisa connects the dots for you… she is an idea generator, a sounding board, a skilled facilitator, a strategist, a problem solver and a contribution to the authenticity and potency of you creating the business you truly desire and deserve. What else is possible? Ask and you will receive!!
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Consistency is King in Customer Experience
May 13, 2011
By Vivienne Kane, Minuteman Press Prahran
My husband and I have a long standing Saturday morning ritual. We walk our dog (an elderly but still lovable Golden Retriever) to a local café for a latte or two and have a debrief about our business week. Initially, we tried a different café every time, but we’ve gradually whittled the list down to one real favourite.
Why? Because rain, hail or shine, we get consistent, great coffee and really friendly service – regardless of which staff member takes care of us. Sure, we love having a chat to the owners if they’re on site, but whether or not they are there, the staff delivers the goods.
Are you confident all of your staff provides a consistent customer experience?
If you’re not sure, or you know you have problems in this area, try workshopping the issue with them. You could start with the areas where there might be inconsistencies. Things you might consider:
- Greetings. it’s important to be authentic here (I’m not a fan of scripts), but the basic approach should be agreed.
- Information gathering techniques. How do we establish what the customer needs?
- Up-selling practices. Once we know what they want, are there related products they could offer?
- Pricing policies (particularly if you allow staff to negotiate on prices).
- Complaints handling.
Think about what your customers expect. And what approach your business needs.
For each area, you need to create a “best practice” standard that is consistently achievable. It shouldn’t be a straight jacket, but core values and expectations need to be clear.
Test each part of the system – then review and adjust if necessary. Once everyone is satisfied with the result, add it to your standard procedures, and make sure the information is readily available to all staff (not gathering dust on a back office shelf). Training new staff is easy once you have this in place.
Unambiguous guidelines on customer service remove uncertainty for staff. That really helps to lower stress, boost confidence and make your workplace a more productive and happier place.
And it’s likely to encourage the right customers to come back.
MORE GREAT BLOG POSTS BY VIVENNE KANE
- Tell them you think they’re dreaming
- What happens when your product breaks?
- How “Better than expected” could be your new normal
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Vivienne Kane - Minuteman Press PrahranAs the owner and operations manager of Minuteman Press Prahran, a franchise print supplier, Vivienne works with small business customers every day. She runs the business, and their online specialty division CalendarPrint, with her husband Nicholas and their talented staff. With a customer base which often has little experience in buying print, Minuteman Prahran’s point of difference is making the process as painless as possible. Vivienne is a strong advocate of clear and reliable communication as a key tool in winning and keeping customers. She started her professional life as a Speech Pathologist, and enjoyed a variety of roles in administration and community groups before establishing Minuteman Press in 2000. She has three Gen-Y adult children, is an almost an empty nester, loves travel and is a member of two book clubs.
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Budget Impacts for Small Business and Working Families
May 12, 2011
By Amy Lyden, Australian Businesswomen’s Network Advocacy Advisor
Budget time again. After scouring through the papers and online material, there aren’t a lot of surprises this year. The government has delivered a pretty basic budget promising to get Australia back in black by 2012-13.
There are many facets of the budget, but here I have focused on small business and working families.
SMALL BUSINESS
Addressing a Skills Shortage
“Building Australia’s Future Workforce” includes the establishment of a $558m fund to provide training opportunities for up to 130,000 skilled workers. This should help small business address the recurring problems of finding qualified skilled staff.
Lower Tax Rate
Small businesses will be able to access a reduced 29% tax rate in 2012-13. The lower tax rate will free up profit which may be used to grow the business.
Lower PAYG installments
Reduced PAYG installments will benefit a majority of small businesses, providing $700m of additional cash flows in 2011-12. This will benefit approximately 2.7m small businesses.
Depreciation Changes
From 2012-13, small businesses will be allowed to have enhanced depreciation allowances for motor vehicles. They will be able to claim up to $5,000 as an immediate deduction. For the first year, they can also claim 15% of the remainder. For subsequent years, the 30% depreciation rate is maintained. The enhanced deduction for motor vehicles, a key asset for most small businesses, will lead to lower taxable incomes, and thereby a reduced tax due for small businesses.
Small Business Support Line
The ‘Small Business Support Line‘ will continue with an additional $7.1m of Government funding.
Advisor Finder
The recently launched ‘Adviser Finder’ tool will help small businesses to better access assistance from the Enterprise Connect Centres and the Business Enterprise Centres.
WORKING FAMILIES
$150,000 household income is now the welfare threshold.
The budget has extended the freeze in the indexation of income limits on family payments including Family Tax Benefits A and B, the Baby Bonus and Paid Parental Leave until 2014, which will save the government more than $1 billion over the next four years. This means that during the first year of the new rules, 31,000 families will no longer be eligible for Family Tax Benefit A and a further 9,000 will not receive Family Tax Benefit B. Basically any family earning at least $150,000 will no longer be eligible for this government assistance.
The budget also defers the introduction of paid paternity leave from July 2012 to January 2013.
All of these cuts will clearly negatively impact working families, and put a greater pressure on families to make ends meet.
SUMMARY
Overall, I believe the government has delivered a basic “do the job” budget. There is a needed investment in workforce skills, which will have a flow on effect to small business, but overall, there is generally not enough support for small business.
And working families, with the exception of families with 16-19 year olds in education or training, are mostly worse off as a result of this budget.
One area that I applaud: a $2.2b package over five years to tackle mental health issues. One of the very few bold moves made by the government on this budget.
MORE GREAT BLOG POSTS BY AMY LYDEN
- Managing yourself for HIGH Performance
- Celebrating 100 Years of International Women’s Day with Unity Dow
- The Paid Parental Leave (PPL) Scheme — Now that we’ve got it (yay!), who should administer it?
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Amy Lyden - Advocacy Advisor – Australian Businesswomen’s NetworkAn entrepreneur and specialist in ecommerce and online strategy, Amy has had over 13 years of practical experience in these areas. Launching her first website in 1998 Amy was at the forefront of an online revolution without even realizing it. Within a year this site became and remains today a #1 ranking site and global community of pet lovers that attracts over 4 million visitors a year. This Australia-based business, Bow Wow Meow, now sells product online to over 100 countries worldwide. Amy sold this business in 2007 and turned her energy to the nonprofit sector. Amy is currently the CEO of Australian Scholarships Foundation, an organisation that facilitates scholarships for education and training for people who work in the nonprofit sector. Amy is the recipient of numerous business awards including the 2006 NSW Telstra Business Women’s Awards for Innovation, the 2002 National Telstra Business Award and the Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World Grant. Amy is an Ambassador and former Chairperson for the Australian Businesswomen’s Network, an organisation that supports female entrepreneurs. Amy was also invited to serve on the Commonwealth Small Business Council, an initiative by the Federal minister for Small Business. Amy has been profiled in the following books: “Women’s Business, Women’s Wealth” by Amanda Ellis, “Female Entrepreneurs,” by Leiza Clark and “Secrets of Female Entrepreneurs Exposed!” by Dale Beaumont. Amy is passionate about using technology to connect people globally for positive change.
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