It’s 14 days left in 2019. 2020 Money and Results starts now! Are you prepped or playing?
Introduction
Business is good business when it’s planned out nicely, and executed with utmost surety. Over the years, I have noticed how much small business owners wail in agony as they watch their businesses sink. I always looked and wonder, what exactly could have been going wrong? Upon pondering, and inquiring, I realized that it came down to one problem; there is just not enough preparation.
What does this mean? Year in, year out, entrepreneurs have been freestyling. There have not been plans in place to successfully connect from this year to the next, and to the next. For business to go on well, there has to be a clear, and conjoining chain of activities. In other words, year one must have activities that are related to year two. The same applies to year three, and so forth. Connecting these years without a proper plan in place is an unachievable process.
Therefore, I wrote this article to show you just how much businesses are failing to do well. I wrote it also to show you why is there such a huge failing rate that is characterized by wide losses. More so when entrepreneurs don’t plan for the year ahead well in advance.
So, why are businesses failing in the next year?
The fact is that year end is upon us, and nothing is going to stop it from happening. What does end of the year mean? It means the new year is coming, and, many organized businesses have long made plans for it. How about you? How much have you planned for it, how long have you gone into making your plans work? I ask this with the view that everything that you plan on doing for 2020 should already been on paper right now, with your team already geared enough for it.
Below are some of the reasons why your business could struggle in 2020.
1. You do not have a plan in place
If you anticipate on being successful in any way, you will make it this way; go into the following year with an exact plan. If with no plan, you are telling the universe to throw anything at you. And, you are also saying that you are ready to accept whatever the universe will throw at you. Doing business like this is always going to leave you stressed out for the rest of your days. And, it’s not healthy for you and your business.
What is a plan? This is typically a list, or diagram that details the steps, timing, and resources allocated to achieve a certain goal. Now, here is the beauty of planning, it’s in the definition, and it’s the phrase ‘to achieve a certain goal.’
Indeed, the best way to go about in business is to plan – set goals – set financial goals, and set business goals. This way, you set your business up for success.
When you plan your coming year, you would know what you want to achieve. Put everything on paper, your ideas, your targeted clients, and product development ideas. There should be already a plan in action, and a plan written down by September of each year. By October, you should all be starting to implement. So, if your goal is to increase your sales revenue, you would have a good marketing budget in your plan.
Lastly on this, never have a plan that is only known by yourself, but, communicate everything to your employees.
2. You have not re-evaluated your business plan
Every successful entrepreneur always revisits their business plan to make sure that the services and products they offer are in conjunction with their mission statements. As a matter of business principle, make sure that what you offer matches your mission. What is going to keep you at the top is sticking to your original ideas. This is so important, especially in marketing. Why do I say so? When customers buy your products and services, they buy into your brand, as a whole. As such, failure to adhere to your original principles may be fatal. Therefore, by this time, you must have evaluated all your plans for 2020, and evaluated how they support your business plan.
Again, this is not something that can be done as a quick fix at the beginning of 2020. There is no way that you would be struggling to plan during the new year when other businesses are already drawing contracts with clients. In order to compete well, plan ahead, align your plans with your business plan, and approach clients with clear goals.
3. You do not re-evaluate your financial statements
Just as the above point, going into the history of the company always works in your favor. Nevertheless, this is the different kind of history, but very critical in the way it assists your 2020 planning.
When looking at your financial statements, my recommendation is always to look at how the cash is flowing. Look at where has the money gone to, and where has it come from. After knowing this, know how much you have been making for you to set realistic goals. I mean, you cannot expect your company to just jump from making 100K in profits to a million the following year! Realistic goals will aim for a decent growth, like 40% in revenue, to, perhaps 140K.
It is always important to be realistic when setting business goals.
4. You do not have the love for the numbers
This part is in support of the above point. However, there is one more thing to be added here; always do it with an expert. The underlying principle is; you must not hesitate to spend money in order to make more money. Hiring an accountant to do your books does not steal from your purse, but results in organized financial statements. When you have these in place, your planning for 2020 will be coming from a well-informed position.
5. You do not have the proper business acumen
We spoke about this in the past, and today, we still emphasize on how important it is to have a good business acumen. People with a good business acumen are the best decision makers. Remember, the environment you operate your small business in is not balanced, and hard to predict with 100% accuracy. But, the people with a good business acumen always find ways to manipulate this environment.
You might not be sure if you have the right business acumen, if so, visit Business University for Entrepreneurs and learn all the business tips that you require.
