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December 1, 2011 ISSN# 1545-2646
Final Four
Well it is December 1st. There are only 4 weeks left in this calendar year and some of those weeks involve some down time for the holidays.
Is your business prepared for the end of the year and preparing for the beginning of 2012?
The last few years have been challenging for many businesses. Cash flow, sales, expenses, resources, employees etc. have all been impacted. Most organizations have reduced expenses to a point where utilization rates are at or beyond full. This has been required to support continued operation while bridging through difficult economic times.
I have no crystal ball to predict the future or business climate in 2012 but regardless of those possibilities, each business leader MUST take the time to evaluate what did happen in 2011 and what needs to happen in 2012 to be profitable.
Unfortunately lots of businesses start a year with a budget and then do not maintain it as the year rolls out. As strategic, tactical or other decisions are made, the update back to the budget and how it was impacted by that decision dont flow along with the action.
As we march along to the close of the calendar year, it is important for you to find the time to look at your financial results and plan your goals and objectives for next year. Ideally this should have started a couple of months ago but it is not to late to take these steps now.
Do a review of your Vision Statement Are you living up to the core direction and values?
Review external elements that impact your business Market Segments, Competition, Key Trends.
Review internal elements that impact your business Structure of the organization, Resources physical and humanistic.
Identify where you are going and the critical goals necessary to get you there.
Establish the budgets for specific areas of development and execution to support and deliver on your goals.
Capture all the assumptions you make as you plan for 2012 so that when something changes in the market you can quickly evaluate the gap between the change and your plan based on key assumptions.
Then it is all about action Deploy your time and resources to make 2012 a positive result.
Strategic Plan and Business Plan out of date? Give JKL Associates a call at (313) 527-7945.
Questions or comments – email us at partners@jklassociates.com or call our Office at (313) 527-7945-
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