| Current Category is: Strategic Planning | Select Another Category | |
|
|
| Home | Search | Categories | Links | About Us | Contact Us |
|
|
 |
Planning For The Slow Season Of Your Business To Increase Sales
Every business experiences slower periods. For some, they sell more during the Christmas season while others move at a snail pace. Some sell more during the summer and others less. The key is being aware of your seasons and alternatives available to solve the challenge and change the results. All businesses need down time, breathing room to re-evaluate where we're going, and where we've been. What's working and what's not? What changes need to occur and where we want to go in the future? Have you planned your breathing room time into your calendar year? As a coach and independent professional, I know by personal experience and through the feedback of my clients, that during the slow times, stress, fears, and challenges on how to pay the bills increases. Sometimes, stress increases without any money factors because we're not used to having additional time on our hands, so our brain manifests things to fill the void. So, what are the alternatives? Good question. Let's explore the possibilities... You can use the "save for a rainy day" philosophy by moving a certain percentage from a regular account to a money market or savings account for those rainy time periods. You can plan out, on a paper calendar your seasonal periods. Look at your Income Statement for the past few years and you will see a pattern appearing. If that history isn't available, ask others in your field area. As a coach, I'm in the personal development field. I would contact others in this field, like speakers, trainers, who have experience and history and interview them on the question. After you review your historical financial information, keep in mind that future economic conditions will influence your seasonal plans. This requires a strategy on who and what you are going to use for economic indicator flags. This may require a financial planner, economist, or other professional on your support team. Reading the paper or watching the news is all well and good, however, it can also add to confusion. Too many cooks in the kitchen syndrome. Choose one or two cooks and ask the others to leave the kitchen. Remember, there are different seasons all over the world. When its summer in the United States, there is a different season in Australia and Japan. If your marketing vicinity is global, you need to plan your seasons very carefully. Each requires different marketing strategies and procedures. When marketing in the U.S. reduces, marketing in other countries will most likely increase. Especially if you are in the bathing suit business. If your business is strictly local, you can create additional products or services that will only be available during that season. This can maintain momentum. You can use the "limited availability" technique for these products. You can use this time for vacation, organize, plan, create new products, and use your rainy day funds for support. As well as, establish new joint ventures, expand personnel, test new product ideas, clean up backlogs in filing or emails, send out thank you gifts, upgrade your computer, or learn new software. Keep in mind that leaving some of these to-dos might be detrimental to your revenue generation thinking. Allowing a build up of the items that support your success, as mentioned in the above two paragraphs, can create a desire to create your own self-fulfilling prophecy. You will intentionally create a slow period when a natural occurrence wouldn't regularly happen. An indicator can be if sales don't return after the slow cycle. Pay particular attention if it occurs. Choose to do some planning today on your seasons for the money results you want tomorrow. Identify when and where your business and industry seasons are, explore all possible solutions, and work through a plan to fill the void. The results will almost be a given. Catherine Franz is a Marketing & Writing Coach, niches, product development, Internet marketing, nonfiction writing and training. Additional Articles: http://www.abundancecenter.com blog: http://abundance.blogs.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
5 Strategies That Will Boost Your Business Productivity Today! - Part 2 Growing your own small business can be one of the most exciting journeys you could ever embark upon!But it's important that you continuously implement new and fresh ways to generate sales and improve your profitability in order to stay ahead of the market!Here are the next 5 Strategies to help you propel your business to new heights of success!1. Develop your own Loyalty ProgramIf you have a look in my wallet, I have a Jesters Pies Card, a Subway Card and a Video Ezy card - all of which entitle me to something for nothing once I have made enough purchases!Some people will call me cheap?I just think it makes sense! If I'm going to buy something anyway?why not go somewhere that rewards me for my loyalty?If people have to buy your type of product or service from somewhere, why not make it more attractive for them to buy from you?Create your own loyalty program and create regular, satisfied customers who get rewarded for giving you their business!2. Pave the Way to a Successful Strategic Plan Many very successful business owners may never have had a formal strategic plan. Some think, "Why do we need to do strategic planning? We're doing great just like we are. Strategic Planning Fundamentals Strategic planning is vital while starting a new business or expansion of an business or planning to boost the performance of an existing business. But it requires detailed strategic planning and controlled deployment activities. Sales Planning and Business Plans Writing a business plan can be tricky when all the books on the subject fail to keep updating their editions. One significant factor is the sales planning in business plans, yet few books show examples of how to explain online sales which will contribute to your over all stores sales in your retail outlet. Microsoft Great Plains Implementation: Healthcare/Hospital example - overview for consultant Microsoft Great Plains fits multiple services market niche and healthcare is not exemption. In the case of Healthcare/Hospital there is usually healthcare patient history tracking system in place and backoffice or accounting application should be integrated on the ongoing basis with the above mentioned system plus often Hospital or association is non-profit organization and non-for-profit accounting specifics should be taken into consideration. The Chief Cause of Business Failure & Success Business rises and falls on leadership. According to business guru, Brian Tracy, "Leadership is the most important single factor in determining business success or failure in our competitive, turbulent, fast-moving economy. Business Plan: The Simplest Business Plan Ever If you're a solo professional like I am, you know how tough it is to find any time at all to do any business planning. Doing a full business plan is a must if you're planning to seek financing or investors, but most solo professionals don't need anything that complicated. What Every Service Provider Ought To Know About Writing A Business Plan It's easy to lose sight of what needs to be communicated to prospective investors when writing the various sections of a business plan. Successful business owners/entrepreneurs use each section of their business plan to work up interest, to present arguments and, most important, to build trust and confidence. Business Plan Financial Projections: Stop Worrying About Being Right... Business plan financial projections seem daunting because they are so uncertain. This very uncertainty, however, is what makes preparing them easy because you can't possibly be right. Pressure Washing Entrepreneurs Can Help With Government NPDES Permits If you own a pressure washing business one of the smartest things you can do is get involved with the local and regional enforcement for storm water environmental laws. The reason being is they do not understand the washing process of the industry and you can assist them with pertinent information. Menu Driven Business Planning A menu is the foundation of any restaurant; Guests will support or avoid a restaurant for its food. Starting with a preliminary menu is a simple and basic approach to restaurant development. The Accountability/Alignment Process: Three Steps to an Accountable Organization The Accountability/Alignment Process: Three Steps to an Accountable Organization Generating genuine accountability and functional alignment into your workplace cannot be left to vague ambitions and abstract statements. Well designed processes must be embedded into the heart of an organization to ensure that each employee's goals and expectations are clearly defined and that the resources to bring about specific measurable results are in place. Describing Intellectual Property in Your Business Plan Most companies that are worthy of raising venture capital have proprietary Intellectual Property (IP). In fact, the quality of the IP and the management team are often the two most important aspects of a venture capitalist's investment decision. Strategic Planning and Total Quality Management No matter what product or service you provide you will have to face this issue of quality and systems. Whether it is distribution of services or streamlining of processes in manufacturing your product; you will need to address the issues of total quality management. Break-Even Analysis A significant advantage of some business ideas is that the venture can break even at what seems to be an easily achievable volume. A technique for quantifying that volume, called break-even analysis, examines the interaction among fixed costs, variable costs, prices, and unit volume to determine that combination of elements in which revenues and total costs are equal. Why Six Sigma Will Work in Healthcare If ever there were an industry where we want zero defects, it's healthcare. Patients, medical professionals, and healthcare administrators all want mistakes eliminated and quality and efficiency improved. Mastermind Your Way to Success What do Mark Victor Hansen, Robert Allen, Anthony Robbins, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Ben Franklin have in common?They all leverage the power of the mastermind team.The mastermind works on the concept that two (or more) heads are better than one. 3 Ps of Planning - Prepare, Personalize, Pilot Here's a really simple way to make sure your plans alwaysproduce the results you expect."There is one quality which one must possess to win, andthat is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what onewants, and a burning desire to possess it. Seasonality: Whats the Big Deal? Do you work in or own a business that's affected by seasonal cycles? Do you live in a community whose population changes significantly during the year (e.g. Own Your Niche by Building a Niche Community In 1997, David Steele was making the transition from a professional therapist to relationship coach. Part of his strategy was to become a center of influence and THE Relationship Coach for his community.
|
| Home
| Sitemap
| Disclaimer
| Privacy
| Contact
Us © COPYRIGHT 2011 BRAINBELLY.COM |
