The following article from BDC (business Developpment Bank of Canada)is right on.
A 5-step, no-nonsense marketing plan
Doing business without a marketing plan is like driving without a map. You may get to your destination – eventually – but you risk making time-consuming and costly errors along the way. For example, you might be assuming there's demand for your product when there isn't. Your services might be priced too low. Or you could be venturing into a market that is impenetrable because of regulatory restrictions.
Marketing plan = confidence
The only way to start a business venture with confidence is to develop a good marketing plan backed up with facts and research. It's a document that clearly shows how you'll attract potential customers to your product or service and persuade them to buy. As part of doing your homework thoroughly, the marketing plan builds confidence with financial institutions by showing you have a good chance of making a success of your business.
Contrary to popular belief, the marketing plan is not a one-time effort destined to sit in a binder on your desk. On the contrary, it should be updated on a regular basis to reflect the changing needs of your business and customers.
There are many different models for marketing plans. But here are the
5 essential steps.
5 steps to creating a successful marketing plan
1. Do a situation analysis
Many companies start with a SWOT analysis, looking at your company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. An integral part of this is to clearly identify your competitors, understand exactly how they're operating and know their strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths are any competitive advantage, skill, expertise, proficiency, talent, or factor that strengthens your company's position in the marketplace and can't be easily copied. Examples are a well-trained sales team, low staff turnover, high consumer retention or low production costs due to technology.
Weaknesses are the factors that affect your company's ability to independently achieve its objectives. Examples are unreliable delivery, outdated production tools, insufficient marketing efforts or a lack of planning.
Opportunities are ways for your business to grow and be more profitable, such as seeking new markets, managing technological changes or addressing new consumer trends. You need to look at how your company's key skills can be used to take advantage of these opportunities.
Threats are barriers to entry in your primary markets, such as competitor's actions, labour shortage, legislative hurdles, or detrimental economic/political developments.
2. Develop a target market profile
Demographic portrait
Here you want to demonstrate you know your customers inside and out, including their expectations and their whims. Your profile should include basic demographics that paint a clear portrait of your clients. For example, you can look at factors such as age, sex, profession or career, income level, educational level and geographic location.
Estimated demand
You'll want to provide research that shows the estimated demand for your product or service and expected growth rate. This builds confidence with financial institutions that your business has growth potential.
Purchase motivation
Another important aspect is understanding exactly what motivates customers to buy. For example are your clients looking for savings, a way to simplify their lives or just shopping for pleasure? Ask yourself, why would they buy your product or service? In the same vein, you may want to know what keeps customers away from your competitors' products or services. Are they too costly? Do they lack something unique? This information is invaluable in developing a product or service that outshines the competition.
3. Set clear marketing objectives and targets
Here you describe the desired outcome of your market plan with attainable and realistic objectives, targets and a clear time frame.
The most common approach is to use marketing metrics. For example, your market objectives could look at total market share and segments, the total number of customers and percentage retained, the rate of purchases and the size/volume of purchases.
4. Determine your marketing strategy
Once you've determined your objectives and targets, it's time to look at how you'll promote or market your business to prospective customers. Typical strategies should cover the Four Ps of marketing. (Product, Price, Place and Promotion).
Your choice of marketing vehicles will be governed by your target market profile. For example, you need to understand how different vehicles reach different audiences. Don't make assumptions that you have to spend money on costly advertising. If you have a niche audience, for example, you can take advantage of low-cost marketing strategies such as e-mailing.
Generally speaking, the most costly options are advertising, sales promotions and public relations
Referrals and networking represent lower cost ways to reach customers
E-marketing is a powerful strategy because of its low-cost and targeted reach potential.
5. Do your financials
A marketing plan without financials has little clout. Your financials can also be included in your general business plan.
Important aspects to include here are:
A budget and forecast
A budget and sales forecast needn't be complex. In fact, it's wise to keep it simple. It may help to start with these basic questions:
How much do you project that you will sell?
What will you be charging for your products or services?
What will it cost to produce your products or deliver services?
What will be your basic operating expenses? Be sure to include recruitment and salaries here
How much financing do you need to run your business?
Answering these questions will help you determine your projected income and your expenses
A break-even analysis lets you show exactly what you need to sell to cover the costs of doing business. If you can attain and surpass your break-even point and easily bring in more than the amount of sales revenue you'll need to meet your expenses, you stand a good chance of making profits.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
The catastrophic event in Haiti is another reminder of the importance of having a business emergency plan
How would your business cope if a third of your employees couldn't come to work because of a pandemic flu? What if your local electricity or transport services were down for a week? Or if your main supplier was in an area affected by floods and could not deliver critical supplies?
The Canadian Centre for Emergency Preparedness estimates that up to 86% of small and medium-sized businesses fail to recover in the 3 years following an emergency.
Being prepared is critical for any business. Catastrophic events such as those of September 11, 2001, Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Haiti, have shown us that major emergencies can happen and that they have a significant impact on business. In canada we also had our share of disruptive events: Power Outage, SARS, several hurricane, Ice storms, floods etc. And it will happen again.
Creating a business continuity plan (BCP) can help your business survive during and after a crisis
What types of emergency can affect your business?
For a business, an emergency situation is one that causes it to stop or alter its day-to-day activities. In Canada, this can include:
•Natural disasters: Different regions of Canada can be affected by a variety of cataclysms, including blizzards, hurricanes, forest fires, floods and earthquakes. You should be aware of what natural phenomena can strike your area.
•Pandemic flu: This is a major outbreak of a rapidly spreading and contagious strain of influenza. A pandemic would mainly affect businesses through high employee absenteeism: up to 50% of employees could be unable to work. Unlike other types of emergencies, the effect of a pandemic will be worldwide rather than regionalEnvironmental accidents: Includes the effects of pollution, spills of hazardous materials, etc.
•Power outages and critical systems failures: Includes breakdowns and stoppages in the communications, transportation or health sectors.
•Accidents, sabotage, terrorist strike
•Cyber attacks
Emergencies have an impact on your business because they affect:
•People: One of the greatest impacts of an emergency is on human resources. During a crisis such as a pandemic, your employees and partners may be unable to get to work.
•Infrastructure: Any impact on the transportation system could make it impossible for employees to come to work, and keep you from making deliveries or receiving needed materials. If the communications or electricity infrastructures are affected, it may be difficult for you to continue your day-to-day operations.
•Computers: Your data and your ability to work can be jeopardized if your computer systems are damaged or if your technical support staff are absent from work.
•Suppliers and clients: If key business partners, located in another part of the world, are affected by an emergency, this can have a significant impact on your business.
How to prepare for an emergency
While we can't eliminate the potential of an emergency occurring, we can reduce its impact by being prepared. In an emergency, you may not have time to make the arrangements necessary to:
•Protect your employees
•Minimize damage to your site
•Minimize business impacts
Planning is the key to being prepared. You should prepare a plan of what to do during the emergency, to protect your employees and worksite, and to maintain as many of your operations as possible.
Crisis preparedness
Ensuring the safety of employees, your site and equipment during an emergency requires planning that is specific to the type of emergencies that can occur in your area. This may include plans for:
• Evacuating employees
• Creating a shelter in the workplace
• Providing first aid or medical attention
• Having emergency supplies on hand. Basic emergency supplies can consist of a transistor radio, flashlight with extra batteries, tools, first aid kit, food, water and blankets, and a power generator.
The Canadian Red Cross offers guidelines on how businesses can prepare for the physical impacts of an emergency.
Ensuring the survival of your business
The aim of business continuity planning is to help you continue to deliver critical services or products to your clients during the emergency, instead of focusing on restarting business operations after the emergency has passed.
BDC offers all businesses a detailed business continuity plan to help them prepare for an emergency. The 8 key steps are:
1. Establish an emergency preparedness team
2. Identify essential services and functions
3. Identify required skill sets and staff reallocation
4. Identify potential issues
5. Prepare a plan for each essential service and function
6. Compare with Capital Health's "Preparedness Checklist"
7. Review the plan with the team
8. Revise, test and update the plan
Getting outside assistance
Creating a business continuity plan is an essential part of a business' overall strategic plan. An external consultant, can give you the guidance you need to ensure that that your business continuity plan is thorough and realistic.
The Canadian Centre for Emergency Preparedness estimates that up to 86% of small and medium-sized businesses fail to recover in the 3 years following an emergency.
Being prepared is critical for any business. Catastrophic events such as those of September 11, 2001, Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Haiti, have shown us that major emergencies can happen and that they have a significant impact on business. In canada we also had our share of disruptive events: Power Outage, SARS, several hurricane, Ice storms, floods etc. And it will happen again.
Creating a business continuity plan (BCP) can help your business survive during and after a crisis
What types of emergency can affect your business?
For a business, an emergency situation is one that causes it to stop or alter its day-to-day activities. In Canada, this can include:
•Natural disasters: Different regions of Canada can be affected by a variety of cataclysms, including blizzards, hurricanes, forest fires, floods and earthquakes. You should be aware of what natural phenomena can strike your area.
•Pandemic flu: This is a major outbreak of a rapidly spreading and contagious strain of influenza. A pandemic would mainly affect businesses through high employee absenteeism: up to 50% of employees could be unable to work. Unlike other types of emergencies, the effect of a pandemic will be worldwide rather than regionalEnvironmental accidents: Includes the effects of pollution, spills of hazardous materials, etc.
•Power outages and critical systems failures: Includes breakdowns and stoppages in the communications, transportation or health sectors.
•Accidents, sabotage, terrorist strike
•Cyber attacks
Emergencies have an impact on your business because they affect:
•People: One of the greatest impacts of an emergency is on human resources. During a crisis such as a pandemic, your employees and partners may be unable to get to work.
•Infrastructure: Any impact on the transportation system could make it impossible for employees to come to work, and keep you from making deliveries or receiving needed materials. If the communications or electricity infrastructures are affected, it may be difficult for you to continue your day-to-day operations.
•Computers: Your data and your ability to work can be jeopardized if your computer systems are damaged or if your technical support staff are absent from work.
•Suppliers and clients: If key business partners, located in another part of the world, are affected by an emergency, this can have a significant impact on your business.
How to prepare for an emergency
While we can't eliminate the potential of an emergency occurring, we can reduce its impact by being prepared. In an emergency, you may not have time to make the arrangements necessary to:
•Protect your employees
•Minimize damage to your site
•Minimize business impacts
Planning is the key to being prepared. You should prepare a plan of what to do during the emergency, to protect your employees and worksite, and to maintain as many of your operations as possible.
Crisis preparedness
Ensuring the safety of employees, your site and equipment during an emergency requires planning that is specific to the type of emergencies that can occur in your area. This may include plans for:
• Evacuating employees
• Creating a shelter in the workplace
• Providing first aid or medical attention
• Having emergency supplies on hand. Basic emergency supplies can consist of a transistor radio, flashlight with extra batteries, tools, first aid kit, food, water and blankets, and a power generator.
The Canadian Red Cross offers guidelines on how businesses can prepare for the physical impacts of an emergency.
Ensuring the survival of your business
The aim of business continuity planning is to help you continue to deliver critical services or products to your clients during the emergency, instead of focusing on restarting business operations after the emergency has passed.
BDC offers all businesses a detailed business continuity plan to help them prepare for an emergency. The 8 key steps are:
1. Establish an emergency preparedness team
2. Identify essential services and functions
3. Identify required skill sets and staff reallocation
4. Identify potential issues
5. Prepare a plan for each essential service and function
6. Compare with Capital Health's "Preparedness Checklist"
7. Review the plan with the team
8. Revise, test and update the plan
Getting outside assistance
Creating a business continuity plan is an essential part of a business' overall strategic plan. An external consultant, can give you the guidance you need to ensure that that your business continuity plan is thorough and realistic.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Top 7 decision-making tips for managers
from bdc.ca
When you manage a business, you are constantly making decisions - often under pressure. How do you make the best possible decisions, knowing they will have an impact on your company's future?
There are strategies you can use to avoid common pitfalls and hone your decision-making skills. Making better, faster decisions will help you take advantage of business opportunities and avoid pitfalls.
1. Reframe the problem
Backing up is sometimes the best way to move forward. When you are presented with a problem, step back and think about its full context. Try to see the issue from as many perspectives as possible. That will help ensure you are not emphasizing one aspect and neglecting others.
Begin by trying to think of at least 3 different ways of looking at the problem.
2. Make evidence-based decisions
The aim of evidence-based management (EBM) is to use scientific evidence when making decisions, rather than simply trusting one's instincts. Like most people, you probably tend to use your judgement and to base your decisions on what is familiar. But experiences that you have had at other companies or in different circumstances may not apply to the situation at hand.
There are simple steps you can take to incorporate evidence into your decision making.
Use performance data to support your decisions. Get the most current and complete data possible.
Challenge your gut feelings. Is there any objective evidence to support them?
When a course of action is suggested, find out what it's based on and whether it's supported by data.
Determine whether commonly used business strategies have worked in a situation like yours. Will they apply to your particular case?
Check that the business data you come across are current and objective.
3. Challenge the status quo
People tend to choose the status quo over change, to stay in their comfort zone. But being comfortable with an approach may not be enough to justify it. Question whether you would choose a course of action if you weren't already following it. Examine your options as realistically as possible. Don't overstate the cost or the effort involved in making a change.
For example, if you were starting over, would you use the same marketing tactics to attract customers? Would you attend the same trade shows? Would you emphasize web-based marketing, direct mail or a mix? Don't forget to find supporting data that will help you review your choices objectively.
4. Get an outside perspective...but trust yourself
Make it a habit to ask others for information and opinions. Be open-minded. Get a wide range of views, so you can see an issue from as many perspectives as possible.
Employee opinions count
Find ways to encourage information sharing in your company. Be open to plain talk and foster an atmosphere where people can be direct, even when the truth is unpleasant. Using performance evaluations is one way to encourage these values.
Deal with problems
If you want to consult others about a problem, be sure to consider it carefully from as many angles as possible before talking to them. That way, you will avoid being limited by their interpretations and ideas. Frame the problem in as many ways as you can, and then seek out others to see whether they can add to your understanding of the issue.
5. Develop an eye for risk
It's possible to train yourself to look for all types of risks. Whenever you make a decision, ask yourself: If I make the wrong decision, how will I know it?
For example, if you are considering changing your transportation carrier to cut costs, think about how you would determine that you'd made the wrong decision.
Your service department would report more customer complaints about delayed orders.
You wouldn't see cost savings at the end of the quarter.
Administration staff would complain of poor service from the new supplier.
The carrier could go out of business, leaving you to find a new supplier.
This type of exercise can help you see the potential pitfalls of a decision and take steps to avoid them.
Even a generally good plan will have costs and potential problems. Ask for information on how the plan could go wrong. Play the devil's advocate. Examine all the evidence, both bad and good. Don't underestimate the costs and effort required.
6. Let go of past mistakes
People have a tendency to make choices that justify past experiences, even when a previous decision has not worked out as well as they'd planned. We also tend to spend time and money fixing past problems, when it would be more useful to acknowledge the mistake and move on.
Making sound decisions means taking into account the evidence that is available at the time. Sometimes the context changes and that decision is no longer valid. Recognize that you made the best decision possible under the circumstances, and then review the situation to see whether a different decision is now called for.
In your company, take time to recognize employees who make good decisions based on sound evidence. Don't focus exclusively on outcomes, as that approach can encourage employees to perpetuate mistakes by continuing to try to fix them.
7. Be honest with yourself
Before gathering evidence to make a decision, take time to review your own motivations. Is your mind already made up? Are you really gathering evidence objectively, or are you simply looking to confirm an existing idea?
Being aware of your own motivations can help you remain objective and focus on finding the best possible solution for your business.
Be decisive
Briskly proceed through the 7 previous steps and then make a decision
When you manage a business, you are constantly making decisions - often under pressure. How do you make the best possible decisions, knowing they will have an impact on your company's future?
There are strategies you can use to avoid common pitfalls and hone your decision-making skills. Making better, faster decisions will help you take advantage of business opportunities and avoid pitfalls.
1. Reframe the problem
Backing up is sometimes the best way to move forward. When you are presented with a problem, step back and think about its full context. Try to see the issue from as many perspectives as possible. That will help ensure you are not emphasizing one aspect and neglecting others.
Begin by trying to think of at least 3 different ways of looking at the problem.
2. Make evidence-based decisions
The aim of evidence-based management (EBM) is to use scientific evidence when making decisions, rather than simply trusting one's instincts. Like most people, you probably tend to use your judgement and to base your decisions on what is familiar. But experiences that you have had at other companies or in different circumstances may not apply to the situation at hand.
There are simple steps you can take to incorporate evidence into your decision making.
Use performance data to support your decisions. Get the most current and complete data possible.
Challenge your gut feelings. Is there any objective evidence to support them?
When a course of action is suggested, find out what it's based on and whether it's supported by data.
Determine whether commonly used business strategies have worked in a situation like yours. Will they apply to your particular case?
Check that the business data you come across are current and objective.
3. Challenge the status quo
People tend to choose the status quo over change, to stay in their comfort zone. But being comfortable with an approach may not be enough to justify it. Question whether you would choose a course of action if you weren't already following it. Examine your options as realistically as possible. Don't overstate the cost or the effort involved in making a change.
For example, if you were starting over, would you use the same marketing tactics to attract customers? Would you attend the same trade shows? Would you emphasize web-based marketing, direct mail or a mix? Don't forget to find supporting data that will help you review your choices objectively.
4. Get an outside perspective...but trust yourself
Make it a habit to ask others for information and opinions. Be open-minded. Get a wide range of views, so you can see an issue from as many perspectives as possible.
Employee opinions count
Find ways to encourage information sharing in your company. Be open to plain talk and foster an atmosphere where people can be direct, even when the truth is unpleasant. Using performance evaluations is one way to encourage these values.
Deal with problems
If you want to consult others about a problem, be sure to consider it carefully from as many angles as possible before talking to them. That way, you will avoid being limited by their interpretations and ideas. Frame the problem in as many ways as you can, and then seek out others to see whether they can add to your understanding of the issue.
5. Develop an eye for risk
It's possible to train yourself to look for all types of risks. Whenever you make a decision, ask yourself: If I make the wrong decision, how will I know it?
For example, if you are considering changing your transportation carrier to cut costs, think about how you would determine that you'd made the wrong decision.
Your service department would report more customer complaints about delayed orders.
You wouldn't see cost savings at the end of the quarter.
Administration staff would complain of poor service from the new supplier.
The carrier could go out of business, leaving you to find a new supplier.
This type of exercise can help you see the potential pitfalls of a decision and take steps to avoid them.
Even a generally good plan will have costs and potential problems. Ask for information on how the plan could go wrong. Play the devil's advocate. Examine all the evidence, both bad and good. Don't underestimate the costs and effort required.
6. Let go of past mistakes
People have a tendency to make choices that justify past experiences, even when a previous decision has not worked out as well as they'd planned. We also tend to spend time and money fixing past problems, when it would be more useful to acknowledge the mistake and move on.
Making sound decisions means taking into account the evidence that is available at the time. Sometimes the context changes and that decision is no longer valid. Recognize that you made the best decision possible under the circumstances, and then review the situation to see whether a different decision is now called for.
In your company, take time to recognize employees who make good decisions based on sound evidence. Don't focus exclusively on outcomes, as that approach can encourage employees to perpetuate mistakes by continuing to try to fix them.
7. Be honest with yourself
Before gathering evidence to make a decision, take time to review your own motivations. Is your mind already made up? Are you really gathering evidence objectively, or are you simply looking to confirm an existing idea?
Being aware of your own motivations can help you remain objective and focus on finding the best possible solution for your business.
Be decisive
Briskly proceed through the 7 previous steps and then make a decision
Thursday, January 7, 2010
How your company can work smarter
(reproduction of an article found on BDC.ca)
Technological advancement, globalization and customer expectations have increased the need for higher productivity within a business. For example, Canadian entrepreneurs are now competing with companies in countries such as China and India which produce products at lower costs.
In a formal sense, productivity refers to how well an organization converts input (such as people, materials, machines, skills and capital) into goods and services or output. But today, it is no longer limited to measuring ratios of inputs and outputs. Basically, increasing productivity just means working smarter. You can look for opportunities to improve efficiency just about anywhere in your company. Here are some key areas to consider:
Choosing the right equipment can help you reduce the risk of costly errors and improve the way you do business. Before you buy any equipment, be sure you are thoroughly familiar with the current and future needs of your business. Ask yourself:
Is the current equipment giving you good results?
Do you need to replace several pieces of equipment with more efficient machinery?
Can the equipment you are replacing be used somewhere else within your company?
Will this acquisition be a long-term investment?
Would it be better to rent equipment?
Will you use all the features or are they simply gadgets?
Have you considered costs of training employees on new equipment?
Buying more efficient equipment can also help you improve your production line. BDC Consulting can help you analyze your space and resources, improve your plant layout and eliminate processes that add no value.
Use technology to improve your operations.
Web-based technologies enable you to dramatically improve how you run your business. You're a good candidate if you're looking to increase market share, to aggressively pursue cost reductions or improved efficiencies, and to prevent customer service problems. Production management tools range from spread sheets (probably the most common) to off-the-shelf software solutions or business specific custom-developed applications. Here are some examples:
e-purchasing (online buying) is an alternative vehicle you can use to get your materials from suppliers. This technology enables you to get more competitive pricing as you are no longer limited to local merchants. Generally, the cost of transaction processing is reduced and there is less time invested in paperwork.
Smart inventory control systems can help you reduce inventory levels, improve profitability and speed up responses to customers. Online and order management systems integrate inventory information with your organization's purchasing, accounting and e-business systems. This means you can easily track order status and the movement of inventory within your company. You will also be able to identify peak and low periods, allowing you to make adjustments to your supply purchases and better manage your working capital.
It also helps to keep abreast of technological developments and ensure that your business is taking advantage of the latest innovations to improve productivity. You can use the Web or attend trade shows to stay on top of new technology. Trade shows are a great resource as software vendors often make their information available to attendees. You can also network with other organizations in your industry who may have already tried and tested new innovations. Finding out what your competitors are doing can narrow your search down for solutions that are specific to your industry. A BDC Consulting can help you establish selection criteria and identify potential software suppliers.
Review your existing set-up.
Look at your processes from the point of view of an investor; keep in mind the overall objective and vision of the business and ensure the processes meet those goals and add value for the client. Draw an accurate map of each process in your material and information flow. By doing this, you can improve interconnections and better understand the links between various elements of your production. As well, you will be better equipped to identify and eliminate waste throughout your company.
Implement a continuous improvement approach.
Improving productivity is an ongoing activity that evolves constantly. Here are some suggestions to setting up a continuous improvement plan:
You can start by assessing the competition and best practices in your industry, also known as benchmarking. However, don't copy plans of other businesses - develop one that works for your company.
Get external help to assess your business weaknesses and strengths. This gives you an objective viewpoint on where you can improve productivity and redesign processes.
Take a step-by-step approach rather than tackle everything at once. Focusing on a few priorities will enable you to see results faster.
Assign specific teams to specific problems or processes for redesign.
Put a formal suggestion system in place for employees.
Look for breakthrough accomplishments. Small improvements can transform into major increases in productivity.
Measure your results. Ideally, this should involve an outside party for objectivity.
Outsourcing can be a cost-effective way to focus your efforts on what you do best as a business and make productivity gains. But whether you choose to outsource logistics, accounting, payroll, public relations or IT, it's vital to first grasp what drives costs and profits in your company. Before you get started, it's important to assess your current production and costs such as location, shipment and client proximity. You need to know exactly which core functions increase revenues and which non-core functions increase your expenses and affect your productivity.
Many entrepreneurs don't tap into outsourcing opportunities because they fear they might lose control of their business or are concerned about expenses. And although these may be valid concerns, you can make outsourcing work if you take the right steps. BDC Consulting could provide you some direction in determining your best outsourcing strategy.
Strategic alliances allow you to grow your organization without necessarily expanding its size and incurring more costs. For example, the right alliance could improve your production processes by increasing your economies and scale and broadening your distribution market. An alliance could help your company negotiate better supply deals, share costs such as advertising and take advantage of costly technology. Increasing your productivity could also mean getting into new markets with new products and services, extending your market reach or accelerating research and development by sharing costs and resources.
Technological advancement, globalization and customer expectations have increased the need for higher productivity within a business. For example, Canadian entrepreneurs are now competing with companies in countries such as China and India which produce products at lower costs.
In a formal sense, productivity refers to how well an organization converts input (such as people, materials, machines, skills and capital) into goods and services or output. But today, it is no longer limited to measuring ratios of inputs and outputs. Basically, increasing productivity just means working smarter. You can look for opportunities to improve efficiency just about anywhere in your company. Here are some key areas to consider:
Choosing the right equipment can help you reduce the risk of costly errors and improve the way you do business. Before you buy any equipment, be sure you are thoroughly familiar with the current and future needs of your business. Ask yourself:
Is the current equipment giving you good results?
Do you need to replace several pieces of equipment with more efficient machinery?
Can the equipment you are replacing be used somewhere else within your company?
Will this acquisition be a long-term investment?
Would it be better to rent equipment?
Will you use all the features or are they simply gadgets?
Have you considered costs of training employees on new equipment?
Buying more efficient equipment can also help you improve your production line. BDC Consulting can help you analyze your space and resources, improve your plant layout and eliminate processes that add no value.
Use technology to improve your operations.
Web-based technologies enable you to dramatically improve how you run your business. You're a good candidate if you're looking to increase market share, to aggressively pursue cost reductions or improved efficiencies, and to prevent customer service problems. Production management tools range from spread sheets (probably the most common) to off-the-shelf software solutions or business specific custom-developed applications. Here are some examples:
e-purchasing (online buying) is an alternative vehicle you can use to get your materials from suppliers. This technology enables you to get more competitive pricing as you are no longer limited to local merchants. Generally, the cost of transaction processing is reduced and there is less time invested in paperwork.
Smart inventory control systems can help you reduce inventory levels, improve profitability and speed up responses to customers. Online and order management systems integrate inventory information with your organization's purchasing, accounting and e-business systems. This means you can easily track order status and the movement of inventory within your company. You will also be able to identify peak and low periods, allowing you to make adjustments to your supply purchases and better manage your working capital.
It also helps to keep abreast of technological developments and ensure that your business is taking advantage of the latest innovations to improve productivity. You can use the Web or attend trade shows to stay on top of new technology. Trade shows are a great resource as software vendors often make their information available to attendees. You can also network with other organizations in your industry who may have already tried and tested new innovations. Finding out what your competitors are doing can narrow your search down for solutions that are specific to your industry. A BDC Consulting can help you establish selection criteria and identify potential software suppliers.
Review your existing set-up.
Look at your processes from the point of view of an investor; keep in mind the overall objective and vision of the business and ensure the processes meet those goals and add value for the client. Draw an accurate map of each process in your material and information flow. By doing this, you can improve interconnections and better understand the links between various elements of your production. As well, you will be better equipped to identify and eliminate waste throughout your company.
Implement a continuous improvement approach.
Improving productivity is an ongoing activity that evolves constantly. Here are some suggestions to setting up a continuous improvement plan:
You can start by assessing the competition and best practices in your industry, also known as benchmarking. However, don't copy plans of other businesses - develop one that works for your company.
Get external help to assess your business weaknesses and strengths. This gives you an objective viewpoint on where you can improve productivity and redesign processes.
Take a step-by-step approach rather than tackle everything at once. Focusing on a few priorities will enable you to see results faster.
Assign specific teams to specific problems or processes for redesign.
Put a formal suggestion system in place for employees.
Look for breakthrough accomplishments. Small improvements can transform into major increases in productivity.
Measure your results. Ideally, this should involve an outside party for objectivity.
Outsourcing can be a cost-effective way to focus your efforts on what you do best as a business and make productivity gains. But whether you choose to outsource logistics, accounting, payroll, public relations or IT, it's vital to first grasp what drives costs and profits in your company. Before you get started, it's important to assess your current production and costs such as location, shipment and client proximity. You need to know exactly which core functions increase revenues and which non-core functions increase your expenses and affect your productivity.
Many entrepreneurs don't tap into outsourcing opportunities because they fear they might lose control of their business or are concerned about expenses. And although these may be valid concerns, you can make outsourcing work if you take the right steps. BDC Consulting could provide you some direction in determining your best outsourcing strategy.
Strategic alliances allow you to grow your organization without necessarily expanding its size and incurring more costs. For example, the right alliance could improve your production processes by increasing your economies and scale and broadening your distribution market. An alliance could help your company negotiate better supply deals, share costs such as advertising and take advantage of costly technology. Increasing your productivity could also mean getting into new markets with new products and services, extending your market reach or accelerating research and development by sharing costs and resources.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
10 conseils pour les leaders qui veulent gérer leur stress
(extrait d'un article publié sur BDC.ca)
Beaucoup d'entrepreneurs canadiens sont de plus en plus stressés depuis le début de la récession.
Dans un récent sondage de BDC, 61 % d'entre eux ont évalué à 7 sur 10 leur niveau de stress ressenti, ce qui est nettement plus élevé que l'an dernier.
Les entrepreneurs qui ont répondu au sondage dans le cadre du panel en ligne de BDC appelé Points de vue ont attribué leur stress a une série de facteurs, notamment:
Composer avec l'insécurité financière (71 %)
Gérer la pression associée au développement de l'entreprise (52 %)
Être la seule personne responsable de l'entreprise (51 %)
Passer de nombreuses heures au travail (38 %)
Michael Campbell, chercheur au Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), explique que les gens font déjà un pas important dans la gestion du stress et la réduction de ses effets néfastes en prenant conscience de ce qu'ils ressentent. Une fois qu'ils ont compris la cause du problème, ils sont mieux en mesure de bien le gérer. Le CCL est un centre de formation des cadres mondial sans but lucratif.
Voici 10 stratégies de gestion du stress que les experts recommandent aux entrepreneurs:
1. Soyez à l'affût des manifestations physiques du stress (la transpiration et l'augmentation du rythme cardiaque, par exemple). Il est important de reconnaître ces signaux d'alarme et de réussir à les soulager. De simples exercices de respiration profonde peuvent suffire.
2. Regardez les choses en face. Plutôt que de fuir le problème, demandez-vous ce qui provoque chez vous une réaction de stress et trouvez le moyen de reprendre le dessus. Mettez immédiatement le doigt sur la cause – que ce soit le récent appel d'un client insatisfait ou une décision d'affaires difficile à prendre.
3. Faites une pause chaque fois que c'est nécessaire. Lorsque vous sentez le stress monter, faites autre chose; par exemple, levez-vous pour marcher un peu ou sortez du bureau pour aller dehors. Ces quelques minutes vous aideront peut-être à envisager la situation autrement. Elles feront au moins diminuer votre malaise dans l'immédiat.
4. Adoptez un mode de vie sain. L'exercice physique soutenu peut vous aider à réduire le stress si vous en faites au moins trois fois par semaine à raison d'une demi-heure. Vous aurez aussi plus d'énergie et composerez mieux avec le stress si vous mangez bien et augmentez, par exemple, votre consommation de fruits et de légumes.
5. Visez un équilibre judicieux entre travail et vie personnelle. Bien que le milieu des affaires soit extrêmement exigeant, il est essentiel de consacrer du temps à d'autres activités que le travail (sorties en famille, sports et autres passe-temps). C'est ce qui vous permet de refaire le plein.
6. Modérez votre perfectionnisme. Vous pouvez offrir des produits et des services de qualité sans vous laisser envahir par le souci de la perfection. Sachez quand lâcher prise et employez-vous à faire de votre mieux dans le monde concurrentiel où vous évoluez.
7. Déléguez pour alléger votre charge de travail. Vous ne pouvez pas tout régler vous-même. Aussi bien l'accepter. Au lieu de gérer chaque dossier dans ses moindres détails, faites donc l'effort de confier des responsabilités à vos employés pour les laisser ensuite travailler de façon autonome. Si chacun met la main à la pâte, vous vous sentirez peut-être moins stressé.
8. Entourez-vous de bons confidents. En discutant de vos enjeux d'affaires avec d'autres personnes, vous saurez sans doute plus facilement relever les défis auxquels vous faites face. Songez aussi à exploiter un réseau d'acteurs clés de votre secteur, pour découvrir quelles solutions ils apportent à des problèmes similaires.
9. Exercez un meilleur contrôle sur les finances de votre entreprise. La gestion des liquidités est une source d'anxiété majeure pour bien des entrepreneurs. Trouvez donc des moyens de mieux contrôler vos revenus et vos dépenses. Employez-vous aussi à accroître la productivité de façon à améliorer la santé financière de votre entreprise.
10. Faites de vos vacances un véritable engagement. Prenez le temps de vous arrêter pour récupérer, surtout pendant les périodes mouvementées. Par exemple, quand vous êtes en congé, éteignez votre Blackberry. Et s'il peut vous sembler judicieux de reporter vos vacances, dites-vous que les risques à long terme dépassent les avantages immédiats. L'entreprise serait vraiment en péril si vous tombiez malade
Beaucoup d'entrepreneurs canadiens sont de plus en plus stressés depuis le début de la récession.
Dans un récent sondage de BDC, 61 % d'entre eux ont évalué à 7 sur 10 leur niveau de stress ressenti, ce qui est nettement plus élevé que l'an dernier.
Les entrepreneurs qui ont répondu au sondage dans le cadre du panel en ligne de BDC appelé Points de vue ont attribué leur stress a une série de facteurs, notamment:
Composer avec l'insécurité financière (71 %)
Gérer la pression associée au développement de l'entreprise (52 %)
Être la seule personne responsable de l'entreprise (51 %)
Passer de nombreuses heures au travail (38 %)
Michael Campbell, chercheur au Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), explique que les gens font déjà un pas important dans la gestion du stress et la réduction de ses effets néfastes en prenant conscience de ce qu'ils ressentent. Une fois qu'ils ont compris la cause du problème, ils sont mieux en mesure de bien le gérer. Le CCL est un centre de formation des cadres mondial sans but lucratif.
Voici 10 stratégies de gestion du stress que les experts recommandent aux entrepreneurs:
1. Soyez à l'affût des manifestations physiques du stress (la transpiration et l'augmentation du rythme cardiaque, par exemple). Il est important de reconnaître ces signaux d'alarme et de réussir à les soulager. De simples exercices de respiration profonde peuvent suffire.
2. Regardez les choses en face. Plutôt que de fuir le problème, demandez-vous ce qui provoque chez vous une réaction de stress et trouvez le moyen de reprendre le dessus. Mettez immédiatement le doigt sur la cause – que ce soit le récent appel d'un client insatisfait ou une décision d'affaires difficile à prendre.
3. Faites une pause chaque fois que c'est nécessaire. Lorsque vous sentez le stress monter, faites autre chose; par exemple, levez-vous pour marcher un peu ou sortez du bureau pour aller dehors. Ces quelques minutes vous aideront peut-être à envisager la situation autrement. Elles feront au moins diminuer votre malaise dans l'immédiat.
4. Adoptez un mode de vie sain. L'exercice physique soutenu peut vous aider à réduire le stress si vous en faites au moins trois fois par semaine à raison d'une demi-heure. Vous aurez aussi plus d'énergie et composerez mieux avec le stress si vous mangez bien et augmentez, par exemple, votre consommation de fruits et de légumes.
5. Visez un équilibre judicieux entre travail et vie personnelle. Bien que le milieu des affaires soit extrêmement exigeant, il est essentiel de consacrer du temps à d'autres activités que le travail (sorties en famille, sports et autres passe-temps). C'est ce qui vous permet de refaire le plein.
6. Modérez votre perfectionnisme. Vous pouvez offrir des produits et des services de qualité sans vous laisser envahir par le souci de la perfection. Sachez quand lâcher prise et employez-vous à faire de votre mieux dans le monde concurrentiel où vous évoluez.
7. Déléguez pour alléger votre charge de travail. Vous ne pouvez pas tout régler vous-même. Aussi bien l'accepter. Au lieu de gérer chaque dossier dans ses moindres détails, faites donc l'effort de confier des responsabilités à vos employés pour les laisser ensuite travailler de façon autonome. Si chacun met la main à la pâte, vous vous sentirez peut-être moins stressé.
8. Entourez-vous de bons confidents. En discutant de vos enjeux d'affaires avec d'autres personnes, vous saurez sans doute plus facilement relever les défis auxquels vous faites face. Songez aussi à exploiter un réseau d'acteurs clés de votre secteur, pour découvrir quelles solutions ils apportent à des problèmes similaires.
9. Exercez un meilleur contrôle sur les finances de votre entreprise. La gestion des liquidités est une source d'anxiété majeure pour bien des entrepreneurs. Trouvez donc des moyens de mieux contrôler vos revenus et vos dépenses. Employez-vous aussi à accroître la productivité de façon à améliorer la santé financière de votre entreprise.
10. Faites de vos vacances un véritable engagement. Prenez le temps de vous arrêter pour récupérer, surtout pendant les périodes mouvementées. Par exemple, quand vous êtes en congé, éteignez votre Blackberry. Et s'il peut vous sembler judicieux de reporter vos vacances, dites-vous que les risques à long terme dépassent les avantages immédiats. L'entreprise serait vraiment en péril si vous tombiez malade
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
The countdown has started for employers with 10+ employees
For all companies that have 10 employees or more the countdown has started. Under the Pay Equity Act, employers with 10 or more employees must achieve pay equity and determine what adjustments in compensation are required.
In the province of Quebec a total of 65 844 companies are subject to this law and it’s being reported that fewer than half have implemented a pay equity plan. Furthermore the law dictates specific requirements to implement and maintain a pay equity program.
Failing to do so can bring serious consequences including an inquiry from the «Commission de l’équité salariale», fines and penalties and imposed retroactive pay adjustments.
When implementing pay equity you must first identify all the job classes, within your enterprise,Such as predominantly female job classes and predominantly male job classes in order to compare them and then redress differences in compensation.
It is critical that you ensure that the gender representation for each class has been determined properly, in compliance with the criteria set forth under section 55 of the ACT.
What are your plans regarding this legal requirements? Are you planning on handling this internally or are you considering hiring a consultant?
Note: The opinion stated here are personal and do not reflect the opinion of my employer nor engage their responsibility in anyway. You can follow my blog at http://agoyette.blogspot.com/
In the province of Quebec a total of 65 844 companies are subject to this law and it’s being reported that fewer than half have implemented a pay equity plan. Furthermore the law dictates specific requirements to implement and maintain a pay equity program.
Failing to do so can bring serious consequences including an inquiry from the «Commission de l’équité salariale», fines and penalties and imposed retroactive pay adjustments.
When implementing pay equity you must first identify all the job classes, within your enterprise,Such as predominantly female job classes and predominantly male job classes in order to compare them and then redress differences in compensation.
It is critical that you ensure that the gender representation for each class has been determined properly, in compliance with the criteria set forth under section 55 of the ACT.
What are your plans regarding this legal requirements? Are you planning on handling this internally or are you considering hiring a consultant?
Note: The opinion stated here are personal and do not reflect the opinion of my employer nor engage their responsibility in anyway. You can follow my blog at http://agoyette.blogspot.com/
Are you the entrepreneurial type?
Here is a tool to help better measure your entrepreneurial potential. This questionnaire includes 50 statements, and will take about 15 minutes to complete. There are no right or wrong answers. Your honest rating is what counts.
You can choose a number, on a scale of 1 to 4, to represent how strongly you agree with each statement. Use the entire scale as much as possible, as always answering "2" or "3" will not allow you to fully benefit from this tool.
Once completed, your answers will be compiled according to 3 criteria: motivations, aptitudes and attitudes. Your overall score describes your profile compared to other entrepreneurs.
Rest assured that your responses will remain strictly confidential.
http://www.bdc.ca/en/business_tools/entrepreneurial_self-Assessment/Entrepreneurial_self_assessment.htm
You can choose a number, on a scale of 1 to 4, to represent how strongly you agree with each statement. Use the entire scale as much as possible, as always answering "2" or "3" will not allow you to fully benefit from this tool.
Once completed, your answers will be compiled according to 3 criteria: motivations, aptitudes and attitudes. Your overall score describes your profile compared to other entrepreneurs.
Rest assured that your responses will remain strictly confidential.
http://www.bdc.ca/en/business_tools/entrepreneurial_self-Assessment/Entrepreneurial_self_assessment.htm
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