Business Problems? Is My Business in Trouble? How Can I Tell Before the Worst Happens?
Business Problems? Is My Business in Trouble? How Can I Tell Before the Worst Happens?
Sit down quietly in your office, with your records to hand and work your way through this business health check. You don’t need to do it all at once, but try and do it within a few days. You should review each question deeply in order to get a detailed view of your business.
Management
1. Do you rely too much on one manager, including yourself?
2. What would happen if one or more managers left or were ill for some time?
3. Do you have enough managers with the right experience?
4. Do you have too many managers?
5. Are your managers trained or experienced to the optimum level?
Staff
1. Do you have enough staff?
2. Do you have a high staff turnover?
3. Can you find staff with the right skills and experience?
4. Are your staff fully trained?
5. Are your staff in the right departments and geographic areas?
6. Do you have a strong sales and admin group?
Operations
1. Your internal efficiency – does your company run efficiently from marketing to after sales?
2. Can you manufacture or fulfill your sales quickly and meet your customer’s expectations?
3. Do you have bottle necks in any of your business processes?
4. Do you receive frequent complaints about any part of your business?
5. Can you provide your goods and services during sales cyclical increases?
6. Do you have high stock levels that you regularly have to sell off at below normal prices?
7. Do you have a strong marketing and advertising strategy in place?
Sales
1. Are your sales strong and gradually increasing?
2. Are your sales reliant on external factors that you have no control on? Think ice cream seller.
3. Do you have strong cyclical sales and can you cope with them?
4. Do you have alternative products and services available for periods when your standard stock is not selling so well. Think diary sellers.
5. Do you have a strong product range that has a naturally increasing set of price points?
6. Do you have up sells available to capitalize on each customer’s total sales value?
7. Do sell products that are complimentary to your major products?
8. Are you selling what your customers are asking for?
9. Are the sales of one particular product diminishing?
10. Do you often get asked for something you don’t have?
11. Are you sure that the prices you charge are set at the optimum level.
Financial:
1. Do you have a steady cash flow or are there periods of stagnant or negative cash flow?
2. Do you collect the majority of your invoices within 30 days?
3. Do you have a problem with obtaining loans?
4. Are your stock costs high?
5. For retail or manufacturing companies. Are your staffing costs a large proportion of your total costs?
6. For service companies. Are your charge out rates at least 200% of your staff rates.
7. For service companies. Are your consulting staff being charged out at least 75% of time?
8. Do you have a good gross profit?
Suppliers:
1. Can you suppliers force you to take large deliveries?
2. Are suppliers difficult to find?
3. Is supply readily available?
4. Do you have the opportunity of obtaining supplies from several companies?
5. Can you obtain deliveries when you need to?
Customers:
1. Do you rely on just a few customers?
2. Can some of your customers insist on lower prices?
3. Do you have a lot of late payers?
4. Is the cost of obtaining new customers high?
5. Do your customers often repeat order?
6. Do you have a high percentage of customers who only order once from you?
Market:
1. Is competition very strong?
2. Do you have a near monopoly?
3. Do you have a strong and recognized brand in your market place?
4. Are you aware of future changes in your market place and changing your offerings to meet these?
5. Are you leaving some market niches unexplored or untouched?
6. Are there markets that you could exploit?
7. Are your marketing costs a high proportion of your costs?
These questions are planned to give you a good understanding of the weaknesses of your business. If you have too many negatives then you know you have some remedial work to do.
Business Problems Is My Business in Trouble How Can I Tell Before the Worst Happens - To learn more about this author, visit Lee Lister's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
It is a well know fact that many businesses fail within the first few years – so how can you make sure that your business is not failing at the moment. Here’s a Business Health Check for you.
Sit down quietly in your office, with your records to hand and work your way through this business health check. You don’t need to do it all at once, but try and do it within a few days. You should review each question deeply in order to get a detailed view of your business.
Management
1. Do you rely too much on one manager, including yourself?
2. What would happen if one or more managers left or were ill for some time?
3. Do you have enough managers with the right experience?
4. Do you have too many managers?
5. Are your managers trained or experienced to the optimum level?
Staff
1. Do you have enough staff?
2. Do you have a high staff turnover?
3. Can you find staff with the right skills and experience?
4. Are your staff fully trained?
5. Are your staff in the right departments and geographic areas?
6. Do you have a strong sales and admin group?
Operations
1. Your internal efficiency – does your company run efficiently from marketing to after sales?
2. Can you manufacture or fulfill your sales quickly and meet your customer’s expectations?
3. Do you have bottle necks in any of your business processes?
4. Do you receive frequent complaints about any part of your business?
5. Can you provide your goods and services during sales cyclical increases?
6. Do you have high stock levels that you regularly have to sell off at below normal prices?
7. Do you have a strong marketing and advertising strategy in place?
Sales
1. Are your sales strong and gradually increasing?
2. Are your sales reliant on external factors that you have no control on? Think ice cream seller.
3. Do you have strong cyclical sales and can you cope with them?
4. Do you have alternative products and services available for periods when your standard stock is not selling so well. Think diary sellers.
5. Do you have a strong product range that has a naturally increasing set of price points?
6. Do you have up sells available to capitalize on each customer’s total sales value?
7. Do sell products that are complimentary to your major products?
8. Are you selling what your customers are asking for?
9. Are the sales of one particular product diminishing?
10. Do you often get asked for something you don’t have?
11. Are you sure that the prices you charge are set at the optimum level.
Financial:
1. Do you have a steady cash flow or are there periods of stagnant or negative cash flow?
2. Do you collect the majority of your invoices within 30 days?
3. Do you have a problem with obtaining loans?
4. Are your stock costs high?
5. For retail or manufacturing companies. Are your staffing costs a large proportion of your total costs?
6. For service companies. Are your charge out rates at least 200% of your staff rates.
7. For service companies. Are your consulting staff being charged out at least 75% of time?
8. Do you have a good gross profit?
Suppliers:
1. Can you suppliers force you to take large deliveries?
2. Are suppliers difficult to find?
3. Is supply readily available?
4. Do you have the opportunity of obtaining supplies from several companies?
5. Can you obtain deliveries when you need to?
Customers:
1. Do you rely on just a few customers?
2. Can some of your customers insist on lower prices?
3. Do you have a lot of late payers?
4. Is the cost of obtaining new customers high?
5. Do your customers often repeat order?
6. Do you have a high percentage of customers who only order once from you?
Market:
1. Is competition very strong?
2. Do you have a near monopoly?
3. Do you have a strong and recognized brand in your market place?
4. Are you aware of future changes in your market place and changing your offerings to meet these?
5. Are you leaving some market niches unexplored or untouched?
6. Are there markets that you could exploit?
7. Are your marketing costs a high proportion of your costs?
These questions are planned to give you a good understanding of the weaknesses of your business. If you have too many negatives then you know you have some remedial work to do.
Business Problems Is My Business in Trouble How Can I Tell Before the Worst Happens - To learn more about this author, visit Lee Lister's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
|||
David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
|||
Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
|||
Casey GollanCasey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website |
|||
Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
|||
Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
|||
David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
|||
Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Lee's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
|
||
 |
||
|
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 EQ Coaching Report Quick Start Guide Manners, Positivity, Heroics Creating Rapport Guide Leadership Audit For Business |
|
 | ||
 |
Write The PR
Press Release Builder | |
 |
Choose A PR Topic
Press Release Builder | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
