Now that the GFC is all over, what next?

It is over, isn’t it? Well everyone seems to think it is including the RBA. So what now? What’s that, your business isn’t flying along with the rest of the economy? Don’t worry we think you aren’t alone. A significant proportion of the real economy is still struggling to see the positive effects of the recovery.

But what can you do? Well, for starters you can stop worrying about things you can’t control, like the whole economy! In an article I wrote recently on the Avegna blog regardless of what is happening in the economy globally, nationally or locally, business owners need to concentrate on the things they can control, their own business.

As we start to see the signs of things on “the improve”, now is a great time to revisit the basic building blocks of your business.

1. Review your business plan. Is your business still heading in the direction you want it to go in? Are your goals still the same as they were twelve months ago? Do you still have the right structure to run your business and the right names for those positions to achieve those goals? Is your sales and marketing plan going to achieve the goals you have set? Do you need to revise your financial projections?
2. Revise your business’s financial performance for the first quarter of the new financial year. That’s right, we have just finished the first quarter of the new financial year. You need to be looking at your Dashboards, KPI’s, P&L v Budget and Balance Sheet as at 30 September now.
3. Review your internal management systems and processes. Do you get the information from the key areas of your business in an efficient and timely manner to be able to analyse and make decisions about your business in “real time”? If not, why not? This is crucial for your business in the times ahead to make the most of the “new world”.

Forget survival mode, it’s time to plan for the upswing. It might be slow, there might be another drop in the share market in coming months, but odds are that we are heading north again after nearly two years of pain. You as a business owner need to think NOW about your business and making sure it is ready, able and willing to take on the new world after the GFC. To paraphrase Lord Kitchener of the old British Army recruiting posters... Your Business Needs You!

Scott Lyall
CEO of Avegna
 

Click here to download PDF