Fall is finally here! Yay!
Don’t you just love this time of year?!
The air is cool and the leaves are so beautiful as they show off a last burst of magnificent color before browns and grays of winter settle in. Fall just makes me want to wrap myself up in a cozy, warm blanket with a cup of hot, rich coffee warming my hands and dream about the future of my business. It’s a time of reaping the business rewards of hard work and a time of reflection. Fall is also the perfect time to look forward to what the future will bring.
What does this have to do with business?
B.C. Forbes, Scottish financial journalist and author who founded Forbes magazine said it best:
It is only the farmer who faithfully plants seeds in the spring, who reaps a harvest in the Autumn.
Autumn is the perfect time to get a big picture view of where your small business is financially. As we enter the last quarter, we want to reap success in terms of growth and profit. So, let’s pull out the proverbial “books”, take a look around, and ask ourselves these questions:
- How has your business as a whole performed throughout the year?
- How have your individual business assets (including digital) performed? Did your short- and mid-term plans produce the results you wanted?
- How many new clients came on board?
- Did you lose any customers? If so, why?
- What trends are surfacing?
- What are your slow periods and what efforts are necessary to make it through those times?
- What are your best-performing months?
- Do you need to revise anything or stay the course?
- Did you plant enough seeds and are you reaping a harvest of results for your hard work?
When I asked myself these questions in light of my virtual assistant business, I discovered that while I am doing fine, I could do much better.
Even though most of my new business comes from referrals, and I do have conversations with potential clients, I don’t have a sales plan.
I don’t have a solid strategy.
I realized that if I am not planting seeds in a planned, consistent, well-thought out manner, I may not reap as bountiful a future harvest as what would be possible with a sales plan and strategy in place.
Time to build another facet of my small business! How exciting!
Besides consistency and increased clients, another benefit for building a sales process and strategy is having written knowledge of actions that have led to past success and can be repeated for future success. If you are an entrepreneur who doesn’t like to wear the sales hat, this is invaluable.
Since knowing what to do is half of the battle, the next step is to get to work and develop the sales process. Put it in writing!
Now is a perfect time to do this as we close out 2014 and 2015 is fast approaching. It will benefit your business to get everything in place before the new year begins and getting ahead always feels good to a busy entrepreneur.
What are your experiences in sales and strategy as a small business owner? I would love to hear from you!
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Want to discuss your business needs? Let’s chat! Email me at starr@starroldorff.com .
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