After the dark days of winter, spring has now sprung and it is a good time to conduct a regular ‘spring clean’ of your business, says Neil Pattemore.
Just because your business survived last year does not mean that just continuing to do the same for this year will be good enough. Not only will your competitors be looking to up their game, but you should also be reviewing your business to see where it can be improved.
This does not mean a wholesale change to your business – you probably did OK last year, so much of what you are doing must be good, but a detailed review of how you can improve your business is always a good thing. Allow me to explain more.
“Although not absolutely necessary, it is best to plan some time away from your business to ensure that you will be in an environment where you can think without interruptions.”
Although not absolutely necessary, it is best to plan some time away from your business to ensure that you will be in an environment where you can think without interruptions. Ideally, you should do this with someone who will be open and honest with you and who can also provide reasoned, practical analysis and advice. You do not want to get into arguments with each other, so be really open-minded and don’t be defensive about what you are doing today in your business. It is very important to be open, honest and structured in your approach and discussions.
Wherever you decide to conduct this review, it needs to be somewhere that will be quiet and undisturbed – a good place would be to hire a small meeting room. Plan to use a lot of ‘stick-it’ notes, flip charts and white boards! Take the time to really analyse your business – you really need to go into the detail of what you do from the very widest perspective. Start by listing what you do, why you do it, what you do well, what you do not do so well, what systems you have, what information you use, how you communicate with your existing and future customers – in other words dissect your business into every small detail and question what you do, why you do it and write all this down on the flip chart or white boards.
The next stage comes in putting this all back together, and this is where you start to analyse where improvements can be made to your business structure, activities, premises, your team members (e.g. who does what, their productivity, new training needs, new responsibilities etc.), your internal processes, if your management reporting information is sufficient (especially the key performance indicators – KPIs), your customer communication, your marketing and advertising and all other details of the business. Don’t just re-implement what you do today, but consider how it can be improved.
The idea is to take each segment of your business activity and analyse it to see where improvements can be made – for example, start with your internal activities and then imagine how others may see you as part of your external ‘customer facing’ activities. However, be realistic and don’t try and change the world in your first session, but list all your ideas from both your good and bad perspectives. Once you have listed them, it will be much easier to see the priorities and to start to organise and implement the best solutions.
These solutions are likely to cover several areas and may need further investigation – for example finding a new software management system, or a new marketing agency, but don’t be put off by what you may consider a difficult or expensive challenge – take some time and try different ideas. Remember, don’t change the objective, just how and when it can be achieved.
“You may wish to start by explaining to your staff what you have done and then what the proposed changes will be, but ensure that this is done in a way that motivates them, as most people have a healthy dislike of change!”
Once you have decided on the prioritisation plan, start to write down an action plan of what you want to do and by when. For most businesses, it will be about making a number of smaller changes to enhance the productivity and profitability based on your existing business model.
Once the action plan is clear and you have considered the changes and costs involved, the next stage is how it will be implemented. You may wish to start by explaining to your staff what you have done and then what the proposed changes will be, but ensure that this is done in a way that motivates them, as most people have a healthy dislike of change! Feeling that you are working for a business that is improving and doing better than its competitors is in itself a motivator, as, over time, this may be reflected in improved working conditions and salary levels. As the business grows, it starts to become self- fulfilling – with your staff working more productively in better conditions, with an increased customer base that wants to come to you, rather than your competitors.
I know that this sounds almost like a dream, but think about other successful businesses; their success doesn’t just happen, it’s about knowing how to be better and being able to attract the best employees, having a well managed environment and with good marketing to attract and retain customers.
Equally, many independent garages may feel that this analysis process is outside of their ‘comfort zone’, but even if you feel this way, don’t be afraid to start doing this ‘spring clean’ analysis. Everyone has to learn new ideas and ways of improving both themselves and their business, and even if you have never done something like this before, try it. It can be quite good fun, as well as allowing you to see the wood for the trees.
Even for someone conducting this sort of analysis for the first time, it is highly likely that some good ideas will flow from the process, but the key issue is to start to learn how to make the analysis and then the next time you do it, it will be much easier and more successful. Additionally, be realistic about what to expect as you learn how to conduct the analysis – don’t try to change everything at your first attempt. In fact, try to change a small number of points, but try and identify those points which will have the most beneficial impact and that you are able to implement within a reasonable timescale and at an achievable cost. Once you begin to understand how to evaluate the various activities of your business, it will become much easier to do more effective analyses and actions in the future.
