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10 Top Tips to Maximise the Outcomes for Your Business Success!
Forecast for success – crystal ball or binoculars?
Do you know where you want your business to be in 6, 12 or 18 months? And be able to confidently take corrective action along the way to maximise your results?
The answer is generally ‘maybe’, ‘yes’, sometimes even ‘I’d love to know where I want to be in 6 weeks let alone 6 months!’
Deep down we all acknowledge that we should know where we are heading and that by ensuring that we take the time and effort to undertake this in a structured and logical manner this then gives us an advantage in achieving the business outcomes we desire and helping us avoid the outcomes that we do not desire.
We have found that a great number of our most successful clients follow,
The 10 top tips in order to effectively forecast for success:
1). Plan early …. Get your budget in place before the new Financial Year starts to ensure that you get a full year to put plans into action and you can measure & manage the results.
2). Get the most out of the process – consider using “zero based forecasting” to question revenue, costs, margins and any assumptions – use it to challenge any preconceptions as to what is truly possible.
3). Understand your business KPI’s – document what is critical to your business success.
4). Make sure that the forecasts are based on factual known information, recent past trends and assumptions and allow for any proposed changes that you may implement – use binoculars not a crystal ball.
5). Ensure that you factor in your own personal income needs and also factor in your tax payments fully – don’t let them come as a surprise!
6). Don’t be afraid to strategically consider different scenario’s especially when in a growth phase. This can assist in showing how much additional work can you handle in a set period and what the impact on cash flow is likely to be in order to sustain that growth without running into problems.
7). Communicate your targets – don’t keep them to yourself – make them visible to all of your team especially the parts that the team can impact upon. You can easily limit what people see if certain areas are confidential.
8). Use the forecasts to drive the performance of the business as well as understand what the bank sees as key in the business and look to secure finance before it is needed.
9). Monitor your actual performance against your forecasts and take corrective actions quickly to address the issues and opportunities that arise.
As you can see the no.1 thing is to plan early. If you have not already created your forecasts for the next 12-24 months then consider undertaking this soon. You can access the required resources via our website for free if you wish to undertake this yourself.
Alternatively MP+ can help you put the forecast and plan in place before July starts.
We’re your goal focused partners and nothing brings us more satisfaction that assisting in you achieving success.
You may be thinking that we said there were 10 top tips. There is!
Number 10 is the most important
10) Don’t talk about it, do it!
Get in touch with your Accountant at McKinley Plowman to lock in a time to start the planning and forecasting process now!
We will give priority to those that contact us first.
Please call on 9301 2200 or contact us at clientcare@mckinleyplowman.com.au
written by:
McKinley Plowman
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