Managing Your Business
Ask SCORE                                                                        Word Count 446

Plan Ahead to Grow Your Business Tomorrow

Achieving steady, sustainable growth in a small business is one of today’s
more difficult challenges. General economic ups and downs get in the way, as
do regional issues, government policies, tax laws—and even the weather.

But it also may be your internal approach to generating and managing growth
that’s producing slower sales than you expected, even in the face of what
seem to be bright opportunities. Your approach to fostering growth may
simply be too hit-and-miss. Perhaps you had a detailed business plan when
you first started, but what type of plan does your small business have now for
moving into the future?

The everyday marketplace tends to be a chaotic universe where things rarely
go according to your original design. A growth plan that acts like an internal
compass can be a helpful tool.

Start with your day-to-day actions. If you want your business to grow, that
should be the focal point of everything you do. Gather the financial details
about what’s happening internally. Then put your plan in writing.  It does not
need to be lengthy and ultra-detailed. Just the basic points will do. For
example, how has your business done in fulfilling your original mission? Did
you start with a bang only to see things flatten out? Perhaps you aren’t
delivering what you first promised to your customers. Fix any problems or
shortfalls quickly.

Keeping up with changes in your marketplace is crucial, so you might have to
conduct some new research to stay up to date.  This doesn’t have to be formal
research. You might start with a simple customer survey, for example, or
check for available research online. Make adjustments as needed in your
approach.

Communicate your growth vision to others involved with your business,
including outside vendors and contractors as well as partners, investors and
employees. Don’t just dream—delegate specific actions to reach those goals.

Find out what objections customers are raising to your sales effort—why they
have purchased or declined your product or service. Adjust your sales
process to place greater emphasis on closing.

Two helpful books on small business growth planning are Strategic Planning
for Small Business Made Easy for $19.95, the latest in the “Made Easy”
series from Entrepreneur Press, and The 7 Irrefutable Rules of Small
Business Growth for $18.95 by small business growth expert Steven S. Little.

For more ideas of growing your small business, contact SCORE "Counselors
to America's Small Business." SCORE is a nonprofit organization of more
than 10,500 volunteer business counselors who provide free, confidential
business counseling and training workshops to small business owners. Go to
www.scoredm.org on the web or call (515) 284-4760 between the hours of 10:
00 A.M. and 3:00 P.M. Monday through Friday.