And Now Into Action!
So you have gathered your learnings from the previous year and can now write the footprint for the coming year.
Performing the review, just for the sake of seeing what you have accomplished, isn’t enough. You need to create a business review that will help your business grow and develop moving forward. Your annual review should be an exercise that helps you recognise opportunities and find solutions to problems that are holding you back. It's extremely important in planning your key focus area's that you develop a strong action plan to ensure you deliver a successful outcome.
List all of the issues and opportunities that turned up during the review process. Next to each issue and opportunity, write down the action plan(s) required to resolve it along with expected results and a reasonable timeline.
In implementing any new strategy, it’s imperative to define clearly what you are moving from and where you are moving to with respect to your company’s business model, organisation, and capabilities. Everyone needs to know what to do. Be sure that each major “from–to shift” is matched with the energy to make it happen. Finally, don’t forget to make sure your ongoing resource allocation processes are aligned with your strategy.
|
Issues/Opportunities |
Action Plan |
Expected Outcome |
Timeline |
|
Decline in sales results not identified |
Introduce a weekly/monthly KPI reporting regime |
Increased knowledge of business trends |
3 weeks |
|
Poor performance of core brand |
Sell rates and space allocations to be reviewed monthly |
Improved sales per square meter – increased profitability |
2 weeks |
|
Extremely high wage to sales ratio |
Realign staffing levels |
Higher profitability |
1-2 months |
|
Low product knowledge |
Implement a training programme |
Increased sales, increase staff productivity |
1 month |
After all of your action plans are executed, monitor the progress by repeating the review process. Remember… a business review is a continuous exercise and must be conducted regularly.