Start smart for success

You've had a rest and some time to think about what is important to you. So business owners, before you charge into doing what you always do, please pause for a moment and plan.
That's the advice of accountant Matthew Doyle. He and his staff started work again last week. He said the office of Doyle + Associates The Accountants in Wanganui has a flat management structure and he cares what his fellow workers think and listens to their ideas.
They started work on Monday by filling in an anonymous questionnaire that he devised as a springboard into 2011 planning.
He asked them to say whether they enjoyed their work and workplace, whether anything about it frustrated them, how the business could work better and what they wanted to achieve in the company and for themselves in the next 12 months.
And he wanted to know how they thought their company ranked among competitors in the same town.
After their responses have been collated and analysed, Mr Doyle will sit down with all 20 people in the company and talk about what the questionnaire revealed and together they will plan the year ahead.
The first thing any business will need to look at is its budget and whether there is enough profit.
If you have been in business for a long time you will have those details in your head. Otherwise you may need to consult an accountant or use a software package.
Having looked at the budget, you need to decide whether the profit is adequate. If it's not you need to decide how to increase it.
There are many possibilities. Can you eliminate waste and mistakes? Can you reduce costs? Can you provide precisely what the customer wants, and on time?
Can you sell off slow-moving stock? Can you sell underused assets and use the money to reduce debt? Can you negotiate and fix lower interest rates?
Your plan has to be informed by knowledge of the likely trends and seasonal highs and lows.
In today's fast-moving business environment there's no point planning for more than a year. Even that could be too long.
Important people like staff, wives and business partners all need to know and agree on the plan.
The last two years have been tough for most businesses, said Mr Doyle. Some carried extra staff in the boom time but those people had largely been laid off or had left and not been replaced.
The "sinking lid" can only sink so far, said Mr Doyle, and remaining staff are likely to be "mission critical".
They are also likely to want to keep their jobs because there aren't many around.
Wages haven't moved much lately, but inflation has increased prices 8 per cent during the last three years. If you want to keep your staff you can compensate them in other ways: by allowing the use of a company vehicle or being flexible about working hours, for example.
Your final plan needs to be simple, and should fit on one side of paper. All that's left is to make it happen.
Mr Doyle said advice was one of the main success factors for a business. He said an external adviser is the best way to avoid taking business worries home.
Not all advisers need to be paid. There could be a suitable person among your friends, extended family, club, religious group or sporting group.
He said people aged 60 to 65 were an amazing resource.
"Some of them have been in business for 40 years and they're willing and actually quite chuffed often to be asked."
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