July/August 2020
and still use today. Each task is relatively straightforward when you tackle them individually and in order. My advice would be to kick off the planning process by documenting the history (unless you’re a start-up), the current statues of the business, the marketplace and your vision. This will give you a solid start. Just tell your story. That’s exactly what I did. 1. Define your business activities 2. Define the current status of your business 3. Define the external market, your competition and your market positioning 4. Define your objectives for the period of the plan 5. Explain your vision, mission and objectives 6. Carry out a SWOT analysis: S trengths, W eaknesses, O pportunities, T hreats 7. Project costs 8. Set out your financial projections 9. Reach a conclusion 10. Document it concisely 11. Use it Not many people work in your business for love. We are all in it for specific reasons – success, personal achievement, financial gain etc. You can encourage your employees to work towards your common objectives by using appropriate carrots as incentives and rewards, however I have seen many of these incentive schemes fail in aftersales environments. Such incentives are often linked to the achievement of that individual, if we take a technician – he or she is often rewarded on their productivity however, what most people do not understand is a technician’s productivity can be affected by not only their technical ability but many more barriers over which they have little or no control. I cannot emphasise the power of never forgetting to say thank you, well done or a simple arm around someone’s shoulder. Showing suitable appreciation to those who are helping you achieve the goals of your business plan is pure gold. Cycle Business planning is similar to a dog chasing its tail. The end is always in sight but you never arrive there. A new business-planning cycle always starts before the old is over. Targets are continually shifting in our ever- changing automotive world. Plans should always be revised. You never quite know whether your original plan was accurate. You always think that it was, because you measure the present against the latest modification to the plan. Once in a while, grab the tail and see what you can learn from the current divergences from the very first plan. Congratulate yourself if you have successfully steered a course through the changing environment. Sir Alex Ferguson, regardless of winning multiple trophies in an incredible football career and arguably being the greatest football manager of all time, always planned for the following season even while the current one still hadn’t ended. He seemed to always have a competitive advantage over his rivals throughout his long career. The plan is where you start from. 16 AFTERMARKET JULY/AUGUST 2020 BUSINESS www.aftermarketonline.net FOR THOSE READERS who may not know me, I offer several business improvement services for garage businesses including, one day business training days in, finance, marketing and customer excellence. These courses have been specifically written and are delivered for independent garage owners, managers, technicians and reception staff by me. Please visit www.thegarageinspector.com for much more information Its objectives are your destination. What happens in the middle is down to your good captaincy – with the aid of your crew. Without a good lookout you might founder on the rocks. Good luck in your business planning journey. Last words: “With careful and detailed planning, you can win, with careless or no detailed planning you cannot win.” Bon voyage.
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