Is your business planning leading you down the right path?

Posted 2 Jun '23

Is your business planning leading you down the right path?

As a business owner, CEO or managing director, it’s important to look forward. Your job is to guide the course of the company and to provide the roadmap for a successful year.

But navigating the hurdles and driving the business to success is never easy – especially when you’re confronted with a market and economy that’s still in a challenging state.

A business plan that’s tailored to your key 2023/2024 challenges

So, what are the current and potential risks that you should be planning for now? And how can you use innovation, leadership and forward-planning to sidestep these bumps in the road?

Key items to consider in your strategy include:

• The impact of a global economic factors – the business world has bounced back from the pandemic, but there’s no escaping the fact that we’re still facing challenging global economic factors in 2023. This means markets are slow, prices are high and keeping the lights on in the business can be a challenge. This is the reality and it needs to be reflected in your goals, targets and long-term plan for the year ahead.

• Finding new ways to overcome the supply chain challenges – there are signs that global supply chain issues are recovering. But finding the products and raw materials that you need can still be difficult. Ocean freight is still slow and the logistics of getting goods from A to B is a risk that should be built into your planning. Where possible, it’s sensible to source local suppliers. This helps cut down on logistics times, reduces costs and makes your supply chain strategy more sustainable. It’s also worth shopping around for the best deals, so you can source goods at the lowest possible prices.

• Locating the right people during the ongoing talent shortage – your people are a vital part of your growth strategy. So, when there’s a shortage of talent that can really hold back your plans. To fill those roles and keep the company running smoothly, it’s a good idea to broaden your net. Think about promoting existing talent from within the business, or putting word out through your network that you need experienced new hires. Using contractors or freelance workers can also be a good short or medium-term solution if you can’t locate the right permanent employees.

• Embracing the very best in new technology – business software solutions have jumped forward in leaps and bounds in recent times. Working the latest cloud apps, automation tools and AI solutions into your strategy can quickly give your business a competitive advantage. If there are manual tasks in the business that can be automated and tracked via software, get them automated as soon as possible. Smart use of automation can speed up your productivity, boost efficiency and free up time for you and your team to focus on higher-value tasks – like business development, sales and customer service.

• Learning to pivot when new opportunities arise (or threats appear) – building agility into your strategy and planning is a must. We live in unpredictable times where new opportunities can appear overnight, and unforeseen threats can rear their head without warning. Your business needs to be able to pivot, refocus and quickly adapt to these changes. Planning out multiple ‘what-if scenarios’ can help you try out scenarios and pull together multiple strategies.

Keeping your business plans up to date and refreshed is a big part of keeping your company ahead of the competition. As your business adviser, we can help you review your plans and find the areas where you need to tweak, upgrade and refocus your strategy and targets. Please feel free to contact your WDF team member. Phone 02 6921 5444 or email accountants@wdf.com.au

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