Have you ever had to ask for directions? Your chances of being steered in the right direction are pretty good when you are very specific and clear with your query. If you ask for directions to the nearest Slim's Seafood Shack, you will likely be given directions to Slim's Seafood Shack. If you’re thinking Slim's but you just ask for the nearest seafood restaurant you’re less likely to get what you’re hoping for. Ask in even more general terms, such as directions to the nearest restaurant and the likelihood of finding Slim's Seafood Shack becomes, well, even slimmer.
The same holds true in business. In several previous posts we’ve talked about ways to be prepared for growth. If you missed our series, take a minute to check out our posts on inventory challenges, manufacturing issues, marketing, funding and location issues. Part of that preparation is having a plan to get there. It’s important for your company to have a long term strategic plan. This doesn’t mean that you need to plan out every aspect of your business for the next five years. Aside from that being nearly impossible since you can’t predict the future, it would actually be counterproductive to apply that level of detail to a long term plan. A good long term strategic plan simply outlines where you’d like your company to be in five or ten years. We took this into consideration when building our inventory management solution and recommend you do the same.
The first thing you need to decide is what constitutes success for you. Are you hoping to maintain your current level of sales, increase sales, or enter new markets? Would you like to still be running your company in five to ten years or are you hoping to be acquired by a larger corporation? These decisions are key to determining how you proceed in the next year or two.
Once you have a good idea of where you would like to be down the road, you can start working out a plan to get there. Again, you don’t need step by step details - you just need a general idea. If you want to enter new markets you’ll need new products, new marketing strategies and ways to attract new customers. If you want to increase sales you’ll need new promotions, new customers, and possibly even larger storage and shipping facilities. Hoping to be acquired? You’ll need to focus on keeping your debt to equity ratio in check and other ways to make your company attractive to potential buyers.
It’s easy to do something that you do well, just a little bit better. For example, we're constantly improving upon our inventory management solution. However, it’s quite a bit harder to improve on the things that you don’t do well. In many cases, you’ll need outside help to improve your process. Whether it’s hiring new employees, engaging the services of a consultant or just learning from a mentor you’re much more likely to gain the knowledge that you need if you ask the right questions. Knowing where you’re going will help you get the right directions to get there.
Having a great inventory management solution can really put you on the right track. Try Stockpile today, we’ll get you moving in the right direction! Plus, our free solution is so quick to implement and easy to use that you’ll have plenty of time to focus on creating that strategic plan.
