Thursday, 14 January 2021

BUSINESS STRATEGY

 Business strategy

The strategy defines the
long term goals of the
business. Strategic
management provides
overall direction to the
enterprise. It is the
identification of the
purpose of the organization and the plans and
tactics required to achieve the defined
strategy.
According to Wikipedia, Strategic management
defines the major initiatives taken by a
company’s top management on behalf of
owners, involving resources and performance in
internal and external environments. It includes
specifying the mission, vision and objectives
and developing policies and plans designed to
achieve these objectives, and allocating
resources to implement the policies and plans,
projects and programs.
Strategic management is an ongoing process
that evaluates and controls the business in
which the company is involved.
It used to be the case that businesses had a
one year plan, including a budget, a five year
plan and a ten year plan .These defined the
medium and long term goals of the company
and were the strategic plan.
In today’s fast developing world, a five and ten
year plan may be unrealistic – who knows
what changes technological developments will
have wreaked in five or ten years? So this
timescale is often “telescoped “into a shorter,
more appropriate, time frame to enable the
strategy to be reviewed frequently.
Strategy should be reassessed regularly,
perhaps annually or quarterly, to review how it
has been implemented, whether it is successful
or needs to be replaced by an updated strategy
to meet changed economic factors, new
technology, new competitors, or a new social,
financial, or political environment.
Without a clear strategic vision it is extremely
difficult to effectively manage, change or
develop a business. Any decisions made by the
management team will be entirely arbitrary
without a clear Strategy, with no way to align
decisions with the strategy. Decisions may be
made that take the company in the wrong
direction in the short term.
Well run businesses establish and review
Strategy on a regular basis to ensure it fits
with all external and internal factors.
Employee motivation is linked to the ability of
the management team to create a Strategy
and communicate it throughout the
organization frequently.
Management should ensure that the current
Strategy or strategic direction is embodied into
the culture of their businesses and clearly
understood by their employees, who are then
engaged in the business and more
understanding and supportive of the tactical
decisions or steps taken by the management
team to deliver the Strategy.
Many industrial relations disputes result from a
lack of openness by the management team
and lack of understanding of the motives of
the managers. Communication of the Strategy
and tactical plans to deliver the Strategy are
critical. It is important to simplify the Strategy
so that it can be clearly communicated and
understood at all levels, from the boardroom to
the most junior staff.
In reality Strategy is most often reviewed when
a business is undergoing a change in the
circumstances around it, such as a merger or
acquisition or investing in new plant or
machinery.
If your company is starting out, developing
your business strategy will be part of the
business planning exercise, and there will be
uncertainty about the future prospects of the
business.
Be realistic about sales targets and forecasts,
and build in contingencies where cash-flow is
concerned.
Success in business has much to do with
having a vision, strong focus, and having some
idea of the direction you need to take to
realize the goals and vision.
Many companies compose short concise
mission statements that claim to be their
“vision, mission and values”. Sometimes these
are so clichéd that they are ineffective, and so
ambiguous that it is impossible to measure if
the business is achieving their goals.
Having a strong vision is one thing, but to
achieve growth and success, you need a team
who share your passion and your dream.
Successful leaders are the ones who can
communicate their vision and mission to their
followers, colleagues who will then support
them to achieve the goals.
Turning a dream into reality needs a strategy,
and a plan to drive the business forward. It will
incorporate the approach you are going to take
for every aspect of your business and define
which products and services you are going to
offer and how you are going to deliver them.
Most businesses will need a Business Strategy,
and, if your company is large enough, this will
flow into individual strategies for each of the
business functions. The most common of
these is a Marketing Strategy.
This will consider corporate identity and
branding, products and markets, customer
profile, pricing policy, online presence and
marketing strategy, social media strategy, marketing campaigns
The business strategy needs to address the
key issues of the business;-
Are we positioned to benefit from new technologies?
When a company is established there is usually
a clear vision of its objectives, but as time
goes by this evolves. The company may still
have the same ambitions, but the vision may
have changed as it evolves and grows and
technology changes around the business. The
plan should consider both the present and the
future – what would success look like this time
next year?
This is probably the most important role of the
executive today. To stand still, even for an
instant, is to be left behind as all around you
move forward at speed to exploit new and
developing technologies.
Corporate Social Responsibility
A business needs to be profitable to invest in
growth and innovation, but companies should
have a corporate social responsibility theme in
their strategy. What does the business really
care about? What principles are important to
its owners and management?
What can we contribute to the
world?
Presumably customers want our products or
services. Market research needs to be
undertaken regularly to check what consumers
really value, how much are they prepared to
pay for it, and what they would prefer to
experience. Can the company do it better,
greener, cleaner, more ethically?
Are we compromising?
Does the company’s vision clash with
achieving other goals, such as achieving profit,
or ensuring employment .Perhaps short term
sacrifices need to be made to achieve the
long-term vision.
Are we all in this together?
Is everyone on your team on board with the
same belief in the vision? Are they committed,
do they understand what they have to
contribute? It’s important to listen to everyone
to ensure the business stays on track to
achieve its goals.

Thursday, 7 January 2021

Successful entrepreneurs tend to have certain behaviours

 



Topic: Successful entrepreneurs tend to
have certain behaviours;-


Personal
They accept responsibility for their actions. They do
not rely on others to take decisions for them, or to
make their ideas work. If they have a Vision, they,
and only they, can implement it.
They have a can-do approach, to business and to life.
They often create a culture around them of likeminded people
They don’t prevaricate, they face facts, (having
checked their accuracy) accept them, and deal with
them.
They accept failure with the same attitude-they just
dust themselves off and move on. And learn lessons
from it.
They have passion and belief in what they are doing.
They don’t procrastinate, they have an idea, a vision,
and they grasp the opportunity
They are always alert to new opportunities
They see problems as opportunities
They set themselves deadlines, sometimes audacious
ones!
And they are not perfectionists. They launch on the
deadline with what they’ve got and accept they may
have to further develop the product.
They understand that it’s not the idea, but the
implementation of it that sets them apart; that they
need to do something significantly different, but good
enough to be a great business.
They constantly develop their business, adding value.
They evolve it, keep it fresh, dynamic and exciting,
and critically, ahead of the competition.
They delegate, which helps to build a good team who
are able to develop professionally. At the same time
they free themselves up to do what they enjoy the
most –creating new products and businesses.
They delegate, which helps to build a good team who
are able to develop professionally. At the same time
they free themselves up to do what they enjoy the
most –creating new products and businesses.

HOW TO ORIENTATE YOURSELF IN A NEW ROLE

 



   Topic: How To Orientate Yourself In a new Role


You should have a formal induction covering all the immediate practical  information you need. If not, ask for information such as “What is the fire drill procedure”, “where can I get lunch”, “what about car parking”?
Get passwords and login details for email and any other systems you need to access. Make a note of them!
It is useful to have a small, pocket or handbag sized notebook on you at this stage to note down things you need to remember, or follow up. Using one will probably massively improve your performance. Or else use the calendar and notes function in your phone or tablet -but do remember to follow up!
You will probably have a meeting scheduled with your manager, where they will be able to provide guidance. If not, ask for one.
If you are senior enough to have a secretary or assistant, then it would be reasonable to assume they will be able to guide you through a lot of  the difficulties you will face, and supply answers to your questions.
If you are not that senior though, many large companies will nominate a “buddy “to help you during the first few days or weeks and perform that function for you.
The first thing you have to do now is consider the business of the day.
What is in your in-tray or email account? What do you need to do, or manage, today, this week, next week? What immediate deadlines are there to be met? Is anything waiting for your decision?
Do you have time to do some research or do you need to “hit the ground running “now, and orientate yourself as you go?
If immediate decisions are required and you don’t have the information you need, discuss them with your line manager before issuing instructions.
Only make the decisions you must right now, until you can “find your feet“.
What needs to be put into your diary and plans for the next few days and weeks? Has anything been booked on your behalf? Do you need to attend meetings or conferences in the immediate future, are there hotels and flights to be booked?
Is your predecessor available for a handover meeting? If not, get a status report from your manager, peers, or staff. And discuss any queries you have at this point.
Then as soon as you are up to speed with all that, you need to start gathering the information you need to perform your role effectively. You need to gain an understanding of the people and departments around you, how everything fits together. Orientate yourself.
Ask for a departmental organisation plan if there is one, and also your own job specification, and that of your direct reports.
It would be useful to have access to your own staffs’ performance review files at some point, but it may be a little early to ask for them now. Sometimes it is better to form your own opinions, rather than rely on your predecessor’s judgement. Use your discretion about the timing of that request.
Then you need to access any departmental reports produced daily, weekly, monthly or annually. If you have an assistant or secretary, they should have prepared a file for you. If not, ask them to do that.
How is your department performing, and specifically what are the issues and challenges you need to address in your role?
How is the business doing?
Are there market intelligence reports you can read?
Is there a list of suppliers or contacts?
Have you worked with any of them before?
Can they help you by meeting soon and explaining their relationship with your new company?
Do your main suppliers and contacts have information, analysis or market intelligence they can share with you?
At this point, your best bet is to listen rather than to talk. You probably know the least of everyone in the business about how this company works. Give yourself the benefit of the experience of those around you before you start changing things or making important decisions.
You may not agree with others opinions that you hear at this point, but before you start taking action, listen and at least give yourself the time to thoroughly evaluate them.
Humans normally have two eyes, two ears, one mouth. It’s a good idea to use them in that proportion until you have a good understanding of your role, and your way forward.

Monday, 4 January 2021

NEW LOCKDOWN: SECOND CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN FIT HAPPEN

 NEW LOCKDOWN: SECOND CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN FIT HAPPEN

Lockdown might be back soon, how prepared are you to elevate your financestbis year? It's high time you take our business serious (D'ABETTOR ENTERPRISE), and make money from farming as that is what keeps everyone busy during a lockdown. 

BE FINANCIALLY WISE. 

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