How are you going to improve profitability in 2018 ?
There are any number of selfhelp books about setting goals – long-term , short-term , business , lifetime and personal . You name it , somebody has written it , but unfortunately , most self-help books are written by people whose worlds are a long way from the reality of a busy auto workshop . Most workshop owners acknowledge the importance of setting goals but most are too busy to even think about them . Business owners cannot ignore the fact , however , that those who set goals are more likely to achieve success . Goal setting doesn ’ t need to be complicated . In fact , the less complex the goals are , the better they will work . The first step is obvious – find the time to sit down and think about your business . This is best done away from work . Grab a pen and paper and simply start thinking about your past year and about those things that worked well , and those that didn ' t . Think about what equipment the workshop needs , and the training that might bring in more business . Think about unproductive or energy sapping issues that need solving and what other things you might improve in the business to make it run better . To help you do this , download
the TaT Biz strategy checklist at tatbiz . net . au / resources and use it to self-evaluate your business . The checklist covers areas such as :
• Financials and cashflow
• Marketing and advertising
• Sales and customer service
• Internal procedures
• Human resources Once you have listed all the main points they need to be refined into SMART goals : Specific – be specific with want you want to achieve . Measureable – the more measurable , the better . Where possible the goal should include a number , a dollar value , a percentage or some form of measure . Attainable – the goal must be attainable . It ’ s great to stretch yourself but if it ’ s not really attainable then you set yourself up to fail . Realistic – be realistic about your goals . Time – set yourself a deadline . A specific date works best – rather than a month or a year . Documenting your plan Once the goals are listed , the next step is to note the tasks that will be required to achieve the goals . Task setting is critical to the success of the goals . To help you with task setting , an example plan can be downloaded from tatbiz . net . au / resources
Finding the time to implement your plan The hardest part about achieving goals is finding the time to get the work done . If you want success badly enough , time can always be found . A couple of hours every week needs to be set aside to work on your business and not in your business . This must be uninterrupted time , so for most this will be after hours . Assigning someone to hold you accountable can also be beneficial . It could be your accountant , a business coach , mentor or a business acquaintance . The simple task of routinely meeting with someone and being held accountable will mean you are much more likely to do the tasks required to achieve your goals . Face up to the reality – if you can ’ t find the time to work on your business , nothing will change or improve . You will wake up in five years time to discover your business is in exactly the same position as it was five years earlier . Find the time now or forever be time poor . There is an old saying ' If you fail to prepare , you are preparing to fail '. Don ’ t let this statement ring true for you in 2018 . The place to start is tatbiz . net . au / resources
- by Jeff Smit and Geoff Mutton
22 CAPRICORN IGNITION HOLIDAY EDITION