If you’re like most businesses, you’ve probably just realised that June is upon us and you’re wondering where the first half of another year has gone. Does that sound about right? Well, the best thing is, there’s a new financial year coming, and you’ve got a chance to step back, reset and start business planning.
Business planning for the new financial year
With a new financial year comes the opportunity to refocus your budget. Business planning is a huge part of that, because you get to identify what’s most important for the coming 12 months. Do you have expansion in mind? Opening a new office? Moving into eCommerce? Or do you simply have a few problems with current operations that need attention? Every business is different but the beauty is, it’s all in your control.
June is a great time to revisit your business planning, because you can tackle the financial side of things at the same time.
What’s working well?
When you’re immersed in business planning, it’s easy to focus on everything that’s going wrong. But don’t forget to acknowledge what’s going well. Because if aspects of the business are performing really well, there’s an opportunity there. Find out why it’s working well, and use those learnings in other parts of the business.
What needs improvement?
Of course, when business planning for a new financial year, you absolutely have to look at what’s not going so well. The main reason is, there’s a new budget around the corner, and you’ve got the chance to invest wisely in business improvement. If you’re not getting enough business, marketing needs to be a focus. If you’ve got poor internal processes making everything take longer than it should, you may need to invest in technology such as CRMs or even custom software development. June is a great time of year to plan ahead and address the things that are holding you back.
Business planning for new opportunities
Have you ever heard someone say that opportunities are all around you, but you just need to know where to look? It’s especially true in business, but finding those opportunities takes careful analysis, research and planning. Use your business planning period to identify where opportunities lie. It might be new markets to expand into, or targeting some services to a new audience. Whatever the opportunities are, find them and plan to attack them head-on.
What technology do you need to focus on?
Finally, once you’ve determined your priorities for the coming year, you can start thinking about technology. In the modern world, technology is at the root of most business improvement. Whether it’s giving your website a complete overhaul, investing in digital marketing, building custom software to streamline processes or investing in artificial intelligence and machine learning, technology is the key to growth.
Plan accordingly, and you can make a case to your financial boffins to allocate the required funds in next year’s budget. Then, all you need to do is get those technology projects started and keep your eye on the future!
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