World Fence News

October 2017

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70 • october 2017 • world fence news Setting goals and developing a business plan continued from page 30 company. Know your competitors' strengths and weaknesses, market share, geographic coverage, etc. A "competitors' library" is a useful knowledge base. In it, maintain such things as competitors' services of- fered, pricing structure, information and presentation formats used in pre- senting their results, reputation, ad- vertising materials, and ad results. Additional information can be ob- tained through trade associations and through organizations like the Cham- bers of Commerce. Also you may want to look into trade journals, Dunn and Bradstreet reports, and other compiled business analyses. Some of the factors to mon- itor would be: • Market share. • Cash resources • Management • Markets into which they are moving • Quality of service • Product mix (type of fencing materials available) • Pricing/bidding strategies • Manufacturing or fabricating ca- pabilities • Yard – Warehouse and storage facilities and capacities Promotion and advertising While it is, at times, hard to iden- tify the immediate results from ad- vertising and promotion, it is a very important part of a good business and marketing plan. It is through this that the company must convey its image and the superior quality of its products and services. Whatever the approach, a careful- ly constructed program that orches- trates itself with sales goals is the de- sired result. Whenever possible, approach- es should be designed so that results can be measured. Also, it is critical to track the results of your advertising efforts so that you know what works and what does not. One thing I have learned for sure in this industry is that collecting data about how your potential customers heard about your fence company is imperative. This information is so very valu- able when planning how to spend ad- vertising dollars, and it costs almost nothing to obtain, only the time and effort to ask each and every caller or walk-in customer how they heard about Your Fence Company. The results may surprise you, but either way, historically it will become a tell-all directory of what works and what does not in advertising. Strategy and tactics Finally, formalize your strategy and tactics. Strategy comprises the long range objectives to be achieved in the long range plan. Tactics are measures taken to reach short-term goals. A form or worksheet can be used to document applicable goals and ob- jectives for your 2018 business year, and then 2019 and 2020. The form is only a guide that pushes you to think of some of the topics. To become more specific, you must enlarge the questions and an- swers based on what you wish to ac- complish. Finally, prepare a short range plan. Once the long range plan is estab- lished, a more defined course of action must be set for the short term. This is accomplished through 30, 60, and 90 day objectives assigned to key person- nel. Objectives can be income or non-income oriented. A master budget is geared to the long range plan. I will talk more about budgeting in future articles. Short range goals are the first year's action needed to direct the company toward the accomplishment of the long range plan. If necessary to manage your mon- ey, a cash flow forecast can be useful for a relatively short period of time. It must be detailed so that actual per- formance can be measured against its parameters and corrective action tak- en where necessary. The above is a very basic guide- line for constructing goals and objec- tives and then translating them into a mission statement and business plan. A three year plan could take several weeks or even months to complete. Planning and setting goals is the first function of a company. Wheth- er documented or not, there must be a purpose to be accomplished by the business. To facilitate communication, it is desirable that the purpose be specified in writing. The first goal of Your Fence Com- pany is to grow profitably and to em- ploy its resources in the most efficient manner possible, i.e., its people, mate- rials, machinery and money. The second and equally important goal should be to provide a satisfying, stimulating and safe work environ- ment and to promote a positive work culture. Tom Luby, president of Prof- it Builders International (PBI), has developed the Roadmap to Success continued on page 78

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