He who fails to plan, plans to fail.

A business model that adapts and is modified to meet the needs, wants and wishes of the customer is dynamic.  Some businesses start with a business plan and fail to realize that times change, and if the plan doesn’t change along with the seasons, economy and industry standards, that business may face failure.

Line up your staff for success.

As a new year begins, many businesses set aside a planning day, or two.  They cluster their top people and formulate a plan.  Regrouping talents and statistics is a great way to keep your people on board and all moving in the right direction.  If your team is floundering, a regrouping session my be just the ticket to future success for your business.  Without this regrouping, your business may find itself after the first quarter of the year like a ship without a rudder.  Time is money, and wasting time spinning your wheels yields you very little which is positive for your business success.  Wasting a quarter of your business revenue by operating without direction or focus, is time that cannot be recapture and capitalized on.  Plan first.

Consider having a planning session.  It requires time set aside, without interruptions.  Pool your key personnel and utilize their input.  You might be surprised at how this elevates their work effort.  They feel valued, relevant and heard.  You may just gain some great insight, new ideas and the help to get your finger on the pulse of your business.

Last year at this time, due to the fact that there were economic worries, changes in Washington DC, and a sea of uncertainty in many minds thanks to the turmoil on Wall Street, many business felt the need to “collect” themselves.  These business took the time to plan, prepare and move forward with certainty.  We were called to cater these meetings.  Customers ordered breakfast pastries, burritos, fruit and hot coffee to be delivered to their meetings.  They ordered special lunches, box lunches and neat to eat foods that would work well at their meetings.  Recognizing the importance of organization at these meetings, they left the food details to us, allowing them to focus on their business.

These business project quality, and value to their employees, who will in turn project the same to the customers.  It cannot be underestimated, the value of these sessions on moral, rapport and involvement.  Your employees recognize good leadership, when they have it and when they don’t.   Question is, how can we help you lead?  How will you lead your employees on to great things?  How can a planning session help you lead your key people on the surpass their goals from 2009?  How can a meeting  allow you to promote and produce your business?

Finally, once you have structured your updated business plan and fortified your key employees, consider a customer appreciation event.  CA’s are excellent reasons to contact your clients.  As business professionals, we need to keep our focus on the customer.   We need to remind them we are here, and we need to remind them of what we do, especially if we are unveiling new products or services as a result of our planning session.  Once we contact them, and after we’ve educated them on our services, we need to ask them for the business.  A customer appreciation event is a way to achieve all of these objectives.  Contact Catering by Victoria for assistance with this, or visit our earlier blog on Hosting a Customer Appreciation Event.