Business Strategies and Processes

Business Strategies and Processes

Businesses are always looking for ways to improve themselves. Today, we at Weebo are feeling generous and would like to share with you some tips that can help your business achieve better performance. Just like how building a business takes time, managing it also requires time and effort on your part. With these strategies in place, you will be able to better manage your business and maximize your profits to hit new record highs. This is a process which will in turn benefit your company far and large. So, take your time and read through this article to see where you are nailing it and where you can start focusing on.

Business Model

You should have a business model in place according to your competitive edge and advantages – this is your company’s plan to generate revenue. This is the company’s strategy to develop the business, achieve its goal and realise its vision. Some elements a business model encompasses is your target audience, products or services, marketing strategy, revenue model and competitive advantage.

Two different company in the same industry will likely not have the same business model. A mistake one might make is to replicate the business model from one of the most successful businesses in the same industry. You are setting yourself up for competition and your competitor is one of the industry’s biggest player.  Instead of trying to be better than the best, why not adopt a different business model and set yourself apart from the rest!

Long-term Goals

Long-term goals are plans for the future and will determine the direction your business will venture into. You should always be reviewing your long-term goals for your business to consider various points that will impact your business objectives and support your continued success.

Your long-goals should be SMART - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time Based

Specific – Your goal should not be vague, you should have a clear idea on the result you want to achieve. E.g. Setting up a second outlet in XXX Mall.

• Measurable – Ensure that you are able to measure your goals and recognise them when you have achieved them. E.g. Increasing the revenue by 40%.
• Achievable – The goals that you have set for yourself should be realistic and attainable. You should have the resources to achieve what you have set for yourself, do not ask for the moon as it is equivalent to setting yourself up for failure.
• Relevant – Check that your goals are in line with your business direction, vision and mission.
• Time Based – There should be a realistic time frame tied to your goals to help motivate you and give you milestones to work with. You will be able to follow the timeline set for the goal to ensure progress is made. E.g. My company will set up a second outlet in XXX Mall within 3 years.

Process Evaluation

Instead of putting your focus on the outcome, process evaluation takes into account the implementation practices. This enables you to find out where the breakdowns and failures occur during the process causing less than optimum results.

The first thing you should do is to evaluate your processes to spot the things that you are doing right and continue doing them and sieve the wrong processes through to change and improve them. Through this process, problems can be located from their sources and solutions can be proposed to solve inefficiencies.

Some places where you are able to locate errors in your processes are your daily sales record, product mix, inventory management and customer relationship management. Most POS software or inventory management processes should be able to churn out the required data for your reference. With these data, you are able to see your input and outputs to pinpoint any fluctuations or unusual activities.

Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)

What policies do you have in place to ensure that your procedures are adhered to?

Policies have to be feasible and documented adequately for all staffs to access and understand. This is where a SOP comes into place.

To ensure that everybody has a clear understanding of the work process, a SOP has to be implemented. A SOP is a written procedure a company has in place to ensure practices are in accordance with the agreed specifications to obtain a desired outcome. This facilitates proper training and communication between employees to provide consistency and increase productivity. It can also be amended accordingly as the business grows and direction changes.

Staff Development

Your employees are valuable assets that will be able to contribute to your business. By instilling the required knowledge and skills in them, they will be able assist you in meeting your business goals. Job satisfaction will be higher when employees are properly trained and skilled for a job, thus lowering your turnover rate. The impact of a high turnover rate is high recruitment and training expenses. Quality consistency will also be poor with a constant influx of new staffs with little to no experience.

Your training program should consist of their roles and responsibilities, step-by-step procedures, product knowledge and personal and company goals. Your employees need to have a clear understanding of your business and products to be able to portray your business vision. Proper training about your products and services allows them to upsell and cross sell according to your sales data to increase your average check and provide a comfortable experience for your guests at the same time.

Further education and workshops to equip employees with further skills also can benefit the business when employees are able to provide an input or a different perspective. So, unleash their potential and at the same time, unleash your business’ potential!

Contact Us

These are some overviews that you can take note of when you find yourself pondering on your business direction. If you are interested in more in-depth insights and business consultancy services, keep your eye on this space for the next article where we will be discussing about employee training program strategies or contact us now at sales@weebo.com.sg!