At CRM, we have always believed in the importance of offering our clients far more than a basic accountancy service. We are very proud to share our expertise and knowledge with clients through our Business Improvement Programme and it’s very satisfying to see businesses grow and develop through the programme over the years.
With a solid accounting framework, ‘making the numbers work’ is always our primary focus but having researched the route to success for many businesses, we developed the 8 Step Business Improvement Programme to guide and mentor business owners and managers who want to take control of their future performance and results.
As diverse businesses approach these 8 Steps differently, the programme is tailored to each individual company. Business improvement is a cycle and the 8 Steps are on a continuous loop of improvement depending on the goals and objectives.
So let’s recap on the all-important 8 Steps:
- Plan – you need to decide what you want to achieve, what is your vision for the business? Then you can establish your success drivers, the numbers related to positive activity that drives the development and success of your business.
- Measure – so how do you know which direction points to success if you haven’t measured your past performance? You need to understand what strategies worked well and learn from the failures by measuring your success drivers.
- Review – as with most things, it’s important to delve ‘beyond the headlines’ to get the truest picture. How do you use those measurements to make the best decisions for the future of your business?
- Evaluate – by evaluating the most important financial ratios we can analyse trends and help businesses to be the best they can be. Using ratios clearly shows how your business is performing year on year.
- Compare – benchmarking is a valuable way of improving your understanding of your business performance and potential by making comparisons with other businesses. How do others achieve their performance levels and what can you instigate closer to home?
- Value – non-financial factors also impact business valuation so use a consistent, regular method of valuation as an annual guide and not just when considering your exit strategy.
- Analyse – sensitivity or what-if analysis is a useful way to examine how your business would cope if a worst-case scenario were to happen. Make time to carry out this vital process for your business.
- Improve – the time when all the planning, measuring, reviewing, evaluating, comparing, valuing and analysing come together to create a business performance improvement plan. This plan of action moves your business forward by putting changes in place and acts as a management tool for future referral.
And so the cycle begins again! The 8 Step Business Improvement Programme makes running a business clearer and more systemised, setting out transparent goals that the whole company can follow and focusing on the numbers that will actually influence your success.
If you want a 20/20 vision of your business in 2020, this complete measurement and improvement system could be exactly what you need. For more information on the CRM 8 Step Business Improvement Programme, check out the website or call the team on 01865 379272.
