| Anyone who owns a business is well advised to | | | | - Have you release a new product or service in |
| do an annual check up on their overall operation | | | | the last year? |
| and this is one area where the services of a | | | | - Have you established, and maintained, a |
| business consultant can really come in handy. | | | | marketing plan? |
| Why Perform an Annual Check Up? | | | | - Are you utilising public relations as a promotional |
| The purpose of an annual check up is to assess | | | | tool? |
| your company's performance in several areas: | | | | - What type of advertising are you using? Is it |
| finances, strategy, human resources, marketing. | | | | effective? |
| Of course, you will have prepared a business plan | | | | - How do you customers rate you for service? |
| by which to run your company the previous year. | | | | - How does your company compare to the |
| But have you ever gone back and assessed | | | | competition? |
| whether or not you met your goals or performed | | | | - What is your employee turnover rate? |
| the way you expected? | | | | - What do your employees think of your |
| If you do not periodically monitor your firm's | | | | company's culture? |
| progress, then a business plan is really a waste of | | | | A business consultant will give you, as owner, |
| time and resources. Think of it as an annual | | | | more than just a vague rating based on these, |
| physical at your GP's office. Just as you need to | | | | and other, factors. They can provide a meaningful |
| monitor your health and well-being, so does your | | | | score based on a variety of analytics. |
| company require an evaluation. | | | | What Happens After the Check Up is Performed? |
| What is Involved? | | | | A good business consultant will not stop after the |
| A business consultant will delve deep into the | | | | assessment is complete. They will offer advice as |
| state of your company. They will consider a | | | | to how to increase your score in the areas that |
| variety of elements before giving you a report. | | | | need improvement. This can be done in several |
| Here are just some of the questions they will ask | | | | ways, including employee and customer surveys, |
| and find answers to. | | | | process analysis, and other tools they are trained |
| - Are your year over year sales figures growing | | | | to use. |
| or declining? | | | | There is no reason to settle for anything less |
| - Have you achieved your financial goals? | | | | than superior performance in your company and a |
| - Are you keeping or losing established | | | | business consultant can help get you on the right |
| customers? | | | | track to meeting, or even exceeding, your goals. |