How To Make 2023 a Successful Year for Your Business
With the 2022 World Cup occurring in winter for the first time, it has made me compare the role of a football manager/coach to a business owner when it comes to putting together a strategic plan for 2023. Prior to starting a tournament such as this one, a football coach will spend hours planning to ensure that they have the right people in the right seats, cover for all positions in case of injuries; plans A, B, and C for different scenarios that might arise during a game or tournament; the list goes on.
The role of a business owner is not too different. We face different challenges every day and we need to ensure that we have a team, and a range of strategies to cover & deal with the challenges and opportunities that we know are going to come our way. It is therefore vitally important that we spend the time before the end of the year to ensure that we are ready to face the year ahead.
The key points to consider for a successful year in business in 2023 are:
- Strategy
- Setting goals
- The right people in the right seats
- Training
- Financial forecasts
Let's look at these in further detail...
Strategy
What do we want 2023 to look like? Is growth our main aim or are we looking to consolidate due to the uncertain economy? If we want to grow, what is the structure of our business going to look like at the end of the year compared to the start? Putting together an organisation chart will help visualise this clearly.
Setting goals
Having goals & targets in place is vital to give us a chance to move to the next level. Whether it is to achieve a specific number of new clients a month or a set sales target, goals help us to drive the business forward. As an ex-goalkeeper, I used to have a target of clean sheets for the season...sadly my skills were not up to ever meeting them!
Right people in the right seats
This is key to ensuring that your business is successful. Having a team that you can rely on to deliver and support you is vital, just as it is for a football coach to know that, should 1 striker get injured, they have a cover on the sidelines (except of course for Harry Kane who is irreplaceable!). Recruitment is a challenge for most sectors, so we must be prepared to bide our time and wait for the right option and not rush in just to fill in the numbers. Recruiting at a lower level is generally easier and cheaper and is a good option if your team at that level are ready to be pushed on and receive promotions.
Training
We may not be able to spend 3 or 4 hours a day training our team as football coaches are. However, it is paramount for a successful business to ensure that there is a training programme in place. Training our team to progress can bring unexpected rewards and save money for the business in the long run. Coaching and nurturing the talent you have at your disposal can bring rewards that you wouldn’t necessarily expect. Phil Foden or Bukayo Saka wouldn’t be where there are today without putting in hours of training and receiving support from their coaches to help them to reach their goals.
Financial forecasts
Forecasts allow us to see into the future and play with numbers so that we can look at various options in terms of income and costs. The forecasts should be set in line with the strategy for the year. Make sure that any costs of recruitment, office expansion and the like are built-in so that you can see the effect on your profitability and how much you need to increase your income by. Flex the numbers of both sales units and sales prices as you will need a mix of both to grow. Make sure that you compare actual numbers to your forecasts on a regular basis to see why and where variances have occurred, and make action plans to deal with them.
On the whole, it already looks like next year may well be one of the most challenging yet, with inflation at levels not seen for some time and interest rates rising slowly. It is therefore more important than ever to put together a plan to put you in a position to deal with the issues you may face.
If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to email me at adam.moody@rafifngers.co.uk or click here to get in touch.