But one key factor that rarely seems to get the attention it deserves and seems to be holding back so many businesses is: articulating and agreeing the key objectives and plans to achieve them. This includes confirmation of the company’s objectives from management to staff and even confirming that managers and directors share the same objectives.

Agreeing Objectives
During the last year I have been amazed to find husband and wife teams who have never agreed service standards, business partners who admit that they instruct staff to perform tasks in different ways to achieve different objectives when doing identical tasks and partners who actually want different outcomes: one who wants to sell in 12 months whilst the other sees the business as a job for the next 20 years.

Perhaps equally confusing are those directors and managers who do not know where their business is heading or have any targets for it. This begs the old question – If you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you get there?

It also highlights one other big business issue: can your business actually achieve the results you want? In other words if you have a target for financial security in 10 years and can identify what your monetary target is, is your business actually capable of achieving it?

The lack of clear objectives, poor planning and working on assumptions rather than facts, seems to me to be holding back many businesses.

As the New Year starts, isn’t it time to agree your objectives with those who count and then agree the action to be take? If you do, then 2008 could be your year.

Restaurant, retail, health club and shop planning decisions are the main decisions ever taken in a business and a simple tool, a market map, will help you make a better decision and reduce your development risk.
The map below shows the location of a garden centre and the contour line shows a 15 minute drivetime from the garden centre. Each of the very small squares represents a postcode or approximately 18 households and the colour of each shows the key demographic information – wealth and housing type.

The odd thing about the map is how short the drivetime is to the west of the site and this is due to the location of a canal. One glance at this map also shows:

• The key areas to market his business too – dark blue squares where there are larger gardens, more interest in gardening and larger wallets!

Previously all marketing attention had been focussed on areas to the north east – and on the other side of the canal. But as a traditional garden centre this is not the most profitable area for this business, and neither is it the most accessible as the map shows. Armed with the information now available the operator is now able to focus attention on his best prospects and develop strategies to profile his business strengths. It will also him pinpoint door drops and direct marketing campaigns.

Running a similar map before planning or buying a shop, restaurant, garden centre or health club will give you an immediate overview of your market area.

Market maps are available from Chris Morton Associates and can be supported by area profiling, market demographic data and other analysis to take much of the risk out of your planning decisions.

Write the advert first!

This is a brilliant, yet simple idea that will ensure any new building or service you develop meets the needs of your customer – so increasing the chance of success.

Planning a new health and fitness club or conference room for example? Or maybe just planning a new menu?
Then take a few minutes out and write the advertisement you will use to promote it.

Ask yourself:

• What are key benefits that will draw your customers?
• What will set your facility apart from your competitors?
• What will the ‘feel’ of the new development be?
• What will the capacity be, how can the facility be used?
• What extra services will be provided?
• What makes it special?
• What is the key attraction?

Write the advert and ‘see’ what you are striving to create. This approach will ensure that your ‘customer’ will play a part in your development process thereby ensuring that the result will more closely suit his/ her needs.

It’s a great way to plan future developments – and improve your chances of success.