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BUSINESS PLANNING
Concerned whether your company is focused on the correct course of action for the next 24 months? Would you like to sell your business but you don’t want competition to know about the pending event? Contemplating how you might sell your business or acquire another business? Puzzled that a product or product line isn’t selling the way you planned it to? In today’s economy do you require new marketing approaches to expand sales into new geography or a different category of customer? Strategic Business Group provides effective solutions to each of these questions. Solutions are specifically designed for the asking company’s set of circumstances.
Strategic Planning
The strategic planning process is designed to align or re-align the company’s vision due to changes to its operating environment. Management often discovers that its vision for the company has not been communicated effectively to its customers and employees. The result is inefficiencies, wasted efforts, and poor performance.
We first start with the company directors and senior managers to uncover their vision for the company. We use a standard survey process called SWOT, Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threat — as “outsiders” we are free to ask probing questions in order to uncover unstated or diluted responses.
Once the company’s directors and senior managers are in agreement as to the Vision, Goals and Strategies that are essential to employ to improve performance we next work with a middle management in larger enterprises or in smaller company’s the sales, product, and financial staff [implementers]. Our goal is to first use the SWOT analysis to determine how accurately these implementers are understanding management’s goals and strategies.
Often we uncover dramatic differences between what the implementers believe are the company’s goals and strategies and what management created. The two primary reasons are that management has had to make changes to respond to the marketplace and management’s failure to communicate effectively.
We now work with middle managers and implementers to create Tactical Action Plans (TAP) for each Strategy needed to implement company Goals.
Our process results in TAP’s that may require negotiation with senior management concerning assets to be acquired, financial costs, timing, and processes or procedures that require change. Individuals are assigned responsibility and negotiated TAP delivery/completion dates are agreed to.
Our strategic planning program includes a simplified weekly reporting process status to completion or process to implementation of each TAP so that senior management and ultimately the company directors are aware of progress or delays in implementation. Our reporting methodology is simple but provides all involved timely accurate information on companywide actions to implement the Vision, Goals and Strategies.
Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)
Strategic Business Group has helped many business owners sell their business. In virtually every situation the owner wanted to do it “quietly”. Their reasons vary but the request can be easily accommodated. The flyer we create describing the industry, the business, revenue information, and attributes that make it saleable are done while keeping the business name and or location silent.
Determining a sales price or purchase price for a particular business is not a precise computation. What someone sold or bought a business for last year or last quarter or month probably has a minimum impact on the value of a similar business’ sale or purchase price. There are numerous factors that must be considered including the current economic climate that may be different or dramatically different from just a few months previous. We study the client’s business and help them consider what price they may sell the business for considering many factors.
When assisting a potential buyer we first need to understand their reasons for the purchase. Is the purchase to acquire technology, market share, or under utilized capacity? If an individual prospect wants to acquire a business to operate what are their goals, financial capabilities, and related experience? We help a prospective buyer to evaluate the current and estimated future value of the business and then how the acquisition may be financed.
We send the business flyer to our mailing list. The list is significant in size and comprised of CPA’s, business attorneys, bankers, business owners, media people, non-bank financing people, etc. When the inquiries start we handle them to determine if they are serious. When they request specific information, such as financials, we have those potential buyers sign nondisclosure agreements. At that point the seller will get involved in the process. Ultimately it is the seller’s decision to accept or reject an offer to purchase the business.
Any M&A work that we do for clients we get paid on an hourly consulting basis. We never take a percentage of the purchase or selling price as compensation. We are very successful helping clients buy or sell their business and the client generally will pay us significantly less than a business broker.
Sales and Marketing
Strategic Business Group has a wealth of experience helping clients develop programs to respond to sales and marketing challenges. Investigating markets to determine penetration potential for a new service or product is often a client request. Determining why a product or service isn’t selling to expectation is also a challenge we address. Many times the need is to find new ways to advertise the product or service in order to reach the desired audience.
If the client doesn’t have a sales force or they can’t afford a sales force the size necessary for national or global selling we find alternatives for them. It may be as simple as interviewing and determining the best Manufactures Representatives for them to employ. In other situations finding a strategic partner that has the sales force in place but is in need of products or services to enhance their own products and services may be the best choice. We investigate the companies that may be a target for strategic partnering, make contact, and determine if they have an interest and whether the fit is correct for our client.
Helping client companies determine the correct sales skill set is a task we are asked to perform. The necessary sales skill varies widely between industries though building relationships is normally required by all. Is it a “technical” sell? Is it a commodity sell? If it’s a long term sell cycle, for example 12 months or more, it requires a sales person that can nurture and foster the process but knows when to “ask for the business”. If it’s a short sell cycle a “closer” is needed and that person is quite different from the previous example. We also help these clients determine an appropriate reward system. Short sell cycles often have a total compensation that is salary plus commission. Long sell cycles likely will have a higher salary and a bonus (could be quarterly or annually) associated with making predetermined goals.
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