{"id":32735,"date":"2020-01-16T09:55:53","date_gmt":"2020-01-16T14:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/?p=32735"},"modified":"2020-01-17T09:20:39","modified_gmt":"2020-01-17T14:20:39","slug":"company-owners-should-develop-business-plans-that-reflect-their-vision-for-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/01\/company-owners-should-develop-business-plans-that-reflect-their-vision-for-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Company Owners Should Develop Business Plans That Reflect Their Vision for Future"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
John Crawford, founder of JP Crawford Associates in Glens Falls<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Susan E. Campbell
\nAs a new year arrives, many company owners review their business plans to make sure every financial decision, marketing program and staff member remain aligned with their company vision.
\n\u201cMost of the time a business plan is stuck in a drawer and only revisited when the owner needs something, such as a loan,\u201d said William Brigham, director of the Small Business Development Center of the University of Albany School of Business.
\n\u201cWe see a thousand businesses a year from 11 counties, and people would be surprised by the lack of a formal business plan,\u201d said Brigham, who has been with the nonprofit organization for 20 years.
\nFinancial advisors agree that a solid business plan is at the heart of a company\u2019s success. Some aspects of the planning process are commonly overlooked or under-emphasized, according to local professionals who shared some tips for keeping companies on point, especially this time of year.
\n\u201cThe foundation of a business, whether a starter or existing, is the mission statement\u2014what are our core values and where do we want to go,\u201d said John Crawford, founder of JP Crawford Associates in Glens Falls.
\nWith 30 years of executive and managerial experience in industry and business, Crawford motivates clients whose company vision is poorly articulated and does not explain why someone would buy their product or service and not the competition\u2019s.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re better or we\u2019re cheaper\u201d may be common answers but are not sufficient ones, according to Crawford. So he advises them to \u201cgo back and put in your plan the core values that the company is built around.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
William Brigham is the director of the Small Business Development Center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cCommunicating vision and plan for execution to everyone can start your year off in the right direction,\u201d said Sherry Finkel Murphy, an associate wealth management advisor with The Atrium Financial Group of Northwestern Mutual, which serves the Capital District and North Country.
\n\u201cEnsure family, employees, partners, and resources are all on the same page and can articulate the value you bring in 2020,\u201d said Finkel Murphy, who has been recognized as one of Northwestern Mutual\u2019s 2019 Most Exceptional Community Service Award winners.
\n\u201cWhen the company vision and core values are committed to writing, they provide good talking points for employees to get involved in expressing what those goals mean to them,\u201d Crawford said. \u201cThe value to employees is that they can show supervisors they understand and are working toward that vision.\u201d
\n\u201cOn the manufacturing floor, workers may not have an answer as to what their business believes in,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a critical point but many ignore it and then wonder why people quit. It is because the core values have not been communicated.\u201d
\n\u201cIs the team in place that can execute your vision?\u201d said Finkel Murphy. \u201cAre you communicating the value of your benefits package to your employees, so that your turnover is low?\u201d
\nCrawford said businesses should be looking long term and question whether they are achieving the desired culture in the workplace. Does staff really feel integral to the company?
\n\u201cIf not, the owner may need to go back to the drawing board,\u201d he said.
\nCrawford and Finkel Murphy said the mission statement can be a valuable recruiting tool.
\n\u201cAn active mission shows potential new employees whether the decision they make is aligned with your company\u2019s stated values,\u201d said Crawford.
\n\u201cThe ability to attract new employees is higher when the company has critically assessed its resource needs,\u201d said Finkel Murphy. \u201cWe remain in a tight labor market, after all.\u201d
\nBrigham said another weakness in business planning is often \u201cnot knowing what your credit looks like and not having a good idea of capital needs.\u201d
\n\u201cIt says a lot about the character of the business owner if they are paying their personal bills,\u201d he said. \u201cThey may be in a position of having to explain why their credit situation is the way it is. The first of the year, working on financial projections and setting milestones are key,\u201d said Brigham.
\n\u201cUse the new year as an opportunity to physically bring your team together\u2014financial planner, accountant, attorney, and banker\u2014to put an action plan to your goals and adjust your critical business documents as necessary,\u201d said Finkel Murphy.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Sherry Finkel Murphy, CFP, ChFC, RICP, The Atrium Financial Group of Northwestern Mutual.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Crawford recommended sending \u201call financial information to the accountant throughout the year, ideally every three months, for another set of eyes. If you start going down the wrong path, you can more easily get back on track. And bankers love to see that you are looking for financial trends and asking yourselves, what are we doing differently to make sales go up.\u201d
\nWhen applying for financing, the business plan becomes \u201cthe document you lead with, but the company spokesman, the business owner, should lead the discussion,\u201d Crawford said.\u00a0\u201cThe bankers should see the company owners are on the ball and understand their selling points.\u201d
\nGoing over revenue and expenses from last year helps the company to better understand what the balance sheet should look like in 2020, said the experts.
\n\u201cThen set goals that improve even more on prior successes,\u201d said Finkel Murphy. \u201cIf something works, consider investing in it further to understand why it was successful.\u201d
\n\u201cAddress liquidity early and often to ensure your business has the liquid assets it needs to execute your plans,\u201d she said.
\nAs a company considers how to align marketing efforts with financial execution, Brigham recommended making sure companies have an online presence. Without one, businesses today cannot compete, he said.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s very important to have a website so people can reference your business,\u201d he said. \u201cAll companies should get a good idea of how social media works and include it in their marketing plans.\u201d
\nCalling social media \u201ca huge asset,\u201d Brigham said it tends to be one of the more popular topics for training provided by the Small Business Development Center.
\n\u201cWe have a research network and access to databases that can give relevant marketing information to our clients,\u201c he said. \u201cThere is so much data out there that businesses need to be effective in accessing it.\u201d
\nHe said all types of clients, from hair salons to aerospace companies, have tapped into these resources to find demographic information and similar companies in their area, and thus determine who their competition and their customer base are likely to be.
\nNow is also the time to review the business owner\u2019s continuity plan and exit strategy, advised Finkel Murphy. \u201cIt\u2019s the last thing you want to spend time on, but it is critical for your family, employees, clients, and even lending institutions.\u201d
\n\u201cIf you or a critical team member prematurely dies or is disabled, how does the business run? How does your estate exit the business?\u201d said Finkel Murphy. \u201cConsider now if anything has changed in your own plans for retirement or exit from the business.\u201d
\nA business plan can change and become more in-depth over the years, said Crawford, \u201cbut all companies should have something tangible that documents what they will shoot for and that guides them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Susan E. Campbell As a new year arrives, many company owners review their business plans to make sure every financial decision, marketing program and staff member remain aligned with their company vision. \u201cMost of the time a business plan is stuck in a drawer and only revisited when the owner needs something, such as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":32736,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nCompany Owners Should Develop Business Plans That Reflect Their Vision for Future - Glens Falls Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/01\/company-owners-should-develop-business-plans-that-reflect-their-vision-for-future\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Company Owners Should Develop Business Plans That Reflect Their Vision for Future - Glens Falls Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Susan E. 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