Where are we going in the new economy
Business planning
Shorter Business Planning Time Frames
The role of business planning has become more important then ever. The uncertain economy and political situation is causing almost weekly shifts in consumer and business purchasing behavior. This can have a great impact on formerly firm estimates and strategies right down to your core business.
Vigilance is the new watchword for terrorism...and the state of your business as well.
For companies without formal planning, now is the time to build the financial forecasting and planning tools needed to guide you through the current economic uncertainty. The critical items are accessible forward looking financial forecasts with underlying revenue and expense forecasting spreadsheets, bulleted action plans for each month of the upcoming year and a communications and review process for monthly adjustments.
If you have a plan you need to have a rigorous review of financial forecasts and strategies once per month and as events dictate. A plan review committee needs to carefully monitor current events for their impact on plans on a daily basis with the authority to call together key planners for adjustments.
The themes we stress to clients are execution, execution and execution on short-term, incremental goals. Make sure you revisit your current customer base to confirm sales forecasts. Pursue technology projects that can reduce operational costs. Look to refinance debt over the next 60 days as rate cuts take effect.
Farmhaus can help. We can quickly help you develop an actionable plan. If you have a plan, we can maintain it for you and help monitor events that might impact your business.
Marketing
A Return to Value
Consumers have become more withdrawn during this attack. To fight back we recommend one word, VALUE. Add more features to your product or service. Examine pricing strategies. See if there is room for even slight discounts for a short time period. See if sales channel costs can be reduced to make up the margin on these discounts.
Web development
A Golden Opportunity For Technology Projects
The costs to build technology projects are falling rapidly. Recent layoffs at dot.coms and other firms have created a highly qualified pool of programmers with lots of experience on complex sites. Recent software developments, particularly in the enterprise arena, have also made routine many of the more complicated programming challenges (shopping carts are a great example). This is a unique moment to add Internet-based technology that can increase your operational efficiencies including database development, shopping management, and much more.
Farmhaus can help you identify and develop technology projects that will increase revenues and reduce costs for your business.
Communications
The Next Themes are Comfort and Safety
The current theme in advertising is patriotism. As the war deepens we believe the next theme should emphasize comfort and safety. As Americans see this war unfold, and with the holidays just 6 weeks away, there is going to be a need for peace and safety. For financial firms this means an emphasis on money market and value funds. For real estate we see an increase in home security sales. Comfort can invoke safety, stability and a retreat from the understandably tense environment. Companies that communicate these themes should break through to consumer needs.
We invite you to submit your article contribution or links to the Farm Report.
