A business Christmas carol

There are few books that made a greater impact on me growing up than Charles Dicken’s ‘A Christmas Carol’.

Not having heard about the book before I started reading it, I really did not know what to expect but the supernatural aspect of the ghosts had me intrigued and I liked the way the mirror was held up to old Ebeneezer Scrooge to make him see for himself his mean ways and how his behaviour would potentially influence things going forward.

In essence, this is a book about taking responsibility for ones’ actions the consequences of doing so.

As we approach Christmas and reflect on what has been yet another difficult year, it is worth invoking our own ‘ghost of Christmas past’ to take the time to reflect on how our own business has been going.

In the midst of all the lockdowns, travel restrictions, increasing raw material costs and staff shortages, what were you able to accomplish and what did you learn from the experience?

Sometimes, even though you may be aware of them, some of these unforeseen issues will have business ramifications that are not so evident until you start to look a bit more closely.

I have a couple of clients who were a little slow to react to the increasing raw materials costs and were still quoting at older rates so when these jobs were won, their margins were drastically cut and were reflected in business results for the second quarter months.

So a key learning from just this one example is the importance of ‘knowing your numbers’.

Just looking at the bank statement is simply not good enough, it is important to review your profit and loss monthly, identify the underlying trends and compare this to your original plan.

Of course the numbers are not the only thing to review.

Good businesses will have other goals as well which may cover sales, customer satisfaction, staff engagement, sales and marketing which are usually set at the start of the financial year.

Taking stock of how the business is performing against all these areas is important to ensure a balanced business.

Ironic though it may seem, getting the actual data on business performance is less stressful than just hoping things are going okay since it is the lack of control that creates the stress and anxiety.

If you can see the trend before the situation eventuates, then just like old Ebeneezer you can choose to do something about it.

Which brings us to the look ahead for 2022.

Who knows what this year has in store for us, but I truly believe that you make your own luck and so taking personal ownership and responsibility for your business is a massive improvement over leaving things to chance.

So, take the time to relax and spend time with your family this Christmas but either now or early in the New Year, reflect back on the year that has passed and how this has impacted your business.

Review in quantitative terms the results achieved to date and determine what you will do differently.

This may involve readjusting goals that may no longer be relevant or feasible and/or creating new ones to take the business to where you need it to be.

Remember that specific goals should be set using the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-specific) principle to maximise success.

For me personally, this has been a big year with the publishing of my book ‘From Passion to Profit’ and addressing the challenges that Covid has presented.

I have enjoyed sharing these weekly business insights and would love to hear back from readers if there are any specific topics that you would like me to cover in future articles.

I wish you all a safe and relaxing Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2022!

Ian Ash is the managing director for OrgMent Business Solutions.