Planning and goal setting for new year in business

Photo / Bloomberg

With the calendar now open for 2017, the start of a new year is a good time to think about your business plan for the next 12 months - reviewing your plan from 2016 and setting some firm goals for the year ahead.

Taking time out to develop a plan can be a hugely insightful exercise.

It will give you the opportunity to look at where you want to be in the future and will also give you the chance to reflect on where you have come from and celebrate what you have achieved.

Many business owners are unable to see the wood for the trees and underestimate the importance of taking time out from their daily operation to focus on where they want to be, how they are going to get there, and the resources required to make this shift.

This is where forming a plan will ensure you achieve the outcomes you require. This process should involve:

• Reviewing your current position from all angles - financial, staffing, suppliers, farming policies, health and safety, asset management, etc.
• Having a clear vision/goal of what you want to achieve.
• SWOT - identifying yours and your business' strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
• Utilising the SWOT to achieve your vision.
• Delivering to the plan.

The end result will be that you will have a plan for 2017 (or even beyond) which is focused on achieving the outcomes you require and providing you with the key activities to achieve your goals.

Ensure you outline each area of the business and devise contingency plans, detailing the who, what, where, when and why of your day-to-day operations.

Setting up milestones also gives you the opportunity for celebration or action as you achieve, or don't achieve at certain dates.

If you're considering additional funding or attracting investors a robust plan will provide some certainty around the future performance plans for the business and can help when securing funding or investment.

By having a plan, it will help monitor performance and enable you to make rapid changes as required.

For help in preparing your farm's business plan, contact Michelle Turfrey on 06 858 5540.

- This information is general in nature and readers should seek specialist advice before making financial decisions.

- Michelle Turfrey is a partner at Crowe Horwath, Waipukurau.