SAN FRANCISCO — Want to grow your business, your sales and your revenue? A special kind of audit can help you.
Don’t let the word “audit” frighten you.
An external Business Alignment Audit, or BAA, unlike an IRS audit, provides a wealth of non-threatening information and offers suggestions designed specificallyfor improving the value, profit and future viability of your company.
There are no fines, no penalties and no mandated requirements to change anything. You are in control.
Audit definition: Conduct a systematic review of.... (Can be anything, but in this case, of a business.)
Businesses are living, changing entities that either adapt to new environments or die. Many enterprise owners and their associates don’t even notice the unhealthy deterioration, because familiarity blinds them from seeing reality.
An objective professional outside source can more readily identify opportunities through a full audit of every department and process because they are not blinded by daily exposure or “we’ve always done it that way” syndrome.
THE BAA
The following BAA is a format proven to add value:
Business Alignment Audit
• Index
• Executive Summary:
Introduction to Assignment;
Key Findings From Pre-Project Team Preparation;
Primary Goal(s):
1 Year,
3-5 Years,
10-15 Years.
Competitive Advantages;
Key Opportunities;
Ranked Priorities.
• Financial Results and Opportunities
• Company Structure
• Management Effectiveness
• Division/Department Goal Alignment
• Team Goal Alignment
• Data From Audit
• Branding
• Pricing
• Product Quality
Relative to Target Niche
• Customer Service:
Content;
Accessibility.
• Sales Structure & Effectiveness
• Marketing and Promotion
• Technology:
Customer Facing;
Partner Facing;
Internal.
• Physical Plants:
Manufacturing;
Processing;
Retail Stores;
Office.
• Efficiency:
Processes;
People;
Tools.
• Human Resources:
Morale;
Training;
Recruitment and Retention.
• Maintenance & Safety.
Note: The items on this BAA shown above, should be customized to your specific company, and the subsequent report should provide details regarding these three following examples: Specific actionable results of the audit; Suggestions for improvement; and, Estimated profitability resulting from the implementation.
SAMPLE OF PRIMARY GOALS
List your primary goals, like this example:
1. Increase revenue by 10% this year;
2. Increase profitability by 14% this year;
3. Grow revenue to $5 million in three years;
4. Create detailed plan and timeline to reach goals.
SAMPLE OF KEY PROFIT NOTES
Although not your stated primary goal, remember that pricing has immediate impact on profit. A simple increase in your retail drycleaning price of $1.00 (X%) per piece would increase your profit by $X and EBITDA by $X.
SAMPLE OF ACTION PLAN ONE ITEM DETAIL
Have action plans that can be filled out. Create a chart with one column for Project, the next column for Maintenance Plan, and other columns for Timing and Additional Resposibility, and keep them updated.
CONCLUSION
You control the Business Audit focus and depth. Any level of audit and implementation has proven to benefit company value and profitability. Now get growing!
To read Part 1, go HERE.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Dave Davis at [email protected].