| 39 Central Hawke’s Bay: Stevenson & Taylor Proudly local: The Stevenson & Taylor sales and service team has everything covered – from tractors and heavy machinery to lawnmowers and outdoor power equipment. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT There are many considerations to take into account in any business whether you run an agricultural business, a professional services business, or a farming business. Based on our experience of business advisory at Findex, we found there are three key drivers to businesses that outperform their peers. 1.) Speci ic Goals and a clear plan or strategy Successful businesses take time to re lect on past outcomes and envisage the future, so they can actively plan what they want the business to achieve. They develop a strategy which includes consideration of the resources needed to accomplish the goals. Every business needs to ensure that the plan is lexible should any changes be required due to unforeseen circumstances, such as weather disasters or other unexpected events. The key to getting started in building your business’ strategy is to keep the end goal in sight and work backwards. If you need support, seek some professional and independent input that will challenge your thinking. 2.) Budgets or inancial plans that alignwith your strategy Although, the current environment may challenge business outcomes, all successful businesses link their strategy to a budget. This helps business owners to understand how certain decisions impact inancial outcomes. For example, a decision to change direction in one area of your business may result in reduced pro itability in the short term for a long-term gain. To better understand any funding implications that may occur, it’s common practice to carry out some scenario planning to see the impacts of various economic triggers. Often a business may run three scenarios, best, worst, and planned. These scenarios are likely to in luence future decision making when performance dictates which direction the business is heading. 3.) Financial reporting andmeasurement Timely and accurate inancial reporting is immensely valuable in a successful business. Monthly performance reporting should be readily available so decisions can be made quickly as required in real time. If reporting is less frequent, then it’s generally too late to change performance. Successful businesses often have key measurements monitored outside of the inancial reporting system so they can make changes before the end of a inancial year and before the inal inancial result is determined. Findex prides itself on an integrated service o ering, giving you and your business the peace of mind that comes with knowing that you and your inancial and lifestyle goals are being supported by professionals. For more information or advice, contact the Accounting and Business Advisory team at index.co.nz. Disclaimer: Findex NZ Limited trading as Findex The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author/s and do not necessarily re lect the thought or position of Findex. Three key aspects to business success
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