In any business planning activity, a feasibility study is an effective tool to assist in making a considered decision on the best course of action. The feasibility study can include a cost benefit analysis to evaluate the feasibility of proposed options on technical, economic, and organisational grounds. In so doing, the net presnt value of all options need to be accounted for, with an estimate of the period of time for which benefits will be returned from the initial investment.

One of the fundamental principles of business and economics:

T A N S T A A F L

or in other words…

There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch

When making a business decision, it’s important to determine if a proposed option:

• falls in line with the strategic objectives
• maximises the net benefit for the resources that will be used
• HAS a net-benefit
• has achievable timing considerations
• has acceptable ethical, moral, and/or legal implications
• does not affect cash flow in an unmanageable way
• has an acceptable risk and/or return (particularly in relation to external factors)

Strategic Planning

Strategic planning is the process of a business determining its long term goals and the process by which they might be achieved.

Ideally, the plan would be made once, and then the wheels set in motion. However, on any given day, the business may need to re-evaluate the plan, based upon external factors that may have changed the world in which the business is operating.

The Business Planning Process

We use a process of helping you:

• Indentify your personal longer-term objectives
• Transalate your personal objectives into your professional and/or business goals
• Put the steps in place to realise your strategic goals

Look for the business changes that will produce the most benefits (the highest return-on-investment…or “ROI”). Put the right business processes in place that actually streamline your costs of delivering your product or service. A Business Analyst can help you because they bring and objective view. They can be the catalyst that helps:

• Clarify your business objectives, upon which all your operational business decisions will be based.
• Identify (based on cost-benefit analysis) and scope the areas that should be addressed first
• Map the existing business processes, identify the current inefficiencies, and determine the process changes that need to be made.
• Develop and implementation plan for putting the business process changes in place.

That’s not to say you should be cynical or pessimistic. Talk to people who disagree with you.They may not be right, but they can certainly help you balance out your own biases as to how things should be. Stand outside your normal frame of how you view your business. How often have you thought:

• I waste too much time doing administration rather than making sales;
• I spend too many hours at work instead of doing the things I enjoy;
• I know my business is inefficient, but I never have a chance to sort it out;
• I’m “too close” to my business operations so I don’t know where to start fixing things; or
• I have time to make SOME changes, but which ones will give me the greatest benefit, for the least cost?

Make a list of those things you think are inefficient and a second list of the things you’d rather be doing in your business apart from day-to-day operations.

Next time you walk past a cafe, take note of whether there are empty milk crates sitting outside for collection.

Each crate is equivalent to around 100 coffees. Each coffee (sold at about $3.00 each) is profit of around $2.50.

Do the sums…one crate is profit of $250. Why, then, do cafes so often charge so much for food? Even if they only covered their costs for food, they’d certainly attract more customers, and imagine the number of coffees they could sell.

I recently did work for a local Public Relations company, trying to get them up to speed on that thing we all know as “the internet”.

I don’t want to go on about their lack of willingness to accept the simple fact that it’s now a reality that it’s changing the way they work, like it or not…

However, it’s hard to understand the conversation I had with the CEO via numerous emails about why I use plain text rather than HTML formatting. I sent him a few reasons, all of which are quite valid, but in the end it’s probably a case of six of one, half a dozen of the other. Some people will bang on all day about image, and forget about substance.

It did get me thinking…

Rather than spending so much time, money, and effort in “corporate branding”, perhaps a little more thought could go in to providing an invaluable service for clients.

It’s like the most memorable photo of the Iraq war. A photo of an Iraqi on a box with a hood and their arms outstretched. A purist photographer would comment that a memorable photo is shot with expensive equipment, in perfect conditions.

The photo was taken on a mobile phone.

The other day, Simon went to the local hotel for a beer after work. Apparently, the pub has recently been bought by a Bavarian/Belgian (I’m not sure which) Beer Cafe group.

Simon, being Swiss, asked for a glass of Duvel Belgian beer on tap. The Publican, in a less than helpful manner, said they only sold it in the bottle and that he wasn’t aware of anyone, anywhere selling the beer on tap.

Simon bought a beer and skulked off to his table.

Later, on returning to the bar, the bartender mentioned that in fact, Duvel is brewed in the bottle - so obviously it won’t be on tap.

A little product knowledge would have gone a long way to providing that little bit of extra information that would have turned a negative (”we don’t have it on tap”) into a positive (”it’s brewed in the bottle so it’s not available on tap”).

Well, it put’s your business name online, but whether it supports your business is another question altogether.

If you’re thinking a website is a great idea (and maybe it is), first ask yourself these questions:

1. What do I want it to achieve?
2. How do I measure if it achieves my goals?
3. How can it fit into my existing business, or what must I change in order for it to fit?