The services we provide are generally all aimed at General Business Improvement and are designed to equip / develop business owners or senior managers' skill sets so that long after our engagement may end the business can continue to improve / grow.
We are not about hard sell or slick marketing. We are about giving you information you need to make a decision and then letting you decide. We know and respect it is your business and prefer to work with people that identify with our values rather than doing a good sell job. We take pride in being authentic and respectful.
Our criteria for taking on any new engagement consists of two questions:
If we can't genuinely answer these positively we don't engage as it would be a short and unsatisfying experience for us both.
If you feel you may benefit from speaking to an unbiased and objective person about any aspect of your business, we'd encourage you to get in touch. Our initial discussion is without cost or obligation and is judgement free and in the strictest confidence.
Strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim. Sometimes referred to as a master plan, game plan, plan of action or blueprint. Does your business have one? Most business owners invest thousands of hours and Dollars into their business, yet very few have a clearly defined strategy and often make it up as they go along. Strategy generally involves setting goals and objectives, determining actions to achieve these goals, and then using available resources to execute the actions. Businesses with a clearly defined strategy outperform those that don't.
Once you've clarified your strategy this is usually captured in the Business Plan and there is no doubt that businesses that work with some form of formal planning perform at higher levels than those that don't.
A business plan need not be overly complex or excessively long but what it should be is a clear statement of what the business objectives are and how these are planned to be achieved.
This then provides the guide to reaching the business objectives and when referred to periodically provides a good reference point to progress. Having no plan means no reference points or measurement for goals or objectives and this usually results in constantly changing priorities which then make progress very challenging. The planning process also makes you, at least once, look to the future and think about what it is, you are trying to achieve and how you might do this.
The Business Review provides a complete analysis of all your key business functions and provides you with a series of reports including a SWOT analysis and Priority Action Plan, which you can either implement yourself or with our support.
The Enhanced Business Review provides a more comprehensive audit incorporating the Business Review with a separate review of the Company documentation including; Business Plan, Marketing Plan, Management Accounts and Financial Information. Reports include; Audit Scorecard, SWOT analysis, Priority Action Recommendations and a detailed feedback session.
The Capability and Alignment Review provides a sophisticated view of your organisation and how well it's organised to deliver great experience to customers in an efficient and profitable manner. The audit also identifies conflict within the organisation, which prevents the business fulfilling its full potential – this audit is more suited to companies with more than 40 staff.
Most SME businesses suffer from a lack of systems / processes, this leads to relying on too few individuals which causes havoc when people leave or are away for extended periods, and the result is often a frustrated and or overloaded owner. Many fail to appreciate that in the best businesses, systems run the business & ordinary people run the systems. Consider McDonalds, a global empire run by teenagers? Not really, although most staff are teenagers they follow, and are trained, on processes so no matter where you go, the experience is always the same. Consistency is the key to business improvement and there is no chance to be consistent if things are done different ways.
Just as business planning is important, so is marketing and marketing is much more than just advertising – Marketing is about communicating the value of a product, service or brand to customers or consumers for the purpose of promoting or selling that product, service, or brand. How does your business do this? Is it effective?
A marketing plan identifies the key demographics your product or service will appeal to and then how to reach this target market most effectively. Marketing, if done effectively helps sales by delivering qualified leads to be converted into sales.
People are the most complex facet of most businesses, each person is an individual and is significantly influenced by their own changing emotions. Knowing how to get the best from your team or at the very least have them all pointing in the same direction is the difference between an average and an excellent businesses. Staff that are engaged and challenged will always contribute significantly more than those that feel disconnected and it's surprising how many businesses run with disconnected staff. Our development program is able to mentor from the most junior to the most senior people in the business. We are also able to assist in the team selection and training process.
Every client relationship is different but the following points outline what you can expect when working with an advisor or associate from East Coast Consulting. We will be working for you and as your advisor we need to understand how your business currently works. Over one or two sessions, we will discuss your leadership, strategy, finances, service, sales & marketing, people, operations, culture and your personal work / life balance as the Managing Director / Owner. Following these sessions, we will have a look at the areas of the business that need the most immediate attention and agree a plan of action with you.
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