I urge newsagents to start this new financial year off right.
Make a decision this morning that this year will be better than the last and that through your actions you deliberately pursue the business you want.
I urge you to make a decision to not be driven by reactions to what has been traditional for newsagents, make a decision to chase what is right for you and your future.
Not sure where to start? Here are some suggestions to get you thinking:
- Set a sales budget by department. Take the 2014/15 figures and decide what you want to achieve by department in 2015/16.
- Set a GP% target for the year. It is vital newsagents break free from the channel average GOP of 28% to 32% of revenue as this is no future. I urge newsagents to reach for 40% and then 45% and then 50%.
- Set your top 10 overarching business goals for the year. This could be reduce debt; a transaction count target, basket value target, less hours worked; increased profit.
- List things you want to stop doing in 2015/16. Think of this as a clean up for the business, de cluttering. Moving the business away from the traditional newsagency and into a future over which you have more control.
- List what you need to achieve your goals, the resources.
- Now, and most important of all, list from the above lists your next five steps in order of priority.
- Start.
The alternative to this approach to starting a new financial year is to do nothing special, to operate in a mode of business as usual. Do that and you will have a usual result. For too many newsagents that result is flat or declining traffic, revenue and profitability. That is no future. It need not be your future.
If you plan to sell your newsagency at some point the best outcome will be achieved if you grow the business. Growing the business relies on steps such as those I have listed and other steps that will come to mind as you work through what I have suggested.
Now more than ever, embracing change in the newsagency is important. The start of a new financial year is an ideal time to commit to a plan of major change.
We can all grow our businesses and enjoy them more.
Make FY2015/16 your year!
Anyone wo wants help planning for next year let me know – 0418 321 338. I’d be glad to help.
I am not sure what reports to print for individual departments. Also the stocktaking report was hard to find. I would have thought after I processed it I would have been asked if I wanted to print a report (not a discrepancy report) directed to print a report.