by Paul Lines

Created on: December 29, 2006   Last Updated: April 29, 2007

If the future for your business is unclear, it is time to pause and take stock of the current situation. You will need to analyse every aspect of it in order to create a feasible strategy for the future.

The first aspect that needs looking at is the goals that you have set yourself in the past. If the future is unclear, it is apparent that you have lost sight of the direction that was set for the business. Re-examine the goals that were set and determine why they are no longer applicable. It is possible that your own individual aims have changed are that you are no longer in tune with the business aims. If this is the case, you will need to redefine the business goals based upon what you now wish to achieve, and the steps to take to reach those goals.

You will then need to look at the business structure itself. Are there elements of the business that are not working effectively or efficiently? To identify and address these issues, you should be compiling a SWOT analysis for the business. Thus, it will be a four-pronged analysis.

STRENGTHS
You will need to identify the business strengths. These could be the customer base; uniqueness of product; financial stability and skill of the workforce. By analysing these areas, you will know what foundations there are to from which to build the future.

WEAKNESSES
The weaknesses of the business also need to be looked at. Analyse workforce, product, customer base, marketing programme and financial position. For example, if your product or service is no longer competitive, or financially the business is not stable, these problems need to be addressed.

OPPORTUNITIES
Having analysed your business strengths and weaknesses, attention needs to be paid to opportunities and threats. With opportunities, you will be looking at ways in which you can use the business strengths to either achieve future growth, or change the business direction or structure in some manner. A possibility may arise whereby you can take over a competitor if your financial position is sufficiently fluid, or an opportunity to diversify might present itself. Alternatively, there may exist an opportunity to sell your business at a significant profit, allowing you to develop other business or personal interests. All of these options need to be identified.

THREATS
The reverse of the opportunity coin is the potential threats. If the business has a poor financial situation, the threat of being forced into bankruptcy may exist. Similarly, if large competitors are entering your business field, this will influence upon your own profitability, making you future in the industry untenable.

Once you have undertaken this analysis, bearing mind that it must be an honest appraisal, you will then be in a position to develop a positive and achievable strategy for the future. This will give the business future the clarity it needs and remove any uncetainty.

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