Cascade Alliance

Technique Tuesday: Annual Store Goals

Having a successful business doesn’t happen without planning. Each year our senior managers map out our goals for the following fiscal year. Our plan for October 2018-September 2019 is to raise our daily average $8,000. We have identified three different areas to focus on and will touch on those more in depth next Tuesday.

The beginning stages of planning can get complex quickly, so we keep a simple train of thought to keep us on track: “Every action that brings us closer to the goal is productive. Every action that does not bring us closer to our goal is not productive.” It’s helpful to rethink each action to make sure we are leading the organization towards its goals and not wasting valuable resources along the way.

Planning and implementation conforms to these four principles:

  1. Financial viability ­– When a business or organization is able to generate enough income to continue to meet financial operating objectives and still has a return on profit.
  2. High quality service – The way employees interact with customers should leave them with a positive experience.
  3. Employee satisfaction – Employees are satisfied with the work they do and their working conditions. High employee satisfaction can lead to generation of increased revenue and a healthy workplace environment.
  4. Suitable organizational structures – A good organization structure will be efficient yet have a high level of employee satisfaction and still offer quality service to clients. There are four common types of structures:
    • Functional – A functional structure divides the company based on specialty.
    • Divisional – A divisional structure refers to organizations that structure leadership based on different products or projects.  An example would be an umbrella brand such as Procter and Gamble, that operates smaller brands beneath.
    • Matrix – A matrix structure is one where employees have more than one boss and reporting lines.  The structure enables balanced decision making and flexibility.
    • Flatarchy – Flatarchy structure is commonly seen in smaller businesses and startups.  The “flatter,” structure creates more lines of communication and promotes collaboration.

These four basic principles might only be the bones of a plan for execution, but they definitely lead to a successful business plan to reach goals.