VISION

Someone stopped me the other day asking for directions, I asked where he was going....... he said he didn't know

What are your business objectives..

Often these can be expressed in financial terms be it profit or more pertinently profit or ROI (return on investment)...however are these in fact the route to another more fundamental "goal"?
However for most owner managed businesses they may be much simpler objectives possibily related to their (and their families) lifestyle objectives.
They will often extend to the wellbeing of employees or other communities.
For social enterprises particular objectives may be intrinsic in their formation.
Ambitions of market share are relevant but may be more related to your business strategy (see below).

Don't ask how big but rather how profitable

There is a plethora of information available literally at your keypad ;
Therefore even the smallest of businesses can now make objective assessments and decisions.
Internet research can identify: what customers are looking for, in what volumes and with what trends.
However this gets more difficult when researching novel or new products and services where perhaps "qualitative" and face to face research is necessary.
Do you carefully protect knowledge or insight you have gained from your competitors?

Unlocking them is all about your business strategy;

If there is one common theme in most successful (over a medium/long term) enterprises;
They have a plan to be a major player not an "also ran" in their chosen market.
They work hard at clearly understanding their target customers.
They have a clear differential compared to their competitors.
They are capable of creating true innovations based upon this knowledge.
Combined this means they achieve respect within their market niches as specialists/experts.

How do you manage your business development activity?

Do you have an effective database of existing and potential customers which easily allows you to organise and measure activity?
Does it allow you to automate mass conventional or more relevantly e-mailings with selective criteria?
Do you set targets for number of cold contacts, prospects, suspects and existing customer follow-ups?
Do you have sales materials and a website resource that truly answers the questions your potential customers have and sell the benefits of your producys and services.
Have you trialled and researched the opportunities for pay per click promotion on the Internet (Google AdWords™, Microsoft; Yahoo/Bing)
If approriate to your business do you use LinkedIn or alternative online and off line networking resources.

What is suceeding, what is not & why?

Your experience and knowledge of what works and doesn't for your business category should be the fundamental building blocks of your ongoing strategy.
For many busineses it can often be surprising where these proven competitive advantages/edges/positionings actually lie; generally they are not the ones they originally foresaw / planned for.
Are your management accounts structured in such a way that you can identify these trends and where your profitable activity is concentrated easily, or are your accounts just used by the accountant/bank?
If you have a web-site what information do you have about visitors, trends & conversions?
Accepting that risk is inherent in business how do you manage your portfolio of activities to balance financial risk across the business?
What management information do you need daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly (in the internet world timescales for reaction are ever shortening) and what disciplines do you follow to ensure you review these and maintain control of your business?