One of the tempting habits of a new organization is to form “handshake alliances” with as many non-competing organizations as they can find; specifically those organizations that have a complimenting product or service. While it is important to form alliances and partnerships, these agreements should be solid and chosen carefully. A partnership exists for one reason; a mutual benefit between two parties, with a synergistic need for the two parties to be united. Partnering in hopes of a referral (as mentioned before) can be hazardous to your organization’s health. A good partnership comes from an established relationship, not a staged one based on opportunity.
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1-3-6-12 Month Forecasting vs. Actual
Until you establish a clear sales history, your sales forecasts will be your best guess estimate (culminating the data you collected through market research). This best guess estimate should be used to refine your goals. Developing goals are important. Although the first few years of your business’ life will be spent building a history of comparison, it is still relevant and important to strive towards realistic goals.
As you begin to build a sales history, you should measure your performance against prior quarters, halves, and then years. Setting goals at the one month, three month, six month and twelve month periods are standard points of comparison. After two to three years, you will be able to establish growth goals and measure your overall growth quarter-over-quarter, and year-over-year. Look for outside and inside factors that attribute to growth.
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