We hope our readers are drying out after the rain and flooding that affected Auckland and many other centres. We know of a number of automotive businesses that were directly impacted in the Wairau Valley and Browns Bay areas and we are sure there are many more.
It is great to see how communities pull together at times like these with friends, neighbours and even customers pitching in to help and get things up and running.
On a slightly rosier side the floods will also generate a fair bit of work for repairers, although with more modern cars once waters reach the electronic modules, they will often be a write-off, especially given the contamination levels of the water.
The last few years just seem to keep throwing curve balls at businesses. It started with the Covid lock downs, challenges finding trained staff, inflation for pretty much everything especially interest rates and now floods, not to mention a severe lack of summer to fit in the usual relaxing and recreational activities.
It is definitely a good time to try and take some time out to do some business planning for the new financial year. A basic version of what is termed a SWOT analysis is a great place to start – it sounds threatening but it simply means listing out for your business.
Your strengths (What is your business good at)
Your weaknesses (What areas is your business less good at)
The opportunities (Where could you grow business)
The threats (What might affect your business).
For the opportunities and threats you can consider short term (the next year) and a longer term view.
Another good thing to consider is what is your business’ USP(s) – Unique selling proposition – in other words what sets you apart from your competitors. You can then make decisions to ensure you maintain or enhance these USPs.
Brainstorming some of this with your team can also help hone in on things you could do to improve your business over the next year.
