You do performance reviews for staff... do you do them for your business?

Annual reviews are common for anyone that manages staff. They're often tick-box exercises and can be frustrating if not done right.

The same goes for your business. Sure you might look at topline sales and your bank balance throughout the year - but how often do you do an indepth review.

Without doing a review, you can get bogged down in the 'doing' of every day and miss the opportunities to lean into what's working - and cut out what's not. Every single time I've done this for business, we've found a whole pot of potential new revenue, profit and cost savings.

It's not painful and it IS worth it.?

For many business owners, this can feel a bit daunting and something that is either avoided or left to the accountant to try and work their way through. While accountants are amazing at looking at the financial side, there is a LOT more than you can - and should - be looking at to understand how your brand & business are performing.?

The tips below are focused on helping to put more ‘money in the tin’ and improving your business profitability; and doesn’t always mean taking radical action to drive topline sales. There are a whole lot of places that you can - and should - go and investigate INSIDE your business to make sure that you aren’t losing out.

?1. Get your spreadsheet out and dig into your sales, profit and margins (in detail - not just topline).?

Your accountant should be able to help with this bit if you get stuck, and we've got our own handy tools & spreadsheets to guide you through as well. You need to look at SKU rankings, segment performance, volume (and profit) drivers and understand what's really moving the needle.

2. Look at your customer list and who is driving your sales the most (and who is dead wood that need a cull)

Signing up new retailers is exciting and it can be tempting to add anyone and everyone. But if some are causing headaches, not worth your time (hint: Trade Me is a big standout problem one), or not aligned with your business - NOW is the time to plan your exit.

3. Check out your competitors to keep an eye out for any changes.

This doesn't mean copying, but it's worth it to see if they've made any mis-steps that you can capitalise on. It could be flavours, pack claims, pack size or advertising.?

4. Think sustainability, and relook at your packaging.

There might have been new formats or changes that you can use to help with costs, or add more value for your customers. Your packaging supplier is a great one to talk to here.

5. Ask yourself? 'Has the generosity genie got hold and I'm adding too much value' without checking if my customers actually WANT it all?

?It can be tempting to add all the cool bits into your marketing, advertising, product and activity. While its great to have a super fancy stand for trade shows, if you miss the critical parts (like making it easy to taste and try) then you're spending money where its NOT making a difference.?

6. Review your prices - and make sure they’re at a meaningful price point that delivers the profit you need.

Whether you're at $4.29 or $4.34, the price difference is pretty much meaningless. Go to a price that's easy to read & understand, and hits a key price for your consumers. Think about your promo price too... there's a reason we love a "9" on promo, and round numbers are popping up more for shelf prices as well.

7. Think about how you are framing & communicating your price & value to your customers. Does it all line up?

All touchpoints from packaging to advertising and marketing should line up for customers. Having expensive packaging at a cheap price means people might distrust the 'real' quality of your product. And vice-versa - cheap packaging and expensive price leads people to feel you're (likely) trying to rip them off somehow.?

8. Look for partners to share costs with, especially if you're starting out.

There can be 'back office' areas like Canva licences or bulk packaging (plain boxes) that you could buddy up with and get better volume deals.?

9. Relook at your Ingredients list

Talk to your suppliers about what's changed, what's likely get more (or less) expensive, and understand what your customers value most. If you're adding a super-expensive ingredient that no-one wants, or its at such a low level that its nothing but a brief 'hint' then maybe its worth looking for alternatives.?

10. Review your promotional spend with Retailers

Retailers will always want more margin. The key is to spend in the right ways that deliver a win-win for BOTH of you. More sales, more profit, more volume. Check your price promotions and discounts, and think about what you could do differently next year.

For a more detailed 'how to' check out the full blog link below so you can get going yourself. https://www.pitchfork.co.nz/blog/i0zpsc6et31jnn2c603hsbr9t6n95m