Time to take stock?

Roslyn McLeod says she has a sense of déjà vu about the current business environment.

 

Story by Ros McLeod

It seems very like the late 1980s when we had the pilots’ strike, the first Gulf War, roaring interest rates, fuel price rises and talk of recession everywhere.

Lately I’m hearing of forward bookings being down; a poor conference year in ‘08 and ‘09 for international meetings across Australia, which means less international high yield business visitors; hotel reservations are softening, and although the mining boom is still in full swing will it plateau out soon when construction projects wind up? The USA and UK are experiencing hard times and elections don’t help, plus there is talk of more financial challenges across Europe. Even our change of government also poses the fear to Australian business about what change might bring.

From my TEC group (The Executive Connection - a CEO forum) there is some anticipation that things are slowing as fellow members indicate influences both international and domestic are impacting on business growth and there is a slowdown in orders.

Caution is required in the short term. Perhaps Gen Y may get to see a downturn after all - jobs threatened - even lost - and that would be a surprise to their secure mindset.

So what is my advice? A business plan is essential. Take a conservative view of the ‘09 financial year and plan for the worst - it can only get better. Release those staff members who are not meeting expectations so they can find their true vocation and then recruit good prospects who you can train up.

Caution clients in over-optimism, better to be safe than sorry! In lean times marketing needs to be stepped up wisely and the message must appeal or else the return on investment will not come in.

Everyone is looking for solutions, so program conference content to cater to possible needs. Competition is fierce, and so I suggest that you take a hard look at competitors and what they are doing which will give you some insight into what your strategy may need to be for your own business as well as for your clients and their suppliers.

A real tip for good management is ask yourself “what if?” “What if the business/conference was at risk of financial failure?” and look at what you would need to do to correct it. A similar strategy is to look at your business as if you were putting it on the market - such analysis enables you to see the shortcomings and areas for focus.

If times get tough then the true stars will shine. Make sure you are ready with goals and objectives and a plan to carry them out.

Roslyn McLeod is the founder and managing director of Tour Hosts, a Sydney-based conference and event management company.