Page 37 - Flathead Beacon // 12.30.15

FINANCIAL CORNER JESSE RIGLER
TIME FOR SOME NEW YEAR’S T(FINANCIAL) RESOLUTIONS
HE COUNTDOWN TO 2016 HAS are frequently volatile and the future just about begun. If you’re like often looks murky. Yet, if you can look many people, you might be mull- past the uncertainties of today and
BUSINESS IS PERSONAL MARK RIFFEY
COMPANY GOALS TNEED CONTEXT
HE NATURAL THOUGHT PRO- cess for small business owners at this time of year is often about
goals, i.e.: “How can we do better next year?”
Before you can answer that, you need to decide what “do better” means. What’s your process for thinking that through? If you decide it’s about increasing a high- level focus item like pro t (rather import- ant), you’re going to have to break it down so you can focus on the actions that pro- duce the increase you’re looking for.
Departmental Goals Matter, Too
Once you’ve settled on an area to improve, don’t limit improvement ideas solely to your focus. If you have a sta , you have to get them involved. If you’re big enough to have multiple departments, you have to get them involved. Get them together and take them through the pro- cess you went through. For each depart- ment or area of the company, what data should they review? For each department or area of the company, what else needs review and discussion? What do they think they can improve upon this year that will have the most signi cant impact on their area’s quality and speed? Each department needs to understand how achieving their goals will contribute to other departmental goals and vice-versa. Finally, all departments or areas of the company need to understand how their area’s goals contribute directly to compa- ny-wide goals.
Communicate Company-wide Goals
Most business owners are pretty good at breaking down the achievements required to reach their goals, but a com- mon misstep is to overlook the commu- nication required to make sure that the owner’s company-wide goals have “Why does this matter to me?” context at all lev- els of the company, for every employee.
This is a critical step for several rea- sons, most of which are connected to the need to provide employees with context to the company’s goal(s). When discuss- ing the context of the goals with your team, answer these questions from the employee’s perspective: Why should I care? How can a brand-new employee contribute to such a high-level goal? How can an employee who feels their work is “menial” possibly believe their e ort is critical enough that it rolls up into the
ing over some New Year’s resolutions, such as hitting the gym more, learning a new language or taking a cooking class. All are worthy goals, but why not add some nancial resolutions as well?
For example:
• Pay yourself rst. Even if you aren’t liv-
ing “paycheck to paycheck,” you prob- ably don’t have much trouble spending your money – because there’s always something that you or a family member needs, always a repair required for your home or your car, always one more bill to pay. But if you are going to achieve your long-term goals, such as a com- fortable retirement, you need to invest consistently. So before you pay every- one else, pay yourself rst by having some money automatically moved from your checking or savings account each month into an investment.
• Take advantage of your opportunities. If you have a 401(k) or similar plan at work, take full advantage of it. Con- tribute as much as you can a ord – or at least enough to earn your employer’s match, if one is o ered – and choose the mix of investments that give you the potential to achieve the growth you need at a level of risk with which you are comfortable.
• Focus on the long term. In the short term, you might be excused for not wanting to invest. The headlines are typically scary, the nancial markets
keep your focus on tomorrow, you will nd it easier to follow a disciplined investment strategy that gives you the opportunity to meet your long-term goals, such as a comfortable retirement.
• Don’t be driven by fear. When the mar- ket is down, investors tend to react with fear. Speci cally, they rush to sell their investments, afraid that if they don’t “cut their losses,” they might sustain even bigger ones. If you can get past this feeling, you may nd that a down market can o er you the chance to buy quality investments at good prices.
• Forget about the “hot stocks.” You’ll hear friends, co-workers and talking heads on television tout today’s “hot stocks.” But by the time you might hear about them, they may have cooled o – and, in any case, they might not be appropriate for your needs. Forget about “getting rich quick in the mar- ket” – it probably won’t happen. True investment success requires patience and persistence.
• Cut down on your debts. It’s easy to pile up debts, but a lot harder getting rid of them. Yet, if you can reduce your debt load even moderately, you’ll free up money you could use to invest. So look for ways to conserve, cut back and con- solidate – it will be worth the e ort.
Making these resolutions – and stick- ing to them – can help you as you work toward achieving your nancial goals.
company’s goals? What do I need to hear about my work to make this company goal important? (If they don’t know these things, they won’t likely buy into com- pany goals.) My low-level work seems unimportant, so why does this matter to anyone? I watch the clock all day, how could my work be of importance to the company?
Each person, regardless of what they do, needs to understand how their work contributes to the company’s goal(s). They also need to understand what their department’s goals are. They need to be reminded that the most “menial,” seemingly “low-level” task is import- ant because that work is often where the company has signi cant contact with the customer. If they don’t truly understand the importance of what they do – their leader needs to step in and help.
Obvious, but Often Overlooked
You might be thinking this is all so obvious, but in small, closely held com- panies, these things are not commonly communicated, or are not explained to a level that makes them resonate with the sta . If your company goals don’t res- onate with the sta , they really aren’t company goals at all. The same goes for departmental goals, which can produce silo’d behavior that leaves people with the impression that the performance of one group or even one person is not all that meaningful to the rest of the company, when the truth is that all of these pieces working in sync is critical to making the entire company’s goals.
Things to Consider
What are the three most valuable pieces of information you learned about your clients this year? Of those three, which demand that you leverage them with into the new year? Is any one of them a competitive advantage?
What is an area of strength in each department that can be leveraged for the entire company? Is this a strength limited to that department, or can that department teach the rest of the com- pany how to gain from it?
When you sit down to look at these things and discuss them, be sure that you’re thinking about and discussing the data, rather than going on gut feel. It’s way too tempting to do this by the seat of the pants.
“MAKING THESE RESOLUTIONS CAN HELP YOU AS YOU WORK TOWARD ACHIEVING YOUR FINANCIAL GOALS.”
Jesse Rigler is a nancial advisor at Edward Jones in Kalispell.
Happy New Year!
755-8552
318 Main Street, Kalispell MT
Want to learn more about Mark or ask him to write about a strategic, operations or marketing problem? Email him at mri ey@ atheadbeacon.com.
DECEMBER 30, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
37