Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM NOVEMBER 2015 54 I t is never too early to plan—however, it can be too late! An appliance business plan is a scary word for some. It is nothing more than a piece of paper that states what you plan to do and how you plan to get there. If you jot down a paragraph on the back of a napkin describing your strategy, you have written a plan. Years ago, appliance business plans were very complex and much longer than they are today. Appliance business plans today seem to be going back to the fundamentals in an easy to read format. Keep the plan simple and short, this will allow you to get your point across quickly and easily to whomever is reading it. Simple does not mean you don't need to do your homework. Writing an appliance business plan forces you to review every aspect of your business and helps drive the future. Once you have the plan laid out, the appliance targets become your goals. First and foremost, before you get started, you need to make sure you are going to be held accountable for your plan. Put some prior thought behind it, this will help reduce the waste of time. A few questions you may want to ask yourself: • How do I define success? • How to I drive consumers into my store to shop appliances? • What am I willing to spend in advertising to obtain a new appliance customer? • What media types will I use? • Do my store hours align with my competition? • What is my appliance gross sales goal for 2016? 2021? • What is my appliance profit goal for 2016? 2021? • What should my appliance inventory levels look like? • How many employees do I need to hit my 1 year goal, 5 year goal? • What are my plans to expand? • Do I need a larger store or do I want to expand into additional markets? Now that you have thought about it, it's time to put it in writing. Start with a summary page which will clearly state what you want. After the summary, follow with a short description of the appliance industry including both the current state along with the future outlook. Next, I would encourage you to analyze your market. When determining what appliance market share you currently have, it will force you to become more familiar with all aspects of your potential target area. At the same time it will help you determine the strengths and weaknesses of your competition within the market. Spell out the appliance logistics of your organization along with a brief outline of each role. Last but not least, you will need to include the financial factors. Once you have your plan, your objectives and goals will fall into place. HOW WILL YOU USE YOUR PLAN? A business plan can be used for several things. You can use your plan to show appliance vendors how you're a worthy customer. There are possibly several dealers within the same town however; an appliance vendor knows the market can only bear one dealer. By showing the vendor you have set goals and have a short and long term plan demonstrates you are prepared & it could be the tie breaker. Don't forget about your appliance marketing plan, a big portion of your business plan should include your marketing strategy. First & foremost, the appliance marketing plan must include a budget. When developing your marketing strategy you need to determine how am I different from my competition? What is the message I am trying to deliver to my customer? And last but not least, who is my customer? A business plan is NOT something you complete, set aside & do not look at again until next year. You should be updating your appliance business plan whenever anything changes. In addition, you need to update your plan thoroughly at least once a year. This will force you to take a fresh look at your entire business. By recording your dreams & goals on paper, you set in motion the process! Missy Hodges Appliance Trends Missy Hodges Vice President Appliances, MEGA Group USA HAVE YOU STARTED YOUR 2016 APPLIANCE PLANNING? RO

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