“Don’t waste a good mistake, learn from it.”
– Robert Kiyosaki
Is your MikesBikes Company struggling to make sales or losing cash? If your firm’s financial position has stagnated or is deteriorating, don’t lose hope. This is a great opportunity for you to review your strategy and make changes, and in the process, learn valuable life-long lessons about business decision-making.
Here are five ways to help you improve your performance in MikesBikes:
1. Conduct a Situation Analysis
Performance in MikesBikes, and indeed the real-world, is determined by three things:
- Your decisions;
- Your competitor’s decisions; and
- The market you are operating in.
If your Shareholder Value has been dropping, you must first identify why this is happening. To do this, ask yourself the following questions:
- Are my decisions appropriate for the market and consumer preferences?
- Has the market conditions or consumer preferences changed?
- How have competitor decisions affected my performance?
The following reports in MikesBikes will help you to answer these questions:
- Market Information Report (Intro) or Market Segment Information Report (Advanced)
- Market Summary (All Product Details) Report
- Industry Benchmark Report (Intro) or Financial Results for All Firms Report (Advanced).
2. Focus on Efficiency
Maximizing return on expenditure is the key to success in MikesBikes, represented by your company’s profit. Each functional decision area contributes to your company’s profit:
Marketing: Are you overspending on Product Advertising, Product PR or Branding? As a rule, your marketing expenditure should not exceed 30% of your Wholesale (NOT retail) Sales Revenue.
- Distribution: Are your Retail Margins higher than the industry average?
- Production: Is your Factory Idle Time too high (more than 10%)? Or do you have Lost Sales?
- Product Development: Have you conducted product development to reduce the Prime Cost of your products? Have you taken advantage of empty or low competition market segments?
3. Seek Advice
Have you watched the MikesBikes Tutorial Videos?
Have you read the Player’s Manual?
You can also contact us with any specific questions.
4. Seek a Cash Injection
An unfortunate reality of business is that companies fail from time to time. However, even if your company does become insolvent (signified by a Share Price of less than $1) it is not the end of your journey as a MikesBikes business manager. An interest-free cash injection, combined with coaching from the Smartsims Support Team, will give you another change at success to assist your firm’s recovery. Talk to your instructor if you believe you qualify.
5. Set New Goals
Setting new goals for your company can be important for your team’s focus and motivation. These goals should be small and achievable.
Please contact us if you have any questions.