VESTRA Business Advantage and Geosys (Vestra Geosys) are boutique management consultancy practices based on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland offering a range of business advisory services.
Business Analysis and Strategic Planning
It is incredibly important at the outset of any business planning process for you to determine your personal ideal future. This is because; in the end your business is only a vehicle to achieve to achieve your personal goals.
These certainly aren’t just financial objectives and also need to take into account issues like flexibility, lifestyle, peer recognition and any philanthropic aims you might have. After all, you wouldn’t just wander into a paddock with a pile of bricks and timber to build a house without a plan. Even if you knew had a clear picture in your mind of what you were trying to build how would you tell the electrician where to put the power points and the plumber where to put the taps? In reality, your business could ultimately be worth much more than your house so doesn’t it deserve the same attention to detail in planning and execution.
Vestra Geosys’s analysis and planning processes allow you to determine exactly where you are, your planned destination, and what physical, financial and human resources you will need to reach your ultimate goal. Our core offerings in this area include:
- Business Analysis reports and general business surveys;
- Strategic Business plans; and
- Strategic marketing plans and analysis.
Financial Management
One of the main issues facing the business owner is not the lack of information; it’s actually that there is too much.
The key to being able to measure success and identify worrying trends is to decide which information is critical to good decision making in your business and focus only on that.
We work with you to decide which are the right Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), both financial and non-financial in your business in all the major functional areas like:
- Marketing;
- Sales;
- Operations/Production;
- Finance;
- Administration; and
- Human resources.
We then work with you to develop customised management reports so you can gain higher levels of performance from your business. External Management Support Meetings
Having a flash new business plan will mean nothing if it is not implemented. Vestra Geosys’s management meeting system makes you, the business owner accountable and helps you to implement the steps needed to accomplish your business goals.
We all know how to lose weight, just eat less and do more exercise. So why do people statistically lose more when they go the Weight Watchers? It’s because they are forced stand on the scales in front of someone else and take responsibility for their actions.
It’s the same in business. If we fail to follow through and don’t implement our plan, nobody will ever know, and ultimately we get so far behind we think it will be easier to just start the whole process over again, and in the end we just end up in a ‘Circle of Sequels’ doing the same old thing and expecting a different result.
The greatest cost to business is FTI, or Failure to Implement. We plan to do stuff, we may even pay consultants to help get ready to do stuff, and then we just get sucked into going back to doing what we have always done. Sound familiar?
Some of the advantages of Vestra Geosys’s External Management Support Meetings include:
- External expertise with options to chair or support your meetings;
- Action plans and accountability;
- Keep on track using a structured, collaborative environment;
- Review progress against targets; and
- Celebrating the successes.
Marketing
- Strategic Marketing Planning.
- Intellectual Property (IP) advice and assistance.
- Industry Research.
- Management Visioning Workshops.
Branding and Intellectual Property Protection Strategies
In the end, two of major assets in a business that most owners completely overlook are the brand and the intellectual property.It is incredibly important to consider if your name can be protected, and if so, at what level. Determining who should own this valuable asset to both protect it if something goes wrong, as well as using it as a highly effective means to minimize tax and earn passive income from the business is incredibly important. Our key focus in this area includes:
Researching existing trademarks to see if you might already be infringing an existing mark and putting your whole business at risk;
Determining the level of protection possible for your existing name and what classes need to be considered for protection;
Have you had copyright assigned on your existing design and who owns your current website, and can it be moved to another host if necessary;
Who owns your documented systems and other Intellectual Property and what would happen if your business was sued or found itself in financial difficulty?
The number of horror stories in this area are incredible and the ramifications can be disastrous if business owners fail to make sure they are covered in this area. Many a good business in Australia has disappeared due to either a lack of research in this area, or an inability to be able to protect all the hard work you have put into developing your brand, systems and other valuable business information.
Succession Planning
Sometimes called Strategic Transition Planning allows you to effectively prepare for the eventual sale or handover of your business. A good analogy for this is ‘Every pilot has to land sometime’ and it’s better to have a preferred destination in mind rather than crashing when you run out of fuel or something breaks.
Effective succession plans take time to develop and implement properly so it’s never too early to start. It’s critical to maximise the value of your business for either a planned or unplanned departure. The key focus in this area must be to:
- Maximise the value of your business;
- Minimise Risk;
- Develop Strategic transition plans using effective succession planning;
- Undertaking detailed Human Resource Planning; and
- Project management of all of the above.
Seminar Presentations/Keynote Speaking
Vestra Geosys’s professional development activities focus on delivering high relevance high impact outcomes. Vestra Geosys’s partners are credible highly entertaining speakers who have spoken at many industry and organizational conferences throughout Australia.
Add some life and true value to your next corporate event. Keynotes don’t have to be dull and boring; they can be entertaining, insightful and add to your bottom line.
We speak on a range of business related topics and have a bank of about 30 pre-prepared topics which can be customised to your industry or business. Our past clients have included:
- Companies;
- Government departments;
- Chambers of Commerce , Industry Organisations and Associations; and
- Content can be customized to suit your requirements.
Some of our topics include:
- Communication;
- Change Management;
- Marketing on a Shoestring;
- Sales focus and improvement;
- Business Planning;
- Planning for Profit;
- The Job’s Not Done Till the Moneys in the Bank;
- Teamwork;
- Improving Business Culture; and many more.