The secret to reaching bigger goals
I can imagine that when you first started out as an entrepreneur, you used an “all hands on deck” approach to marketing, selling, creating offers, etc., in order to get your first clients. You didn’t have marketing plans with benchmarks to follow and quarterly planning. However, as your business grew, you took on more clients, made more profit, and started thinking about how to reach the next level.
Here’s the hard truth: The “fly by the seat of my pants and pray it will all work out” approach will not get you there.
You’ve been able to package up your skills and talents and change your clients’ lives for the better, helping them set major goals, brainstorm solutions and take risks. Now it’s your turn to approach your business growth and goal setting from a strategic perspective.
This means looking at KPIs, targets, goals, data and numbers.
If you’re like most of the business owners I work with, this isn’t your strong suit, and it can bring up a lot of resistance. You don’t have the time (or the desire) to go into all of those details – and you therefore promptly shy away from this way of thinking.
But if you want to grow your business to the next revenue level AND have freedom in your life, at some point you will have to get used to looking at the numbers side of your business.
Let me fill you in on a little secret. The trick to actually tracking your numbers and reaching your goals is to keep the whole process really simple and focus on what’s on the other side: having that big impact and reaching those goals.
Why does looking at your numbers matter for reaching your goals and growing your business? Data gives you the important signs that help you avoid the obstacles BEFORE they happen. Measuring the right things in your business provides you an opportunity to course correct in real time.
Imagine for a moment you are driving your car at night. What would happen if you did not have your headlights on? Of course, you would not be able to see very far in front of you. If there was an obstacle in the road, you would not be able to swerve in order to course correct. The headlights shine out further than where you are right now and can help you predict negative outcomes.
The same is true in your business. Data in your business is like the headlights in your car - predicting future outcomes.
When you begin to look at your data, you’re not just looking for any metric known to man. You need just the right ones for your current business (I suggest 8 to 12 total). Checking the right metrics on a recurring basis allows you to easily predict and reach your year-end goals. Ask yourself the following questions:
What can you measure now that will give you insight into the future of your business, into reaching your goals?
What's most important for you to know to pivot if you need to 6 months down the line?
It really is that simple.
By starting with the ideal outcome (your goals), and reverse-engineering your most important benchmarks on a quarterly and then monthly basis, you will get to your stated goal, just as you expected. Keep it simple and you will see your resistance to tracking things disappear. You may even begin to enjoy the science of it all…especially when it pays off.
What do you think? Not sure what you should be measuring in your business? Want to dig deeper into how this applies to you and how you too can grow your profits, with your evenings, weekends and freedom back?
This is what I help business owners do every single day.
I invite you to book a free discovery call so I can get to know you, hear about your business, talk about what’s going on for you and help you map out a plan to reach your goals with greater ease. No strings attached. I want to give you value to show you what’s possible when you start thinking about and doing things differently.
