I’m throwing it down today!! Year after year I watch really lovely, kind, and loving business owners make this mistake over and over again when setting their business goals.
Their mistake is not properly tracking their numbers.
Let’s discuss!
Whether you’re wrapping up the end of the current year, or it’s mid-way through the summer, you should always be able to answer this question:
Are you on track to meet your financial and impact business goals this year?
If you are – high five and awesome sauce!
If you’re NOT, then every day is a new day to shift gears, get serious and start really looking at WHY you are falling behind! Because what you FOCUS on grows!
I’ve watched so many people start a business – put all this time and effort in – then decide to close up. The reality is people start and close businesses all the time. Many times, it’s because they’ve outgrown the business they started – or its no longer serving their soul or their mission in the world. And that’s totally ok!
But the people I’m talking about are the people who make the leap – without a net – try to do it all on their own and then fall. This fall can often BREAK a person’s spirit and their commitment.
Today I want to teach a super valuable lesson that I hope you’ll listen to and then GO IMPLEMENT!!
If you’re NOT focusing on hard data such as numbers and statistics in your business, you’re setting yourself up for an epic fail. Numbers really are sexy.
When you set business goals – you need to also create the infrastructure, the actions, and the support needed to REACH those goals.
The best way to track and know if you’re on target is to track all the important numbers in your business.
At Task Complete, every week we track important numbers in our business. My assistant and I review and update what we call the “scorecard”.
What is the “scorecard” you ask?
A scorecard is where we track specific numbers in the business – such as our marketing efforts, referrals, % of rebooks, income and expenses (just to name a few).
By looking at our numbers weekly, we can catch things faster! Decrease in rebooks = a decrease in sales which = a decrease in profit.
No new leads coming in? Where did we fall within our marketing benchmarks?
Your role as business owner is to realllly know and understand your numbers. Too many business owners “wing it”, and that there, my friend, is a recipe for disaster.
Originally, I only looked at numbers on a monthly basis. I figured… hell, that’s a lot more than MOST business owners track numbers.
Perhaps you are tracking numbers in your business once per month. That gives you 12 chances to be aware and capable of catching mistakes, shifts or problems in the business that are either supporting or not supporting your goals.
BUT, if you track things weekly, you have 52 chances to catch problems!!
Doing this ONE thing in my business revolutionized where and how we focus our time and efforts!
And the reality is, you can’t hit a target you can’t see. So, by tracking and watching your numbers weekly, you can begin to use a little tough love on YOURSELF when you need to get really focused on the important work that will help you nail those goals you set this year.
I wish someone would have taught me that in the beginning!
You know why? Because when you’re only in business for yourself – you’ll move deadlines, say no to opportunities just because, cancel your networking memberships – all the things that self-sabotage! Because the reality is – you’re only answering to yourself!
But when you have a team and you grow and have to pay taxes and make payroll – Girrrrrlllll, we got a whole set of new incentives to keep you focused on those numbers!
Your assignment this week:
-
Create a scorecard of numbers so that when you track and record, it will give you a bird’s eye view of what is actually happening in your business.
-
Put a reminder on your calendar once a week and update those numbers (we do Monday mornings).
-
Track and tweak where necessary.
I hope this helps you become clear on how to HIT those business GOALS year after year!
This is your last call!
If you need help with planning for YOUR business this year? Come join me on January 2nd for a Virtual (Live) Strategic Planning Day. PLUS, as a bonus for registering for this event – we’re also going to do a Quarter ONE planning day on Jan 7th so that you can take all the big goals and micro them down into small actionable tasks. The key to growth is setting a goal then having a plan to get there. And in the strategic planning day – I share my EXACT planning process I have been working on and perfecting for the last 5 years!
Yes – recordings WILL be made available to anyone who pre-registers!
Register here before the pricing goes up! https://theconciergeacademy.com/planningday
Here’s to creating awesomeness in 2020!
***********
Welcome readers! If this is your first time reading my blog, thank you for stopping by! As a concierge who has built a successful business, I have decided to help other budding entrepreneurs do the same! As the Founder of The Concierge Academy I write about specific topics and marketing strategies that Work for our industry!
It’s not always easy to build a service-based business. Many see it as an intangible, but you can build a profitable and flourishing concierge business!
Be sure to grab your FREE checklist right now! 111 Ways to Grow Your Concierge Business
