With a crystal clear vision for where your business is going, and clearly defined core values that tell your team and the world what you believe in and what you stand for, you've finally been able to build the "dream team" you've always wanted, but thought wasn't possible.

Congratulations!  You've upgraded from a Chevy to a Ferrari.

But how do you drive the Ferrari to get the most out of all that power, maneuverability, and technology (i.e. the capability, adaptability, and skill of your team)?

You must be committed to implementing a few tried-and-true strategies that are key to making any small business operate successfully.

So what are these "tried-and-true strategies"?

I'm so glad you asked!

Let me share them with you.

Goal Setting

We've all heard the old saying, "if you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there."

Your vision has painted the larger picture of where you're going as an organization, but you still need to pick the best road.

When you're Freedom Focused, i.e. driving your Ferrari, the road you take is a very deliberate, step-by-step process of goal setting.

At D.R. Wastchak, we identified where we wanted to be in 3 years, then broke that down into what needed to happen in 1 year to get to that 3-year point, then broke the 1-year goals down into what needed to happen in the next 90 days to get to the 1-year point.

At the end of each quarter, we evaluated how we did and set goals for the next 90 days.  At the end of 1 year, we evaluated how we did, and set goals for what we wanted to accomplish by the end of the next year.  The 3-year goals were also evaluated to see if they needed any adjustments.

Reset and repeat.  Reset and repeat.  Over and over again.

Like the tortoise in the old fable, The Tortoise and the Hare, step by step we made progress.  Set a goal, check it off the list.  Set a goal, check it off the list.

Goal setting is not for everyone, and it's not all that sexy, but each step forward had a profound impact on my team, and therefore the success of my business.

Even for those on my team who had never set a goal in their life, formally anyway, you could see their satisfaction, even excitement, at the definitive progress that the documented goal setting and achievement process was making clear, every 90 days.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Key performance indicators are the data that day-to-day, or week-to-week, or month-to-month provide an important measure of your progress towards meeting your goals.

Often referred to as a "report card" or "score card", KPIs provide vital feedback on the areas of your business that are critical to your success.

At D.R. Wastchak, where we performed energy efficiency testing and inspections for home builders, we measured the number of homes in the pipeline (our backlog of work), number of inspections completed each week, number of re-inspections we had to do each week as well as weekly financial KPIs like income deposited, expenses, net profit, and our accounts receivable balance.

The power of KPIs is not the weekly report, but the trends that all the weekly reports reveal when evaluated across time.

Every small business owner would love to have a crystal ball to tell the future.  KPIs do just that.  They allow you to predict the future based on past trends.

Back to our analogy of driving a Ferrari, KPIs are like looking backward in the rear-view mirror in order to have a clearer view looking forward through the windshield.

Similar to the positive impact that goals have on your team, KPIs create satisfaction and a little excitement about the positive impact team and individual actions have on the success of the business.

On the flip side, KPIs also show where a part of your team, or an individual team member, might be negatively impacting the business.  In this way, KPIs also  serve as an important accountability tool.

In my next email, we'll look at the fourth and final strategy necessary for making the most of your "dream team" and creating a Freedom Focused business.  Hint:  think "owner's manual" for driving your Ferrari.

I look forward to sharing the final strategy with you next time.

Until then, stay focused on your freedom!

Daran

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