That's a famous quote from Peter Drucker, father of modern marketing and often simplified down to 'measure what matters'. Whatever words are used, it's a good business practise!
First – -what do you measure in your business? What do you use as a measuring stick to see if you are moving forward? ACTION: Make a list of 5 things in your business that would help you measure whether you are moving forward!
- sales
- revenue
- profits
- sales conversions
- % of clients who are referrals
- size of your email list
- 'likes' on facebook
- clicks on your website
Secondly — it's not just that you measure it but that you measure it OFTEN!!! How often do you look at your actual sales; revenue; profits? Are you reviewing these monthly? weekly? Are you systematically tracking where you are going and how fast?
Perhaps you are saying — well my business isn't big enough to measure all those things! I beg to differ. If you aren't paying attention to your money; then your money isn't paying attention to you. Why not treat you small business as a BIG business — you are planning on growing it, aren't you. ACTION: On the list that you make in the first step, write beside the items how often you WILL measure it.
Thirdly — tracking money (and all of these other things) doesn't have to be complicated. There are simple systems you can use. For your invoices & accounting, if you are small, perhaps it doesn't have to be a bookkeeping software — perhaps an excel spreadsheet would work. What type of system are you using to keep track of your clients? I like using the KISS principle (keep it simple silly). ACTION: What systems do you use to measure each of the above items?
We are going to spend quite a bit of time talking about tracking your profits and revenue generating activities at PROSPER. You are coming aren't you? There will be sample tracking sheets; recommendations for software; as well as bookkeepers and accountants there to answer your questions! PROSPER is one month away (see I'm measuring the time that's left!!!). See you there!