This article was first published in the Mercury Bay Informer of 29 March 2017. See www.theinformer.co.nz.
Many business owners scramble from one task to another but never reach their goals. If this sounds like you then here are three tips that will help bring purpose to your busyness:
- Clarify your business’ mission in a couple of sentences and use this to set your goals. Think about the customer needs your product or service is meeting, your values, your employees, your suppliers and the objectives of each of the owners.
- Don’t embrace new opportunities without first clarifying how they will help fulfil business goals. Consider the time and resources these opportunities will consume and compare this to the expected return. Ask questions like: what are the risks involved? is there a more effective alternative? does it fit with your mission? and, what will happen if you do not do it?
- Regularly compare actual results against planned results. Focus on the things that are key to your business’ success. These could include turnover, expenses, customer complaints, service levels, and innovation. Understand what is working, what isn’t and why. Incorporate learnings from these analyses into your future plans.
If you feel that you have no time to work on your business’ direction in this way, try investing just an hour a week. It won’t take long before you see the benefits.
