Speaker 1: 0:01

Imagine being a confident CEO armed with a wealth of information about how your business is performing and being able to quickly determine if your strategy is working or if it's time to pivot. We'll keep listening, because it is possible. Welcome to the Operations Toolbox, the podcast designed exclusively for solopreneurs navigating the intricate business world. I'm your host, tanya D Harrison, and today we're continuing our conversation about performance management, but with an emphasis on business performance management. Now, if you recall, last week we talked about self management, which is one of the aspects of performance management for solopreneurs and micro business owners, and today we're going to discuss performance management in regards to our business. During this episode, we'll also discuss how to get started, the right tools and how to use performance management to take your business to the next level. The first question we need to answer is why is business performance management important for small businesses? Well, let me tell you in short, right, really quickly. Business performance management is all about maximizing efficiency, productivity and profitability within your business. So we're talking bottom line when we're talking about performance management. So the next question you may have is how do you get started with business performance management? And a lot of solopreneurs and micro business owners have a pause when we talk about performance management, because they think it's for larger organizations. But once we get into the details, you're going to quickly see how this is specifically for you and why you are here listening to this at this point in time.

Speaker 1: 2:13

In your business, it all begins with setting clear goals and objectives for your business. You want to take some time to define what success looks like for you and your business and be crystal clear. This is something that you have to personally do. This is not something that you do because somebody else is doing it and that looks good. Their success may look good on them because it's their success. You have to define what success looks like for you. That could mean building a business that you only have to work 20 hours a weekend, or building a business that eventually you don't work in at all. Right that you hire somebody else to do, even from the CEO all the way down. So you have to think about what that looks like to you, be honest and be clear. So when we talk about your goals and your objectives, be specific. Instead of saying I want to make a lot of money, detail how much money you want to make If you want to serve more customers. How many customers do you want to serve? State specifically what it is that you want. The more specific you are, the better. Your goals and objectives should be short term and long term. Okay, so you want to think about this year, 2024, what I want to accomplish, versus three to five years what it is that I want to accomplish Next, you'll want to implement key performance indicators, or KPIs, and metrics.

Speaker 1: 4:04

Both are important. Kpis help you to track your progress towards your goals, while metrics help you track overall business performance, so we need both. For example, if you have a revenue goal you want to make 100,000 this year You'll want to track revenue by service or product. As a KPI, like I, really need to understand where my money is coming from. This will let you know if you're on track to achieving your goal Tricks. As for metrics, you may also want to track website traffic to see if people are visiting your site or where your traffic is coming from, and that may be a metric and not a KPI.

Speaker 1: 4:51

Two other areas you'll want to track besides your goals are business standards and client outcomes. All of this makes up your business performance. Your business performance is kind of like your business personality, right. So they define how your company acts and it becomes what you're known for by your clients, your employees and even competitors. For example, will you be known for completing projects on time or late? Will you be known for someone that ships products quickly or take weeks? So people talk right. So we know that right, people talk. If you are always late with your projects, you're not timely at all. That is something that's going to follow you. So you may want to implement a business standard that your projects will be completed in X amount of days or 98% of your projects will be completed on time. Whatever that standard is, you want to create something that is going to separate you within the market, but, more importantly, it's going to show people who you are and what your business is about.

Speaker 1: 6:09

The other area to measure is client results or outcomes. I can't tell you how important this is. Measuring client results is a great way to determine if you're meeting client expectations and meeting your standards that you may have within your business. This could be done using surveys to measure satisfactions or if you guarantee specific results. You'll want to measure outcomes to determine if you're meeting or not. So this is why I like to say you follow up with your clients. Maybe you provide a service and you check in a month later to see how they are doing. A lot of times, people are open to share with you. Oh my gosh, I made $30,000 using the strategy that you gave me. Whatever the case may be, but you want to be able to track a lot of this.

Speaker 1: 7:02

If you really want to hear more about KPIs and metrics, check out episode five, which is metrics how to get started measuring what matters. So we talked about this a couple of episodes ago. Now that you've identified what you want to track, you'll want to implement systems and processes to monitor and measure your performance. This could involve implementing performance tracking software, asking for testimonials or even just keeping detailed records of your business activities. It does not have to be over complicated. We want to keep it simple when determining what tools you want to use. Keep it simple, especially in the beginning. In the Savvy Operations Society, which is my membership, I share a metrics tracker that you can use it to track KPIs and metrics, and it is a Google Sheet. It's a Google Sheet, it's not something that's over complicated, and it allows the members to track their outcomes weekly. Google Analytics is another tool that is easy to use and is free. The most important thing is to track the information you need.

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Now, before we wrap up, let's talk about how you can take your performance to the next level and truly elevate your business.

Speaker 1: 8:37

One powerful strategy is to use data analytics to gain deeper insights into your business performance. By analyzing trends and patterns in your data, you can identify areas of improvement and make data-driven decisions to drive profitability. Remember, the purpose of performance management is to be an informed CEO and use the information to make better decisions quickly. Once you are armed with the right tools and information, you'll be able to focus on the areas that matter most, and it will help you grow your business faster. This is why businesses that implement operational excellence grow, on average, 30% faster than their competitors, and they can increase their revenue quickly.

Speaker 1: 9:35

Finally, keep in mind that business performance management is an ongoing project. Continuously monitor and evaluate your performance, adjust your strategies as needed and always be on the lookout for new opportunities to improve and grow your business. And there it is, folks a crash course in business performance management for small business owners. Remember by setting clear goals, implementing effective systems and processes and leveraging data analytics, you can take your business to new heights of success. That's all for today's episode. Thank you for tuning in and be sure to join us next time for more tips and insights to help you succeed in your small business journey. Be sure to subscribe now and let's build a thriving business.