Here's how you can measure project success as an entrepreneur.

To measure project success as an entrepreneur with a focus on goals alignment, define clear, measurable goals that align with your business objectives and target audience needs. Engage stakeholders to ensure goals address key issues. Monitor progress through KPIs, assess impact on business outcomes, communicate achievements, and use insights to adapt and improve future projects.

To determine project success, first ensure your project's goals are aligned with your strategic business objectives. If your project achieves its individual targets but doesn't support the broader business goals, its success is limited. For example, a marketing campaign might exceed engagement expectations, but if it doesn't translate into increased sales or brand recognition, it's not fully serving your business. Regularly review your project's objectives against your business strategy to ensure they're contributing effectively. By maintaining this alignment, you can better measure the true impact and value of your project, ensuring it drives overall business success.

Of late, is the term 'project' being used for all kinds of activities? Why not, in any professional endeavour HOW is more potent than WHAT. And any activity can be made to fit in a project framework, for better results. Success is relative. More likely, you and I have different success criteria. Which may not match with our sponsors. Success criteria is a key to any project initiative. When presented in the form of OKRs, it brings necessary clarity for all stakeholders to recognize, rationalize and signoff the project Initiation stage (PID). You will regret not spending time on OKRs, if you haven’t!

Wearing a badge of 'iron triangle' on your chest, helps evade many unsavoury discussions and debates. Let the stakeholders see the triple constraints - cost, time, scope. For government programs, it's a complex affair, budget overrun is normal! Many factors in the game - tendering process, scope changes, known-unknown delays To control project budget, it is essential to clearly document work packages with RACI matrix, DoD (Definition of Done) and payment milestones Don't forget to allocate budget for full/part time resources, overheads and contingency expenses. Let everyone be sensitive to time and money being spent by flashing an online dashboard (with restricted access)

What are the usual causes of project delays? Gaps in scoping or scope understanding, scope changes, multi-tasking of resources, over commitment, unskilled team members, design flaws leading to redesign and rework, funds release, foreign supplies, regulatory process and compliances, There would be a set of people who will say YES to everything. Beware and drilldown to arrive at a realistic time frame. In the initiation stage, it's good to debate and consider best and worst case scenarios. And regularly review delay elements mentioned?above. There may be some trade-off between time and quality of deliverables, which should be addressed with open communications and managing expectations of stakeholders

Client feedback is crucial for measuring project success. It shows if the project has achieved its goals. Actively seeking and embracing feedback, whether positive or constructive, drives continuous improvement and ensures client satisfaction.

The balance sheet !! Project success is all about how much it boosts the balance sheet. Sure, things like innovation and happy customers matter, but in the end, it’s about how much money it brings in. A successful project not only pays for itself but also drives profits, strengthens the business, and keeps everyone invested happy.