Barbados

The glorious azure of the Caribbean Sea is right in front of me. Between me and the beyond is some of the whitest sand I've ever layed eyes upon. Right at this moment, we're in Barbados, heading off tomorrow on a 10 night cruise, with the final stop, Miami.

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Back in 2022, as I looked to repivot my business, I made some strategic decisions about the type of work I wanted to be doing, and the type of clients that I wanted to work with. The re-entry out of the COVID lockdowns throughout 2021 had been sluggish, and I was looking to re-energise the business. First of all, I needed to re-energise myself.

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The changed focus mean that some client relationships would cease. A number were longstanding. However, for the most part, they had run their course. When I left my former accounting practice at the end of 2016, one of the reasons I did so was that I wanted to make a difference in the lives of the families that owned the businesses that I worked with. For some of those relationships, I wasn't making the difference I'd hoped to make and, ultimately, the relationships started to feel hollow.

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In re-appraising what it was I wanted to be doing, I set some targets for the business in terms of:

1. New clients.
2. New services.
3. Additional fees.

This wasn't about growing, or getting bigger. This was about changing the composition of the work we were doing, so it was more rewarding for me, and more impactful for the client.

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Attached to those targets were a set of rewards, set in four bands. Band 1 had a lower reward level, until, ultimately, Band 4, being the highest target, had the highest reward level. That highest reward was a Caribbean cruise to the smaller islands that most of the larger cruise ships don't visit and, so, in some ways, are off the beaten track.

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As it turns out, the Band 4 target was achieved. It was not quite in the time frame that I'd set, but within 6 weeks of it. I'd set a reasonable bar, put my mind to focussing on building new relationships and services, then went about reframing my mindset.

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The accountant in me asked myself, "do you really want to spend that sort of money", when, after achieving the target, I sat back and reflected on the journey it had taken.

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The business advisor in me responded, "if you don't, what will that do to your mindset, and your motivational focus, the next time you set yourself a target?"

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Given we're in Barbados right now, heading off tomorrow, for the first stop in St George's in Grenada, on Friday, I guess you can tell the business advisor won the argument.

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What are you doing to set achievable targets in your business? They don't have to always be financial. They could be around new service offerings, or systems changes, or the development of your team, so that it takes pressure of you, at the level you're operating at, in your business.

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When you set those targets, how are you rewarding yourself? It doesn't need to be anything big, as some of our lower targets weren't either. However, they need to be something that's of value, or importance, to you.

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Are you setting different target levels, with different levels of reward, so that even if you don't always reach your top target, you're rewarding yourself for the progress you have made?

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It's amazing the reframe that takes place, when you set a target, and apply a reward system to it. You have something to aim for, that isn't merely a tick of a list on the whiteboard. It's a tangible acknowledgement not only of the result you've achieved, but the journey you've taken to get there.

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This Week's Tip

When you set a target, and apply a reward system to it, take notice of the focus it generates, and the mindset shift it creates.

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