Converting takeaways into actions

It has been a few weeks since I attended the Focus for Execs23 event organized by ELIA - European Language Industry Association . By the Bled lake, over a hundreds of CEO′s and managers met for two days packed of inspiration.

Several attendees have already shared their posts about the event, the speakers, the sessions, and their reflections. I concur with the majority of your remarks! I won't reiterate the significance of connecting with colleagues, gaining insights from influential individuals, and discussing your challenges, as it's already been emphasized. Instead, let's shift our attention towards taking tangible actions.

During Day 1 of the event, Olga Blasco and Annette Lawlor delivered a presentation on the path to growth. Inspired by their insights, I am currently reassessing the way I collect information about my own company in order to monitor its progress. Regardless of whether you have immediate plans to sell your company or seek a loan from a bank, it is crucial to have a clear understanding of your company's profile and overall financial health by maintaining certain operational and financial data. Their comprehensive checklist, titled "Investor Memorandum," effectively encapsulates all the key indicators that provide an accurate snapshot of your company's status.

To begin with, you compile the primary attributes of your company, including services offered, organizational structure, key milestones, service types, and language combinations. This compilation proves valuable in presenting essential information to potential clients, partners, or even when onboarding new staff members. Inspired by this, I′m taking the initiative to transfer our Operations and Sales Model, which previously resided solely in my mind, onto paper.

Secondly, Financials. (YES! Numbers can be sexy!) Besides the standard profit and loss (P&L) statement and balance sheet, which can be easily obtained from your accountant, creating a detailed projection of itemized costs and expenses proves to be an immensely valuable tool. Unfortunately, many SME′s owners or managers do not have anything like this. Personally, I utilize a rolling forecast that I consistently update for the next 12 months. This enables me to anticipate potential cash flow issues and conduct best-case/worst-case scenarios for new investments or expenses. Acquiring insights into your actual sales also enhances your relationship with both existing clients and potential prospects. It has often been disconcerting to discover that many company owners are unaware of their top 10 clients. Therefore, segmenting revenue by service type, industry sector, and client geographical location provides valuable information to guide strategic decisions. Through updating our client data, we recognized that we serve numerous NGOs, and this has led us to focus more on this particular industry (partly due to our shared passion for the projects they engage in!).

After setting up a straightforward Excel file as a data template, the key is to diligently maintain its updates. This practice proves instrumental in effectively monitoring your company's progress, allowing you to make necessary adjustments or address any potential areas of concern before they escalate into critical issues.

During day two, Jeff Gothelf delivered a session on OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), which I found highly engaging. The brainstorming process he shared for defining objectives and establishing the necessary steps to achieve them was truly enjoyable. By reframing a given problem as a positive statement, you can establish your objective. Visualizing the desired outcome and the changes you wish to see becomes a crucial exercise that yields a set of indicators. I am eagerly looking forward to implementing this approach to shape our strategy for the upcoming years. To kickstart the process, I have taken the indicators we had set for this year using Jeff's template. Furthermore, I have even dared to set a goal for 2030 and define the key results that will serve as markers of our progress, enabling us to stay on track and identify the actions required between now and then.

Just as boats await to be rented for the journey to the island situated in the center of the lake, objectives serve as the means to achieve your goals.

Véronique ?zkaya , thanks for the inspiration on BIG goals! To you, and also Vasso Pouli , Paul Doherty , and Gerd Janiszewski thanks for reminding us that figures leads you nowhere if #people are not taking into consideration.