Focus on the scoreboard

A bad day at the office

I'm a huge Rugby Union fan! Last weekend both my teams - England and Harlequins - got thumped! They had really bad days at the office!

As each game progressed the teams watched the scoreboard get away from them. The scoreboard was their enemy.

To get something out of the game, they needed to focus on something different. The next lineout. The next scrum. The next collision. What could they do better than the last one?

The best teams in the world adapt to the circumstances in front of them. Ireland on Sunday lost several key players before halftime. They had players performing roles they never usually would fill. They kept an eye on the scoreboard but knew that they had to adapt to win. It's why they are No.1 in the world right now.

The wrong 'Scoreboard'

To continue the rugby analogy a little further, there was a European Champions Cup game earlier in the season where the scrum half looked at the wrong clock. He kicked the ball dead thinking the half was over.

But it was the stadium clock he had looked at, not the official clock which still had a few seconds to go. The opposition now had an attacking lineout and scored. It changed the whole outcome of the game.

Your Business Scoreboard(s)

What has this got to do with running your business?

Well, many of the small businesses I have spoken to over the years focus on the wrong scoreboard.

Some judge performance by how much cash is in the bank. (hint - it might not be theirs to spend - suppliers, wages, tax, VAT etc).

Some look at profitability. A business needs to be profitable to be successful, right?

Yes, but only once that profit is banked. You still need the cash to pay the immediate bills while you wait for the revenue from those profitable sales to come in. Remember this age-old accounting mantra:

But these are the big-picture numbers. To run your business effectively, you need scorecards that help you stay on track. That will help you react to circumstances like Ireland did on Sunday.

Your marketing funnel

Hopefully, you have some form of marketing funnel in your business.

You feed prospects into the top.

Some of them turn into leads.

Some of those leads are willing to have a conversation,

You convert a percentage of conversations into sales.

But do you understand the metrics? How many prospects do you need to get a lead? How many leads to generate a conversation? How many conversations to get a sale?

When you understand these metrics you can start to drive your marketing.

Conclusion

If you want to be successful in your business you need to focus on the right scoreboard at the right time.

Time for Action

If you live in or around Guilford, the next workshop at The Guildford Business Hub will be all about understanding your numbers. Why not join us at 10:00 on Thursday? It's just ￡10 for your first visit. Here's the link to book:

Guildford Hub: Knowing Your Numbers

If you're not local and want to find out how you can get virtual access to online versions of these workshops message me or comment below.

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