Know Your Business Measurables

How do you know if your business will hit its goals?

As a business owner, you track a lot of numbers, but do you know which ones mean the most for you? When you know your business measurables and keep tabs on them, you have a better idea of whether you’re on target.

Working ON Your Business

In the day-to-day running of your business, it can get hard to figure out if you’re on track. You put your nose to the grindstone and don’t come up for air. That’s why it’s so important to take time out for quarterly planning sessions to work on your business.

Every 90 days, the leadership team will start to wilt. That’s just human nature, something Gino Wickman talks about a lot in his book Traction . By holding quarterly planning sessions, you reignite the passion and remind your leadership team where you wanted to steer the company. And you have a chance to take stock and make sure your business is still heading in the right direction.

Finding Your Business Measurables

Some metrics will make sense to track, like money in and money out. Inventory, overhead, and man-hours come to mind, too. But there aren’t-one-size-fits-all lists that make sense for everyone. And finding the areas to track that make the most sense for your business takes time.

You start out with a list of things you think you need to track. After 90 days or a couple of cycles in the 90-Day World? , you figure out they may not tell your story. So, you go through a discovery process to find the right things to measure.

I’ve had clients who took a year or more to figure out which ones made the most sense to them. Once you find them though, it’s like striking gold. When you know what to track, the next step is setting goals to show progress towards your goals. Once I knew my business measurables and goals, I started living by them.

Using the Data Component?

The best way to see if you’ve hit your numbers for the quarter is to use the Data Component . As a part of the Six Key Components? in the EOS Model? , the Data Component tracks important measurables on the EOS Scorecard? .

By tracking the five to 15 indicators of business health on your business Scorecard, you have clear data. As they say, the numbers don’t lie.

The numbers on your business Scorecard tell a story about how well you’re doing. They can tell you whether you’re making the right business decisions by the impact on your numbers.

If your team hits their Scorecard numbers, great! Keep doing what you’re doing or think about leveling up. Sometimes you’ll find yourself off target, but by knowing that early you can solve any issues earlier. You can identify, discuss, and solve (IDS?) quickly instead of waiting until you have a big problem.

When clients and I review their numbers, we see whether they’re right on target or falling behind. Sometimes things get off track and we catch a problem early. By knowing their numbers, looking at the EOS Scorecard and checking their measurables, we can objectively see their progress.

How well do you know your numbers?

Next Steps:

• Download a free chapter of Traction by Gino Wickman.
• Download the Issues Solving Track? from the EOS Toolbox? to learn how to IDS (Identify, Discuss, and Solve) issues more effectively.
• Watch this helpful video on leading world-class meetings.

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