I am going to start this article with a little philosophy.  “Follow your dreams. If you have a goal, and you want to achieve it, then work hard and do everything you can to get there, and one day it will come true,” Lindsey Vonn.

 

Dreams and goals don’t happen by accident and neither does success in your business. Some of you already know this but some have yet to learn this lesson.  You may be one of the fortunate ones that experiences success in their business relatively quickly, but then complacency creeps in.  You develop a false sense of security and then, before you know it, the profits start to decline.  Or maybe you are in a business that is a challenge to grow and takes years to turn a profit.  There are a plenty of techniques and finance gurus vying for your business but there is no substitute for monotonous execution of the obvious.  Here are my suggestions of factors in your business you should always be monotonous about.

 

Strategic Growth – Make this your business mantra.  Instead of saying “I am growing my business,” say “I am strategically growing my business.”  Make that a part of your philosophy and you’vemade strategic thinking a part of how you run your business. Eventually your decisions will always be based in part on whether they fit into your strategic plan.  Be strategic.

 

Goals – One day you may stop and look around and wonder what you are doing in the desert when you wanted to be in Maui.  If you want to go to Maui, youneed to be facing that direction.  And when your train gets off track and you are headed in a different direction, how will you know it?  Set bold goals so you can have something to work towards.  Be bold.

 

Budget – Examine your spending meticulously and set up a budget that factors in all your expenses and accounts for contingencies. It is important that you adjust your budget when there is a major shift in your business.  Be wise.

 

Key Performance Indicators – It is good to have a sense of how you are doing compared to your industry in general.  But more importantly, how is your business doing compared to prior years or months?  Have you defined financial KPI’s that you are watching, and behonest.  Are you actually watching and studying those statistics? You can take it one step further and set goals for your KPI’s.  Be watchful.

 

Expense Management – It is important that you monitor your expenses regularly and keep the bloat down.  Be mindful when you increase your expenses.  Do you already have the revenue to cover that extra expense or do you have a plan in place for increasing revenue to cover it?  Be meticulous.

 

Be strategic. Be bold.  Be wise.  Be watchful. Be meticulous.  Go to Maui.