Financial Benchmarks

Creating benchmarks and metrics (both financial and other specific business metrics) helps to continuously review how the system is working. For years, I’ve seen business owners say “we don’t have the right employees.” When, in fact, they never looked at the systems the employees were working with. When they made the (sometimes slightest) change in a business system, it created improved outcomes – not only financially but their productivity and efficiency indictors also improved.
 

Developmental Benchmarks

One of the most interesting, but often overlooked indicators, is developmental. Broadly speaking, developmental indicators are about what systems need to be created and developed and, in The Entrepreneurial Edge SystemTM, what is called The Inner Entrepreneur. The Inner Entrepreneur is about the business owner’s hard wiring, assumptions, belief systems, how they use their time/energy and overall vision.

One entrepreneur started his day listening to the news. By the time he got to work, he was already discouraged hearing nothing but bad and negative news. He made the assumption from the information he heard that nobody had any money and his actions followed that assumption. One day, he changed his developmental system: what he listed to in the morning. Instead, each day he began to read a self-improvement book for only 10 minutes. This sparked his thinking to develop new and innovative ways to systematize and monetize his business. Not only did he develop himself he started seeing different results in other areas of his business. Today, he is not only a million-dollar wage earner, but he also is living a full and balanced life. In this case, a focus on developmental indicators, yielded multiple results in other areas.

Take time to strategically plan your business. When you keep an eye on the whole system (including the Inner Entrepreneur), you see results in other areas because belief systems and hard wiring will affect your actions and your actions will impact other areas of your business.

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Lisa Mininni is Best-Selling Author of Me, Myself, and Why? The Secrets to Navigating Change and President of Excellerate Associates, home of the sought-after Entrepreneurial Edge SystemTM that helps entrepreneurs systematize and monetize their business. To get your copy of her free eBook, Get Ready, Get Set, Go! and sign up for the free Teleseminar, request your information below:

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• Pay Attention to Your Market

It is important to review market changes. Keep an eye on the Baby Boomer generation, one of the largest generations, which will be requiring additional and specific health care needs. If your business services this generation, you’ll want to keep an eye on their needs so you can adapt your products and services. Researching your market now helps you to anticipate their wants and design products, solutions or services to assist them later.

• Update Your Marketing Strategies

One of the key issues with both new and seasoned business owners is that they are applying push marketing strategies and avoiding pull marketing strategies and social online sites. Entrepreneurs using outdated techniques wonder why their results aren’t what they used to be. It is important to keep a pulse on the societal changes so that you can be more effective in using systems and these online communities to draw in your target market.

• Ask the Customer

To anticipate customer needs, ask your customers what is really important to them. It sounds simplistic but so many companies don’t ask what their customers really want. They then create a product they think their customers want, only to find the results lacking once they launch. There are many low-cost (and quick) ways to ask your customer what’s important to them: surveys, face-to-face, telephone, or as part of your system or process of collecting valuable information that shapes the way you do business.
It is important to not only develop products your customers want, but if it is in development too long before it hits the market, you could miss the timing. A careful balance must be reached between research and development through to launching the product or service. By looking at your systems and processes, you will find greater efficiencies in meeting customer demands.

• Systematize

Often the reason for inconsistent results is a lack of systems. A client had detailed business plans. It sounded great on paper yet she failed to systematize her business plan. Often times, she would respond to the pressure of the day and forget about the long-term. It wasn’t a matter of her responding to the market. The plan was solid. But she failed to bring the plan as far as her calendar – scheduling it to make it happen. Once, she systematized her time and began to schedule times on her calendar to execute her plan, she found the results happened very quickly. She also didn’t have a good system for bringing in clients consistently. She had an opt-in e-newsletter but didn’t have a Permission-Based Marketing System (that is, an automated system that consistently nurtured the relationship with the client.) Once she built her system, she consistently filled her practice with clients.

• Leverage in Monetizing

Among many solopreneurs and small business owners, there is this notion of “being the only one to do the job.” They are often stuck in trading hours-for-dollars and forget about leverage. There is leverage in the internet, leverage in delegation, leverage in working with many people (as opposed to one-on-one). There are many different ways to create passive income leading to increased financial results.

Savvy solopreneurs take advantage of systematizing and monetizing their business. The ones that take action on these solutions end up thriving even during financial market fluctuations because they are clear on who they serve, consistently market, and create systems that help monetize their business.

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Lisa Mininni is Best-Selling Author of Me, Myself, and Why? The Secrets to Navigating Change and President of Excellerate Associates, home of the sought-after Entrepreneurial Edge SystemTM that helps entrepreneurs systematize and monetize their business. To get your copy of her free eBook, Get Ready, Get Set, Go! and sign up for the free Teleseminar, request your information below:

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As a business owner, remember these tips in your business planning process:

• Identify your target market and preferred customer/client

One of the most important items to solidify in your planning process is to specifically identify who you serve.  There is a tendency with business owners to throw up a shingle and toss a wide net hoping to catch some customers.  If you try to be everything to everyone, you’ll be nothing to nobody. 

When you consider specific niches or specialties, you are able to market to that niche and create specialty programs, products and services that draw in customers.  Customers will seek you out and it  creates focus for your business often creating a win-win situation. Win for your business because you draw in more customers and win for the customers because you have a solution they seek.  When you define such a specific niche, you may not have competitors.  If you need heart surgery, you’re going to seek out a heart surgeon not a Pediatrician, unless your child needs the heart surgery then you would seek out a Pediatric Heart Surgeon.  The premise is the same for business.  By identifying a specific market or submarket, you can create a lucrative following by the nature of the niche.  It is important to research your market and learn where to find them.  There is a two-fold approach:  find them and help them find you.

• Consistently Market

One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs leave off their business planning is to consistently market.  Numerous studies have revealed that entrepreneurs who have consistently marketed even during economically down times, have better results in the long term.    One of the most important changes in today’s economy is a shift from push marketing to pull marketing; that is, to pull in your clients, create a relationship with them, and build trust over time.  Yet, many business owners make the mistake of push marketing:  continuously “pushing” or hard selling their products or services. 

One of the biggest frustrations of today’s entrepreneurs is bringing in a continuous flow of prospects.  But when business owners systematize their marketing to continuously bring in prospects, such as through a Permission-Based Marketing System, this frustration can be alleviated.  A Permission-Based Marketing System is an automated system that starts building the relationship with your prospect and helps your customer find your products and services.  If done correctly, it also collects data that you can use as the business owner.  It also acts as an aid to other networking and advertising strategies.

• Create Agile Infrastructures to Respond to Changing Conditions

While there are pros and cons to allowing employees to have access to social online sites, these online communities are here to stay.  It is important, however, when new technology comes into play, that business owners look at how they are responding (or resisting).  The concern of allowing access to these sites often stems around productivity.  Business owners stuck in the Industrial Age processes and systems may also be stuck in managing tasks rather than in managing outcomes and believe that by isolating employees from these sites, they will increase or maintain productivity.  On the contrary, savvy Business Leaders realize that they should manage outcomes. These social online sites are hubs for doing business and connections on these sites can increase business exponentially.  It is important to look at the sites strategically and select the ones that best meet your ideal customers.  But remember to continuously look at the demographics of these sites.  While Facebook started out with college students, one of the fastest growing segments became 50-60 year-old women.  Demographics of these sites are continuously changing so it is important to evaluate and re-evaluate which sites are providing the best outcomes.

Begin to look at things strategically and selectively just like your customers will when seeking out your services and products.  For them to be clear on what you offer, you need to be clear on your preferred client or customer.

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Lisa Mininni is Best-Selling Author of Me, Myself, and Why? The Secrets to Navigating Change and President of Excellerate Associates, home of the sought-after Entrepreneurial Edge SystemTM that helps entrepreneurs systematize and monetize their business. To get your copy of her free eBook, Get Ready, Get Set, Go! and sign up for the free Teleseminar, request your information below:

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