Getting Off To A Flying Start

Directors who run a business have to make clear-minded decisions in the context of good information. Such clear-mindedness comes only by stripping away the inevitable day-to-day concerns and answering some fundamental issues Below are 10 steps by which you can measure your company's performance. How do you score?

1) Measure current performance.

Financial performance is a consequence of marketing and operations performance - that is, selling and making creates the money, so you cannot simply focus on the financial figures!

Estimate scores out of 10 for:

• Financial performance
• Marketing performance
• Operations performance.

2) Measure the capability of the business itself, the potential of the business for future development.

Estimate scores out of 10 for:

• Resources
• Experience
• Controls and Systems
• Ideas and Innovation and
• Leadership.

3) The three obsessions of successful organisations.

Highly successful businesses are obsessed with:

• Strategy - planning while being aware of the outside environment.
• Marketing - seeing through the customer's eyes. If you are the same as your competitors then why should anyone bother buying from you?
• Teams and people - these issues separate out the average from the excellent company.

4) Do you think like a leader?

How do you rate yourself?

The successful know and act on the following statements:

• Success is goals
• It is self-limiting beliefs that hold you back
• Develop a positive attitude
• Believe in yourself
• Decide to be successful
• Manage your time
• Set goals and achieve them

5) Crunch Questions

• Who do you want to be doing business with and what do you need to do to win them over?
• Is this a good industry to be in?
• What do your customers think?
• What do you do differently from other businesses?

6) Some Final One-liners

• Sort it - stop procrastinating - and do it now!
• You don't get your great ideas sitting at your desk
• Don't shy away from passion
• Decide your goals, and be prepared to pay the price for achieving them.

about the author

 Robert Craven is a keynote speaker and author of the business best-sellers 'Kick-Start Your Business' and 'Customer Is King'. He has recently been described as 'one of the UK’s leading marketing specialists' and the 'entrepreneurship guru'. He runs The Directors’ Centre, helping growing businesses to grow.
For further information, contact Robert Craven on 01225 851044. (rc@directorscentre.com) www.directorscentre.com

Robert Craven©2001, Director Magazine.

publication details

First published in Director Magazine, October 2001.