February 15, 2024 • 10 mins
Ever felt like you're juggling a million tasks as a solopreneur and still not seeing the business growth you crave?
Well, saddle up, because today's episode with Tonya D. Harrison is the change you've been searching for. Tonya takes us through the nitty-gritty of performance management for small businesses, unraveling the mystery of business performance management. If you've ever wondered how to distinguish your business and keep your clients raving about your services, this is the conversation that lights the path. We're discussing real, actionable insights that will help you measure and refine your business performance like never before.
Transitioning from guesswork to results. So, gear up for an episode that'll help you turn analytics into your most powerful ally and performance management into your secret weapon for success.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Imagine being a confident CEO armed with a
wealth of information about howyour business is performing and
being able to quickly determineif your strategy is working or
if it's time to pivot.
We'll keep listening, becauseit is possible.
Welcome to the OperationsToolbox, the podcast designed
(00:24):
exclusively for solopreneursnavigating the intricate
business world.
I'm your host, tanya D Harrison, and today we're continuing our
conversation about performancemanagement, but with an emphasis
on business performancemanagement.
Now, if you recall, last weekwe talked about self management,
(00:47):
which is one of the aspects ofperformance management for
solopreneurs and micro businessowners, and today we're going to
discuss performance managementin regards to our business.
During this episode, we'll alsodiscuss how to get started, the
right tools and how to useperformance management to take
(01:09):
your business to the next level.
The first question we need toanswer is why is business
performance management importantfor small businesses?
Well, let me tell you in short,right, really quickly.
Business performance managementis all about maximizing
(01:30):
efficiency, productivity andprofitability within your
business.
So we're talking bottom linewhen we're talking about
performance management.
So the next question you mayhave is how do you get started
with business performancemanagement?
And a lot of solopreneurs andmicro business owners have a
(01:54):
pause when we talk aboutperformance management, because
they think it's for largerorganizations.
But once we get into thedetails, you're going to quickly
see how this is specificallyfor you and why you are here
listening to this at this pointin time.
In your business, it all beginswith setting clear goals and
(02:20):
objectives for your business.
You want to take some time todefine what success looks like
for you and your business and becrystal clear.
This is something that you haveto personally do.
This is not something that youdo because somebody else is
doing it and that looks good.
(02:41):
Their success may look good onthem because it's their success.
You have to define what successlooks like for you.
That could mean building abusiness that you only have to
work 20 hours a weekend, orbuilding a business that
eventually you don't work in atall.
(03:02):
Right that you hire somebodyelse to do, even from the CEO
all the way down.
So you have to think about whatthat looks like to you, be
honest and be clear.
So when we talk about yourgoals and your objectives, be
specific.
Instead of saying I want tomake a lot of money, detail how
(03:27):
much money you want to make Ifyou want to serve more customers
.
How many customers do you wantto serve?
State specifically what it isthat you want.
The more specific you are, thebetter.
Your goals and objectivesshould be short term and long
term.
Okay, so you want to thinkabout this year, 2024, what I
(03:51):
want to accomplish, versus threeto five years what it is that I
want to accomplish Next, you'llwant to implement key
performance indicators, or KPIs,and metrics.
Both are important.
Kpis help you to track yourprogress towards your goals,
while metrics help you trackoverall business performance, so
(04:15):
we need both.
For example, if you have arevenue goal you want to make
100,000 this year You'll want totrack revenue by service or
product.
As a KPI, like I, really needto understand where my money is
coming from.
This will let you know ifyou're on track to achieving
(04:35):
your goal Tricks.
As for metrics, you may alsowant to track website traffic to
see if people are visiting yoursite or where your traffic is
coming from, and that may be ametric and not a KPI.
Two other areas you'll want totrack besides your goals are
business standards and clientoutcomes.
(04:57):
All of this makes up yourbusiness performance.
Your business performance iskind of like your business
personality, right.
So they define how your companyacts and it becomes what you're
known for by your clients, youremployees and even competitors.
For example, will you be knownfor completing projects on time
(05:22):
or late?
Will you be known for someonethat ships products quickly or
take weeks?
So people talk right.
So we know that right, peopletalk.
If you are always late withyour projects, you're not timely
at all.
That is something that's goingto follow you.
So you may want to implement abusiness standard that your
(05:46):
projects will be completed in Xamount of days or 98% of your
projects will be completed ontime.
Whatever that standard is, youwant to create something that is
going to separate you withinthe market, but, more
importantly, it's going to showpeople who you are and what your
(06:07):
business is about.
The other area to measure isclient results or outcomes.
I can't tell you how importantthis is.
Measuring client results is agreat way to determine if you're
meeting client expectations andmeeting your standards that you
may have within your business.
This could be done usingsurveys to measure satisfactions
(06:30):
or if you guarantee specificresults.
You'll want to measure outcomesto determine if you're meeting
or not.
So this is why I like to sayyou follow up with your clients.
Maybe you provide a service andyou check in a month later to
see how they are doing.
A lot of times, people are opento share with you.
(06:53):
Oh my gosh, I made $30,000using the strategy that you gave
me.
Whatever the case may be, butyou want to be able to track a
lot of this.
If you really want to hear moreabout KPIs and metrics, check
out episode five, which ismetrics how to get started
measuring what matters.
So we talked about this acouple of episodes ago.
(07:14):
Now that you've identified whatyou want to track, you'll want
to implement systems andprocesses to monitor and measure
your performance.
This could involve implementingperformance tracking software,
asking for testimonials or evenjust keeping detailed records of
(07:37):
your business activities.
It does not have to be overcomplicated.
We want to keep it simple whendetermining what tools you want
to use.
Keep it simple, especially inthe beginning.
In the Savvy Operations Society, which is my membership, I
(07:59):
share a metrics tracker that youcan use it to track KPIs and
metrics, and it is a GoogleSheet.
It's a Google Sheet, it's notsomething that's over
complicated, and it allows themembers to track their outcomes
weekly.
Google Analytics is anothertool that is easy to use and is
(08:21):
free.
The most important thing is totrack the information you need.
Now, before we wrap up, let'stalk about how you can take your
performance to the next leveland truly elevate your business.
One powerful strategy is to usedata analytics to gain deeper
(08:42):
insights into your businessperformance.
By analyzing trends andpatterns in your data, you can
identify areas of improvementand make data-driven decisions
to drive profitability.
Remember, the purpose ofperformance management is to be
(09:04):
an informed CEO and use theinformation to make better
decisions quickly.
Once you are armed with theright tools and information,
you'll be able to focus on theareas that matter most, and it
will help you grow your businessfaster.
This is why businesses thatimplement operational excellence
(09:26):
grow, on average, 30% fasterthan their competitors, and they
can increase their revenuequickly.
Finally, keep in mind thatbusiness performance management
is an ongoing project.
Continuously monitor andevaluate your performance,
adjust your strategies as neededand always be on the lookout
(09:48):
for new opportunities to improveand grow your business.
And there it is, folks a crashcourse in business performance
management for small businessowners.
Remember by setting clear goals, implementing effective systems
and processes and leveragingdata analytics, you can take
your business to new heights ofsuccess.
(10:08):
That's all for today's episode.
Thank you for tuning in and besure to join us next time for
more tips and insights to helpyou succeed in your small
business journey.
Be sure to subscribe now andlet's build a thriving business.
Imagine being a confident CEO armed with a
wealth of information about howyour business is performing and
being able to quickly determineif your strategy is working or
if it's time to pivot.
We'll keep listening, becauseit is possible.
Welcome to the OperationsToolbox, the podcast designed
(00:24):
exclusively for solopreneursnavigating the intricate
business world.
I'm your host, tanya D Harrison, and today we're continuing our
conversation about performancemanagement, but with an emphasis
on business performancemanagement.
Now, if you recall, last weekwe talked about self management,
(00:47):
which is one of the aspects ofperformance management for
solopreneurs and micro businessowners, and today we're going to
discuss performance managementin regards to our business.
During this episode, we'll alsodiscuss how to get started, the
right tools and how to useperformance management to take
(01:09):
your business to the next level.
The first question we need toanswer is why is business
performance management importantfor small businesses?
Well, let me tell you in short,right, really quickly.
Business performance managementis all about maximizing
(01:30):
efficiency, productivity andprofitability within your
business.
So we're talking bottom linewhen we're talking about
performance management.
So the next question you mayhave is how do you get started
with business performancemanagement?
And a lot of solopreneurs andmicro business owners have a
(01:54):
pause when we talk aboutperformance management, because
they think it's for largerorganizations.
But once we get into thedetails, you're going to quickly
see how this is specificallyfor you and why you are here
listening to this at this pointin time.
In your business, it all beginswith setting clear goals and
(02:20):
objectives for your business.
You want to take some time todefine what success looks like
for you and your business and becrystal clear.
This is something that you haveto personally do.
This is not something that youdo because somebody else is
doing it and that looks good.
(02:41):
Their success may look good onthem because it's their success.
You have to define what successlooks like for you.
That could mean building abusiness that you only have to
work 20 hours a weekend, orbuilding a business that
eventually you don't work in atall.
(03:02):
Right that you hire somebodyelse to do, even from the CEO
all the way down.
So you have to think about whatthat looks like to you, be
honest and be clear.
So when we talk about yourgoals and your objectives, be
specific.
Instead of saying I want tomake a lot of money, detail how
(03:27):
much money you want to make Ifyou want to serve more customers
.
How many customers do you wantto serve?
State specifically what it isthat you want.
The more specific you are, thebetter.
Your goals and objectivesshould be short term and long
term.
Okay, so you want to thinkabout this year, 2024, what I
(03:51):
want to accomplish, versus threeto five years what it is that I
want to accomplish Next, you'llwant to implement key
performance indicators, or KPIs,and metrics.
Both are important.
Kpis help you to track yourprogress towards your goals,
while metrics help you trackoverall business performance, so
(04:15):
we need both.
For example, if you have arevenue goal you want to make
100,000 this year You'll want totrack revenue by service or
product.
As a KPI, like I, really needto understand where my money is
coming from.
This will let you know ifyou're on track to achieving
(04:35):
your goal Tricks.
As for metrics, you may alsowant to track website traffic to
see if people are visiting yoursite or where your traffic is
coming from, and that may be ametric and not a KPI.
Two other areas you'll want totrack besides your goals are
business standards and clientoutcomes.
(04:57):
All of this makes up yourbusiness performance.
Your business performance iskind of like your business
personality, right.
So they define how your companyacts and it becomes what you're
known for by your clients, youremployees and even competitors.
For example, will you be knownfor completing projects on time
(05:22):
or late?
Will you be known for someonethat ships products quickly or
take weeks?
So people talk right.
So we know that right, peopletalk.
If you are always late withyour projects, you're not timely
at all.
That is something that's goingto follow you.
So you may want to implement abusiness standard that your
(05:46):
projects will be completed in Xamount of days or 98% of your
projects will be completed ontime.
Whatever that standard is, youwant to create something that is
going to separate you withinthe market, but, more
importantly, it's going to showpeople who you are and what your
(06:07):
business is about.
The other area to measure isclient results or outcomes.
I can't tell you how importantthis is.
Measuring client results is agreat way to determine if you're
meeting client expectations andmeeting your standards that you
may have within your business.
This could be done usingsurveys to measure satisfactions
(06:30):
or if you guarantee specificresults.
You'll want to measure outcomesto determine if you're meeting
or not.
So this is why I like to sayyou follow up with your clients.
Maybe you provide a service andyou check in a month later to
see how they are doing.
A lot of times, people are opento share with you.
(06:53):
Oh my gosh, I made $30,000using the strategy that you gave
me.
Whatever the case may be, butyou want to be able to track a
lot of this.
If you really want to hear moreabout KPIs and metrics, check
out episode five, which ismetrics how to get started
measuring what matters.
So we talked about this acouple of episodes ago.
(07:14):
Now that you've identified whatyou want to track, you'll want
to implement systems andprocesses to monitor and measure
your performance.
This could involve implementingperformance tracking software,
asking for testimonials or evenjust keeping detailed records of
(07:37):
your business activities.
It does not have to be overcomplicated.
We want to keep it simple whendetermining what tools you want
to use.
Keep it simple, especially inthe beginning.
In the Savvy Operations Society, which is my membership, I
(07:59):
share a metrics tracker that youcan use it to track KPIs and
metrics, and it is a GoogleSheet.
It's a Google Sheet, it's notsomething that's over
complicated, and it allows themembers to track their outcomes
weekly.
Google Analytics is anothertool that is easy to use and is
(08:21):
free.
The most important thing is totrack the information you need.
Now, before we wrap up, let'stalk about how you can take your
performance to the next leveland truly elevate your business.
One powerful strategy is to usedata analytics to gain deeper
(08:42):
insights into your businessperformance.
By analyzing trends andpatterns in your data, you can
identify areas of improvementand make data-driven decisions
to drive profitability.
Remember, the purpose ofperformance management is to be
(09:04):
an informed CEO and use theinformation to make better
decisions quickly.
Once you are armed with theright tools and information,
you'll be able to focus on theareas that matter most, and it
will help you grow your businessfaster.
This is why businesses thatimplement operational excellence
(09:26):
grow, on average, 30% fasterthan their competitors, and they
can increase their revenuequickly.
Finally, keep in mind thatbusiness performance management
is an ongoing project.
Continuously monitor andevaluate your performance,
adjust your strategies as neededand always be on the lookout
(09:48):
for new opportunities to improveand grow your business.
And there it is, folks a crashcourse in business performance
management for small businessowners.
Remember by setting clear goals, implementing effective systems
and processes and leveragingdata analytics, you can take
your business to new heights ofsuccess.
(10:08):
That's all for today's episode.
Thank you for tuning in and besure to join us next time for
more tips and insights to helpyou succeed in your small
business journey.
Be sure to subscribe now andlet's build a thriving business.
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