Nobody enjoys testing. I don’t like studying for tests or taking them. I don’t like being pricked, squeezed, grabbed and poked for medical testing. I don’t like hearing criticism, how I failed or missed expectations. Because most of us do not enjoy evaluation, we find it easy to avoid or forget.
The problem? If you never measure anything, you never know how to improve, what to improve, or who to improve. In business, feedback in critical. Businesses routinely fail from lack of evaluation and making necessary adjustments to the marketplace. Part of the collapse of GM was arrogance and unwillingness to measure product to marketplace demand. If you do not listen and adapt, you may not live for the next day.
Patrick Lencioni in The Five Temptations of a CEO writes about two of them as it relates to measurement; choosing status over results and choosing popularity over accountability. Once arriving at the top, it is far easier to try and protect your spot rather than push for further results. We all enjoy popularity and will do almost anything to keep it or gain it. We may excuse and overlook shortcomings of those under us instead of holding them accountable. This can easily happen in a partnership or family business. We don’t want to rock the boat, even if the boat is sinking.
Here is axiom worth remembering – what gets measured, gets done. It is called accountability. If you are sole business owner, who will hold you accountable? Usually, no one. You may be lucky enough to limp by, get by, and survive. You will not thrive. Thriving businesses understand the importance of measurement. They become relentless in their quest for the gold standard. They keep sensors on vital business numbers, continue to tweak and adjust systems, listen to input from employees, construct feedback systems from customers/clients, and seek consultations for areas of weakness or inexperience.
Measurements are more than a bottom line. Business efficiency means gross receipt increases while lean in operations. You can measure sustainability, moral, safety, culture, and leadership. For the sole proprietor, measurements should include customer/client satisfaction, testimonies, referrals, operational costs, billable time, product costs, marketing analysis, and time/activity payoffs to name a few. For the solo entrepreneur, key measurements include HOW your receive business (sources), WHAT you do in business (product and proficiency), WHO is your customer/client (target market), WHY would a customer/client return or refer you (quality of service or product).
Now the question remains, what kind of measurements do you have? For you you measure, you will most likely do.
