small business strategy - evaluate what's working and what's not

A short video for small business owners....

How To Evaluate What’s Working In Your Business and What’s Not

www.entrepreneursystems.comwww.entrepreneursystems.com ©2010

http://www.entrepreneursystems.com/

Have you ever been so caught up in what you’re doing in your business that your actually

wondering if it is even working? You’re constantly giving attention here and there,

attending to this while trying to prevent that, basically fire-fighting all the time and as a result things are never really completed or

achieved as you would have hoped, and results are sketchy at best.



Well, over the years from working with many different companies, where I have been

involved in implementing software, upgrading web technology, or even just overhauling

major business processes, I have realised that the same fundamentals that are used to

determine if something is working or not can be applied to small business.



As with everything in your business, it all comes down to simple process to really detect

what is working and what is not, what you need to be giving more energy to, and what really doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of

things.



Its a two phased approach. The first phase is where you actually need to identify what your

core business processes are. These are the ones that are fundamental in the ongoing operation and viability of your business, without which your business would not

survive.



Once you have identified your core business processes for each one you need to ask “What do I expect should happen as a result of this

process”. Following this, the next question you should ask is “Is what’s really happening what I expected should happen”. It all comes down to what you expect to happen versus what is actually happen and the difference between the two will help you decide whether or not that business process is actually working.



With the first part of this exercise, its a really good idea to involve the people who carry out

the business processes you’re trying to evaluate because they will have an insider’s take on any peculiarities and anomalies that

might not be so obvious from an outside looking in perspective.



But after all this, after you have identified your core business processes, worked out what you

expected “should” happen and what is “actually happening in reality”, you’re left with a list of your core processes that are probably working OK and a list of core processes that are just nor living up to your expectations.



The second phase of this evaluation process is where you need to determine if you actually

need these core processes. It will take an investment of time and energy to improve tem so you want to be sure you will see a return on your investment. So, from here, your should take your two lists – the core processes that

are working OK and those that are not meeting your expectations and start with the list of

processes that are working OK. www.entrepreneursystems.comwww.entrepreneursystems.com ©2010


Take one process at a time and ask “Will the continual execution of this process on a

regular basis get me closer to my purpose and the ideal vision I have for my business” If

your answer is a resounding “Yes”, then this is a process to keep. If your answer is a

resounding ”No”, then eliminate the process.



Do the same now for your list of core processes that are not currently meeting your expectations with the outcome for each being

either to “keep the process and work to improve it immediately” or to “eliminate the

process immediately because it does not contribute to the growth of your business”



Once you understand this basic formula for evaluating what is working and what is not working in your business you will be able to quickly and easily determine what is adding value to your business, versus what is taking

value out because it is not contributing to your overall goals.

