Find your “You are here!” sticker
I have many memories of going to the mall when I was a kid. Each year we would spend a day shopping in preparation for the new school year. There were multiple stores we planned to visit and others we entered on impulse. As we got older, we would go to the mall more frequently but for very targeted objectives. On those trips, our first stop upon arrival was the directory to map out how to get to the targeted stores efficiently.
For those that have not been in a mall in decades (or perhaps ever), mall directories are complex. They list the stores and restaurants separate from the building layout identifying each with a designated letter number combination. The map itself is color coded by region of the facility with the letter number combination for the stores in boxes on the map.
To fully understand where you needed to go, you first needed to know where you were. The “You are here!” indicator became the starting point of our journey. Sometimes it was a star. Sometimes it was an arrow. Regardless of what it was, you needed to find it on the color-coded directory to avoid wandering the mall trying to find the food court. Not efficiently achieving your objectives meant you may not have enough time for a delicious Mrs. Field’s cookie.
Imagine your business strategy is the color-coded map with your targets and goals identified with corresponding coordinates. Everything is neatly laid out for you to achieve. You simply need to go the most efficient path to reach your destination. To be efficient, you need to know where you currently are on the map and plot a course that takes you where you want to go.
2020 and COVID-19 required many business owners to immediately shift directions or change operational practices simply to survive. My business was suddenly without a pipeline when the region went into shut down. I was making decisions quickly to ensure forward progress. Towards the end of the year, I spent time assessing where I was at so I could fully understand what continued forward progress would look like and whether I was closer to my objectives after all the changes had settled.
Have you taken the time to assess where you currently are?
Many small business owners are racing through each day trying to ensure the necessary tasks are completed. Targets and goals are frequently based on financial information such as revenue, expenses, and profits. Financials are a component of your current state, but there are additional elements of the business that will provide a more holistic view of your current state. A broader understanding of where you are will allow you to better assess which activities the business could focus on to achieve your goals more efficiently.
To find your most efficient path, spend time finding your “You are here!” sticker. Start with these questions to help evaluate your current state from a different perspective.
Where do you spend most of your time? Are there specific functions of the business that dominate your attention? Are there functions that are ignored by you or your team?
What are the urgent issues that you and/or your team are regularly dealing with? With what frequency do the issues occur? How long and how many people does it take to resolve the issues?
What worked well and what did not in the past year? Which of the COVID-19 related shifts were positive and will be part of your operations and/or strategy going forward? Which are only temporary or have already been eliminated?
How would you describe the current culture of your business? How does this differ from how your team would describe the current culture?
How satisfied are you currently with your business? (not sure how to assess your satisfaction with your daily work of running your business, check out this article) Are you getting what you need out of your business (i.e. enough income, impact, comradery, etc.)?
What barriers do you feel exist to achieving your goals, both personally as the business owner, and for the business?
Business owners can easily identify goals and objectives and keep marching forward. A well-articulated roadmap is valuable for making progress and ensure the forward marching is going in the right direction. Without a full understanding of your current state and location on your roadmap, staying on course or re-routing becomes more challenging. Thinking about where you are today, with a broader lens, will make you better equipped to plot the most efficient course to your destination. And give you time for a delicious cookie along the way.