It’s been almost three years since the pandemic emerged. Over the past three years businesses have been forced to adapt, pivot, and maneuver around various obstacles. Often when companies go through tough times there are lessons learned that provide a roadmap for what lies ahead.
Through my discussions with clients, I have noted five steps they are taking to tackle their 2023 business goals and develop a roadmap for success.
- Establish long-term goals. Identifying long-term goals allows owners to step back and evaluate how the business will need to adapt over time. Will these goals require facility expansion, significant hiring, new products or services, or additional financing? If your long-term goal is to increase revenue by a significant amount, it’s important to identify the elements needed for success as quickly as possible.
- Define and track your success. With your vision in place and goals established, owners should look for ways to define and track success. In order to do so, establish timelines for important milestones and determine your key performance indicators (KPIs). KPIs are a great way to measure progress over time, and it’s important to make sure they are well thought out and attainable.
- Focus on your employees. Setting goals and developing metrics mean nothing if you don’t have the people to support them. Creating a great culture and providing proper training for employees enables them to be more engaged and contribute to company goals. Encouraging employees to collaborate is also key. While many business owners prefer in-person collaboration efforts, some may have to look for ways to adapt to the remote or hybrid work environment.
- Prioritize initiatives. Once you establish your goals, you must make time to brainstorm strategic initiatives that will allow you to achieve those goals. I spoke to a client recently regarding their strategic plan. They told me they meet a few months prior to fiscal year end and typically lay out three or four strategic initiatives they prioritize for the upcoming year.
- Hold yourself accountable. Accountability is a key factor in building a business; without it, you’ll find yourself consistently kicking the can down the road and struggling to get things accomplished. What happens if certain KPIs are not hit or if a strategic initiative is not accomplished? A business owner recently told me that he typically gets “bogged down in the day-to-day operations” and finds himself with “no time to hold myself or my team accountable for the goals we set. Before I know it, we are pushing our plans to the next year.” In order to prevent this from happening, meet with your team on a regular basis to evaluate what is going well as well as what you can do to improve.
Following the five steps outlined above will be advantageous as you work to achieve your business goals for 2023. If you have any questions or would like to discuss this topic in further detail, please contact us.
Thomas Yankanich is a director with Kreischer Miller and a specialist for the Center for Private Company Excellence. Contact him at Email or 215.441.4600.
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