We all know how important it is to be proactive with our health by having a yearly physical. Although there may still be challenges with our health (think Bob Harper’s recent heart attack), the chances are greatly diminished if we get a checkup. Do we take the same approach with our business? Wouldn’t you like to know that your business is running healthy BEFORE it needs CPR? Many business owners are so busy running the day to day that they don’t make sure that all the key areas are running smoothly.
Take a couple of minutes to answer the questions below for your business. You are the doctor in this exercise. Give yourself a report on your “Business Physical” and be honest about what needs to change to bring your business to a state of top health.
The first place to start is determining your vision for your business and your life
- What does your ideal business look like?
- When your business is in peak physical condition who do you work with, how much do you work?
- What is most important for you to create the life that you want to live?
Continue your check-up by looking at your strengths as a leader. According to research by Gallup, people who use their strengths daily are six times more likely to be engaged with their job and are less likely to experience stress and anxiety. Take a minute to write down your top 3-4 strengths as a leader of your business and your life.
Now let’s look at the seven areas of a healthy business. Rate yourself on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being “excellent” and 1 being “yikes, I need some help”.
- Cash Flow: (rate yourself 1-5)
- Do you have a budget, have you taken time to budget proactively?
- Do you have cash flow rules that tell you when and where you spend your money?
- Is your salary in the budget?
- Do you have a savings for the unexpected?
- Marketing Strategy: (rate yourself 1-5)
- Do you have one?
- Who is your ideal client?
- What is your unique contribution?
- Where are you networking?
- Do you measure the ROI of all your networking and marketing dollars spent?
- Does your marketing strategy include social media and your web presence?
- Sales Process/ Follow-up Plan: (rate yourself 1-5)
- What are the steps in your sales process?
- How long is your sales cycle?
- What are all the ways that prospects get into your sales funnel?
- Do you have a documented follow up process for after you meet a suspect, prospect or customer?
- Leadership/Team Development: (rate yourself 1-5)
- Are you managing your time where you are most valuable to the business?
- How are your leadership skills?
- Do you take time to “sharpen the saw” by reading industry and leadership books, blogs, articles, etc.
- How is your team working together?
- Do you have the right people in the right roles?
- What is your teams level of engagement?
- Do you have an employee development plan in place to increase retention?
- Communication Skills: (rate yourself 1-5)
- Do you communicate both internally and externally with effectiveness?
- Are your emails and voicemails getting the responses you expect?
- When you send company communication do people understand and engage with it?
- Have you asked team members if you communicate well?
- Project and Event Management: (rate yourself 1-5)
- Do you have two of three “Big Deal Projects” that will exponentially grow your business?
- Do you meet your deadlines for big projects/goals?
- If you have an event are the details managed well or do things fall through the cracks?
- Time Management/Goal Completion: (rate yourself 1-5)
- Do you have an idea of where your time is most valuable
- Do you have a plan for the “perfect week” so that you know how to manage each day
- Do you know what you need to do to show up as your best self daily?
- Are your goals SMART goals? (Specific, Measurable, Agreed Upon, Realistic, Time-oriented)?
How did your business do? If you are finding that you have scored yourself below a 4 it is time to get to work. Develop 2 or 3 things to move your business forward in each area. Start to implement them daily. Small incremental changes over time will make a measurable diffence!
We’d love to hear from you about the health of your business! Feel free to share your results below or reach out if you need help. You can reach us at [email protected]. We work with small business owners every day like you that want to reach their Ultimate Vision Faster!
Cheers to your health!
Susan & Terri