Do you want to be successful in your business and life? Of course you do, most of us do and that is why we work hard the way that we do. No matter how hard you work however, life may take you on the road less traveled and you may be wondering how you got there? The business owners that don’t track their business, goal set for the future, or keep redesigning to adjust to market conditions are often found to be out of business before too long. Remember the old saying if you, “Don’t plan to succeed, you plan to fail.” That statement is very true so it doesn’t surprise me when I see businesses in trouble and the owners blaming everyone but themselves. I am not saying other factors can’t be causing loss of business but many people get into business and then blame everyone but their own management. I am sure you are not that type of business owner or you wouldn’t be reading this article. I am a big goal setter and am constantly looking for ways to make our business better and keep us moving forward for the future. Like marketing to me this is the fun part of entrepreneurship. It’s strategy, it’s gut sense, it’s market research, and it makes you step up your game.

As we come into the end of our fiscal year for our business my mind has already gone into goal setting mode, figuring out product development, marketing strategies, and other important functions to keep us in business. This includes a total review during our annual meeting of the numbers we have generated and this is very important, as they say the numbers don’t lie. The reason you want to work with the numbers is they will start revealing trends to you that you may not be able to notice if you weren’t paying attention to them. This may give you that information to take you to the next level in your business and do some house cleaning. For instance are you at a plateau in your business?

When I began our business I had high hopes of success within months. That didn’t happen and it forced me to take a hard look at the goods we started out with. Today we have our regular staple of products and services that have brought in income on a regular basis, but I have found trends in our business such as plateaus. Every year we try to increase our income by a certain percentage but often fail to make that big jump, however I notice with our numbers this happens every other year. This is great information not only to help you see what you have done every two years to make that business grow, but more importantly for most of us so that we don’t get discouraged and quit our journey before we reach that point of success. Tracking your numbers will not only help you guide your business in the right direction, but will help keep you motivated and excited knowing you are growing it to be something that will take you into the future.

About the Author

Bruce Outridge is an author, artist, consultant, and speaker helping entrepreneurs have successful businesses. His books include How to Start an Artistic Business in 12 Easy Steps, Driven to Drive, and Running by the Mile. More information can be found on his website at www.outridge.ca