Launching Your Business with Eyes Wide Open

Launching your own business can be a thrilling adventure, bringing your passions, talents and skill sets together with the vision of doing something great. One of the keys to building a successful business is looking at it from all angles and starting with a plan. A critical component of that plan is the numbers, and many new business owners would rather look at the exciting parts of entrepreneurship (freedom, ability to pursue their passion, making boat-loads of money for themselves and not someone else) instead of diving in and really knowing their numbers.

That’s where we come in. Here’s how The Minerva Group helped one solopreneur launch her dream business.

When we first met our client, Sue, she was working full time for a large tech company. To them she was just a number, and she went to work every day feeling unmotivated and underutilized.

Her passion was photography. On weekends she photographed weddings and loved the interaction with people and producing something that would be meaningful and lasting to them. Her dream was to do this full time, but she didn’t know where to start. The Minerva Group partnered with Sue to provide her with the tools and know-how to help her make that dream a reality.

First, we helped her get a clear picture of her current financial situation by looking at the books she had kept for her photography side-gig. This enabled us to:

  • project the income she needed to transition into her own business,
  • set expectations for the return on investment,
  • establish goals for building her savings, and
  • plan the timing.

Armed with real numbers, Sue could finally see clearly that she could make her dream happen.

Next, we looked at strategies to move Sue towards full time. These included attending bridal shows to meet wedding planners and make herself and her services known within the wedding industry. This networking provided sources of referrals from which she was able to branch out and build her clientele. We recommended a substantial increase in her prices, helped her identify unique venues for her work beyond the ones she had traditionally used, and helped her expand her offerings to clients by adding videography.

Within the space of two years – and with a lot of hard work – she moved into her business full time and has never looked back. From January through September the previous year to the same period over the current year, she experienced growth at a rate of 132%! The demand for Sue’s business has grown to the point that she now employs several additional photographers.

The Minerva Group helps business owners take a 360-degree look at their business, starting with the numbers and then building out a realistic strategy for growth. Do you have a passion for building a business? Take our online assessment, the Minerva 360 Blueprint® and get a clearer understanding of your own  picture so you can take the right actions towards growth.

Setting KPIs for growth

Establish Your Key Performance Indicators for 2019

A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a metric used to evaluate and demonstrate whether, and how effectively, a business is achieving key business objectives over time. KPIs can be used at different levels to measure success in any area – from overarching, big picture goals to progress on specific departmental responsibilities or projects.

KPIs exist not only to provide metrics but to inspire action. They serve as tools – communication, accountability and navigational tools – that can direct your business towards positive change and help increase productivity. To do so, the KPIs you adopt must be relevant to your specific business and accurately reflect its performance.

A strategy for formulating and defining KPIs starts with basic questions.

  • What are our organizational objectives/desired outcomes?
  • Why do they matter?
  • How do we plan to achieve them?
  • How can we measure our progress?
  • Who is responsible for the outcome?
  • What is the time frame for achieving the objective?
  • How can/do we influence the outcome?
  • What are the indicators that we’ve achieved our objective?
  • How often will our progress be reviewed?
  • With whom should the resulting information be shared?

A KPI should be specific in defining the objective it addresses. It should clearly state how you will measure performance, and the information it returns should be succinct. Implementation of KPIs is an iterative and dynamic process that includes input and feedback from your leadership team and key employees. As facts unfold, you’ll gain greater insight into which business processes need to be measured and can adjust the types of KPIs you need accordingly. Over time, you’ll be able to tweak the particulars of your KPIs and refine how they are measured so that the information they return is of optimal value in guiding change.

Although every industry needs KPIs specific to their objectives and activities, there are KPIs that apply across the board. Every business needs performance metrics for:

  • Cash flow
  • Gross profit margin
  • Revenue increase
  • Inventory turns
  • A/R average days to pay
  • Budget variance
  • Overall productivity of the company

Businesses must monitor the big picture in the midst of attending to all of the details. KPIs assist with both. They can reveal the need for long-term change while providing information that will assist the owner and management team in making quicker and more accurate short-term decisions.

Identifying and formulating KPIs specific to your business, then interpreting and implementing the resultant information can be a time-consuming and seemingly daunting task. The Minerva Group uses our decades of experience in both accounting and business management to help business owners create KPIs that are in line with their growth goals. We’d be honored to partner with you develop your KPIs for 2019 and make it your most prosperous year so far.