SPOTLIGHT INDEX

For many with either size of dream, the joy may be in the striving. The notion of someday retiring may never occur to them. Their business is their recreation. Others may see their entrepreneurial careers as a means to an end that features toes in the sand on a distant beach or watching the vegetables grow in their backyard garden. What do you want in life? A simple, quiet life or a grand entrepreneurial adventure? Use your answer to that self-inquiry to set a course for your business.

Countless goals and great ideas are born and die without follow-through. By far, the most effective way to develop and realize an idea is strategic planning. But, what does a good plan look like? An effective strategic plan is realistic about the merits and limits of your product(s) and/or service(s), your operational constraints, your team’s skills and bandwidth, your funding options, the market, the larger economy, your current level of business skills, and other considerations.

Your strategic plan should specify your goals for the next year and the next 3 to 5 years. The plan should provide a guide through the steps you plan to take and the resources you plan to use to reach your ultimate 1-year, 3-year, 5-year goal, etc. It should also provide a plan for obtaining the necessary funding to meet your set benchmarks, and it should feature metrics for tracking your progress in key areas of operational performance. Look at any of the many lists of key performance indicators online to develop your own list of applicable KPIs for your business. continued on page 28

Of course, you’ll want to apply standard success measures like Sales Closing Rates, Customer Acquisition Costs, Production Cycle Time, etc. But, also be sure to include metrics for average customer experience ratings, employee engagement ratings, process improvement initiatives completed, and other more obscure management performance measures necessary for sustained business success.

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To execute your strategic plan, remember the value of timely decisionmaking. Face challenging decisions. Weigh the pros and cons. Seek input from trusted others. Then, take the calculated risks you need to take to move forward.

The kind of self-examination recommended here makes personal development the foundation for building your business success. Assign yourself daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly self-development tasks to enable you with the advanced organizational management knowledge and skills you need to become your market’s foremost authority in your field. That should be a primary goal of the leader in every company — whether you’re operating on Main Street, Manhattan, or in the Cloud. The more you know, the greater your potential to realize whatever vision of business success yours may be and to live a fully satisfying life.

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This article is part of a regular series from North American Power Sweeping Association (NAPSA). NAPSA seeks to elevate and inform the sweeping industry through educational articles, business tips, and best practices. This article explains the vital role power sweepers play in decreasing water pollution. For more resources, visit https://www.powersweeping.org/.