The End of Q2: How Are You Tracking Your Progress?

Your business is your baby. Just like a newborn, you want your business to grow and thrive. Keeping track of a child's progress is easy—we can watch the child learn to walk and talk, we have to buy larger clothes when the child has outgrown the old ones, and so on.

But a business's growth can be deceiving. It can be bringing in lots of money, but just as easily, have little in the way of cash flow. Your store could be full of customers, but sales could be down. So how can you tell how well your business is doing?

Let's create an example: Brian and Betty's Broccoli Bites Bakery. Brian and Betty have quite the challenge, but let's suppose that they have been in business for a year, and although they didn't have a great first year, they're very optimistic that they will do well. Here are some of their goals, and how they will keep track of them--

• Sales. Brian and Betty naturally want their sales to increase over last year. Not only will they keep track of their day-to-day sales, but they will want to look at what those numbers mean throughout the year. Do they have a "busy season?" Looking at these numbers will also give our bakers a chance to think about diversifying—perhaps looking to other veggie treats to sell as well. Perhaps all they will need to do is consider ways to bring more customers in.
• Retention. You've heard it said that it costs more to get a new customer than it does to keep an old one. If the bakery's customers are leaving, they need to find out why—is it the product? The prices? The location? The employees? The new Collard Green Cupcakes place across town? Make sure you have an email list in place to be able to reach out to customers. Using Infusionsoft is a great way to keep your business in front of your customers, using automation.
• Personnel. Brian and Betty have hired two people to help them run the bakery, so that they can have some time off, but they want to know if this was a good idea. Measuring the overall sales revenue divided by the number of employees, as well as sales divided by number of hours the employees work, can easily let them know if their new hires are working out well.
• Referrals. Asking their new customers “how did you hear about us?” is a quick and easy way to keep track of where their customers are coming from and where they may need to step up their marketing. They could use Infusionsoft to manage their referral program too.

Your business' goals are up to you. But whether you want to have a 15% increase in sales over the previous year, or intend to invest in some new equipment, it's unrealistic to expect it to “just happen”. You need to have a plan of some sort, and a way to keep track of your progress if you want your baby to grow healthy and strong.