Evaluation is a key component to running a successful business, no matter how small it might be. It is also the one component that many of us overlook. After all, we are often so busy trying to keep the money rolling in and meet the needs of the day, who has time to sit around and contemplate what is and what is not working? That contemplation, however, that figuring out whether we are actually being successful and making money, is important.
Success can mean different things to different people. In fact, I would even go so far as to share that success means different things to me on different days. Some days, if I just get up, get dressed and get through my e-mail inbox, I feel as though I have had a successful day. Other days, I have a long laundry list that I need to accomplish and I don’t feel successful until I have checked off every single line item. One of the things that many of us cannot argue with, however, is that profit and revenue are one of the better ways to evaluate how well our business is doing. We want our businesses to be lucrative and we need to have access to the information to figure out if that is actually happening.
Whether or not you evaluate your business as a whole, or look at individual projects, clients, contracts, product lines, etc. and try to decipher what is working and what is not—it is the process of evaluation that is important. It forces us to look hard at what is going on with our work and get outside of those ordinary details and problem-solving of every day. Are we making money? If so, how much? Can we make more? Is our business successful in other ways? Is there intrinsic value that is connected with our business operations? Is our business successful? Lucrative? Or a bit of both?
Also: Re-evaluating Where You Both Are
Review, Evaluation and Adjustment