Imagine for a moment that you’re at your favorite sporting event, whatever that may be. Now, imagine arriving there and the game’s already going on, but then you realize that they’re actually not keeping score during the game. How frustrated would that make you? How much less of an enjoyable experience would that be? This is a quick analogy we’re going to apply to business today. We’ll use football as an example, just because it’s football season right now.
In football, you have a scoreboard with points for each side clearly posted, and that’s what determines who wins and loses the game. But also, there are other little things that we measure and track along the way. If our favorite team is successful in these key areas, then most likely we will score a certain amount of points or at least prevent the other team from doing so.
For example, let’s say our offense can manage a high amount of yards per carry/pass, or our defense forces interceptions frequently and prevents the other team from marching down the field. Then, over the period of the entire game, the score will probably be in our favor. It’s not guaranteed, of course, but it’s the most probable scenario based on the success we’ve had along the way.
In business, it’s the exact same thing. There’s a certain “scoreboard” that you can create to measure your success. Oftentimes, the ultimate win or loss businesses use is net profit. What is the bottom line? Are we profitable? Or perhaps it’s cash in the bank. Are we actually generating cash? For some companies, the score might be revenue. Basically, the endgame is different depending on the business.
However, let’s talk about something even more important. Along the way, there are smaller metrics that we need to track and shoot for. As with football, if we’re successful in these bite-sized metrics, then most likely we are going to be able to achieve our profit or cash-in-the-bank goals at the end of the day. For example, some metrics that you can track include the number of qualified leads created per month, the number of new clients gained, the sales figures, the efficiency of your labor force, etc. The success of each of these metrics will ultimately contribute to whether or not you win the “game.”
So I want to encourage you to look at business in a fun, competitive way. Like a football game, for instance. Don’t only track the end score, but also begin measuring and figuring out the smaller, day-to-day activities that’ll directly lead to a healthy profit, money in the bank, or whatever winning the game looks like for you.
Go out and take some action on this, and have a better than amazing day!
