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Big business has always run by the NUMBERS. Metrics are important to any business of any size. But for a SMALL business, maybe, are the kind of metrics that need to be measured different?
I’m an “accidental businessman”. I turned to running my online business to fund a passion – to help raise money to make heart surgery affordable for thousands of children who couldn’t otherwise have it.
While I do track metrics like net profit, return on captial employed, website conversion rate, marginal net worth of a client, year-on-year growth and more, there is one metric on which I keep a closer eye than any other – and from which I derive the greatest satisfaction and meaning.
And that is: the number of heart operations funded each year.
Here is the data, a mirror of my business’ growth:
2003 – 1 operation
2004 – 3 operations
2005 – 6 operations
2006 – 5 operations
2007 – 9 operations
2008 – 7 operations
2009 – 13 operations (until June)
These numbers bring a broader smile to my face than any other metric could.
If you’re a small business owner, ask yourself WHY you got into business.
- If it was because you wanted to spend more time with your family or friends, or doing your own thing, then maybe the most important business metric to measure is your “Number of Hours” away from business.
- If it was because you were getting stressed-out working for “The Man”, then maybe the most important business metric to measure is your stress indicators – blood pressure, number of hours you sleep each night, how often you smile and laugh daily.
- If it was because you wanted to have a free leash to travel the world, then maybe the most important business metric to measure is your “Number of Trips”.
Unfortunately, the moment we get ‘trapped’ into believing that our “Let’s Play Business” game turned into the most deadly serious thing in our lives, we start measuring the WRONG things.
Maybe it’s time to set that right – and measure what really matters?
{ 3 comments }
I loved this post drmani – so many things seem to be conspiring to clarify our reasons for business;
Just recently I read Three Cups of Tea, then Let My People Go Surfing, and this was a quote that I took from the latter
“…business can produce food, cure disease… employ people, and generally enrich our lives. And it can do these good things and make a profit without losing its soul.” Yvon Chouinard founder and owner, Patagonia. And of course, Patagonia does wonderful things with its profits
)
Then yesterday we listened (again) to Tony Robbins Lessons in Mastery series, then Seth Godin’s Tribes – and I was thinking of your work many times. Just a quick post from you here or there, and you help fine tune our thoughts and philosophies just by being so inspiring! Thank you …
Thanks, Julie.
I’m often reminded of the memorable words an accountant spoke at a conference for non-profits I once attended. He said:
“When I work, I don’t see the rows and columns of figures – I see the faces of the children we are helping. And that makes my work interesting, meaningful and worthwhile.”
It shifted a paradigm and changed my perspective on a lot of things since!
Dr.Mani
Thank you for the reminder Dr Mani
My personal measure is seeing my children grow up and being at home when they put their key in the door (the thought of them coming home to an empty house scares me!)
My professional measure is to make a real difference in the life of anyone who reads what I write or who takes a training session with me. I want them to leave feeling as if that was definitely time and money well spent.
Knowing that and reminding myself of that will help me to stay focused on what I want to achieve rather than what the “gurus” tell me I should be looking to achieve!
Diane
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