YOUR 9-MONTH CHECK-UP

September marked the three-quarters point of the year. Are
you 75% of the way to your goals for the year? Have you
earned most of your annual budget?  Have you achieved
three-quarters of your personal goals? Are you keeping
track?
One of the most important things any business leader can do
is track the key "measurables" of your business and chart
them against both a calendar and your pre-determined
objectives. In every business there are a handful of key
items that can tell you, at a glance, how you're doing.
For salespeople, those numbers are often the number of
calls made, the number of presentations completed, and of
course, the number and dollar volume of orders received.
In other businesses, the measurables might be employee
hours worked, or the number of "widgets" in inventory. For
Psychologists, two of the key numbers are the number of
client sessions per week, and the average time a client
remains in treatment. When I was doing therapy, if I knew
those two numbers, along with just a few other details
about my business, I could very accurately predict my
annual revenue and personal income.
What are your key numbers? Now is the time to take a long
hard look at them. I'm a fan of large graphs and charts.
Put those numbers on a wall chart or plot them on a large
calendar. Compare them to last year's numbers, and to your
annual budget. Compare them to your annual goals, and see
how you are actually doing.
If you are ahead of schedule, fantastic! If you are on
schedule, pat yourself on the back! And, if you find the
numbers tell a sad or unfortunate tale, take action.