I remember being super excited to start out (officially) as an entrepreneur .
I was the master of my ship, in charge (well, so i thought) and pumped up. I got my products ready, printed business cards and flyers and hit the ground running. However, nothing prepared me for the experience i was about to have.
With lots of one on one marketing and referrals ,i got off to a good start and sales were coming in. At this point ,i assumed the business was doing well because customer base kept increasing, i got carried away with the expanding customer base and publicity such that i took my eyes off other important aspects of the business. I guess i felt that was all the business needed to grow at that time .
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| photo credit : www.startupbros.com |
The wake up call came 3 years after the business took off; Three major things happened within the business
– Return rates dropped drastically,
– Cash flow became an issue
– Some major retailers stopped stocking the products as they started producing theirs.
It was then i realized i had not quantified progress, i dint even know parameters required to do so plus I had no records .So even when I tried to get investors on board , there was no proof of concept to show that the business was commercially viable. Sadly, after 3 years, i had no documentation to validate grounds the business had covered as well as prospects for the future….
As an entrepreneur, Its important to keep track of particular aspects of your business, i recommend among other things that you go after attaining a proof of concept for your business idea.
If you are a bootstrapper working with the bootstrap model, proof of concept should come as you go along the “sell” stage.
As an SME/startup, parameters you should keep a close eye on include
– Cash flow
– Revenue/ revenue growth rate
– Net profit
– Gross profit
– Customer growth rate
– Reproduceability of systems and processes
– Burn rate
– Total amount of money invested in business
There are a few other boxes to tick on the checklist but this is definitely a good place to start, Its a simple way to quantify and validate what a business is doing.
To get a free assessment tool for your business, send an email to biznessvirgins@gmail.com.
find out a few things you need to know about business assessment here
All the best today and always.
Yours truly,
F.O (The Entrepreneur)
P.S – ” Beloved,i wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health,even as your soul prospers” – 3 John 1:2
