Peer Deeply into your Business for the Future
We all know intuitively that it is not a good thing to look at the sun too long. We get those watery eyes and sometimes even get a burning sensation. That is actually what is happening. We are getting a sunburn or scarring our eyes. The formal name is “Solar retinopathy” and we all need to be careful.
I am sure for those of you that were anywhere near this past year’s solar eclipse were very careful and donned the very vogue eclipse eye wear so you could look at the sun. I happened to be just south of Nashville TN, and was able to use the eclipse glasses to see this amazing occurrence.
The use of these glasses enabled us to see the eclipse clearly. Step by step we could see the moon covering the sun. We only got to about 80% darkness, but without the glasses we would have had to resort to the paper and pin hole method to view the dot of light being shaded by the dark. That just would not have been the same. Having the glasses made the experience.
This may be a great analogy on how we view our business. Throughout the year we use our paper and spreadsheets, minutes from staff meetings, monitor metrics, and send memo’s and emails to keep everyone on the team in sync with the year and our progress. We look right at the business, but maybe not a very deep view.
At least once a year, we need to look at our business with some Business Eclipse glasses. We need to put on the eclipse glasses so we can look directly at our business and see things that we otherwise, well overlook. We need to put our eclipse glasses on and examine frame by frame the movement of our business, team, customers, competitors, sales, and operations. We need to put the eclipse glasses on so we can analyze and reveal our true position.
We may see how small a percentage of the market we hold. With the business eclipse glasses on we can examine our business by each critical function. This will provide you a view of your business that is needed.
The data you gather will assist in developing a Business Optimization Plan for 2018. Growth, increased sales and productivity do not just happen; they are planned, calculated, implemented, and measured. A Business Optimization Plan sets the business course for the year. Peer deeply into your business and set the course needed to optimize your business in 2018.
Then set your Business Eclipse dial for this same time next year and once again look deeply into your business so you can set your next year’s course.