Building Bridges

Take the Quiz

 

Find out How You Score on the Critical Factors for Business Success!

Take the Quiz - Click on the circle next to the answer which best describes your current reality. Your score will be calculated and defined at the end

Goals for my Company

I have yearly and 90-day written goals that are specifically focused on where I’m excited to see my company grow and I measure my results. – Score 3

I have goals in my head for the next three and the next twelve months. – Score 2

I have only the long-term goals I wrote when I started my business. – Score 1

Goals – No way! I’m a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants business owner. – Score 0

Coaching Employees on Improving their Individual Performance

I meet individually each month with each of my employees and we review their successes and challenges using a set agenda that achieves performance results. – Score 3

I meet individually with each of my employees a couple times each year and cover both successes and challenges. – Score 2

I meet with my team monthly and employees participate in the meeting. - Score 1

Employees shouldn’t require my time. They do their job or get fired around here. – Score 0

I’m a sole proprietor – (Managing yourself is a topic of a separate discussion! ) – Score 3

Instituting a Sales System

I have a written series of sales activities and events that my team and I routinely execute. Then we evaluate and revise the plan. – Score 3

We have some routine and consistency to what we do to increase sales, and we evaluate the results of what we currently do and new things we try. – Score 2

We take a stab at every new opportunity that arises, try it, fail to measure results, and make a decision whether or not to do it again based on my gut feeling. – Score 1

I personally beat the streets until I get a sale, then work feverishly on implementation, and once they pay, then go out selling again. – Score 0

Translating Expectations from my Head to my Mouth

(Sole Proprietors – Score yourself based on your interaction with vendors and contractors to whom you outsource.)

I have written Fundamentals, job descriptions, and evaluations that I use routinely, measure their success based on improvement of employee performance and revise to make sure my expectations are clear. – Score 3

I have job descriptions and evaluations that I routine use and review for accurate reflection of my expectations, but they don’t seem to bring about great change. – Score 2

The job descriptions are pretty canned and so are the criteria and rating scales on the evaluations. I really dislike doing them and employees dislike receiving them. - Score 1

Evaluations? Those are for the big corporations. I tell the employees daily when they are screwing up and give them a hearty pat on the back every once in a while when they get it right. – Score 0

The Ideal Business Owner Role

I have a clearly defined, written role for myself. I do what I am best at, focus on the strategic activities and spend time mentoring and coaching employees. I enjoy my role in the company tremendously. – Score 3

I spend a good portion of my time doing things that are appropriate to my expertise and role as a business owner. I’m aware of the things that still need to change and am prepared to hire and train to tweak my role to what I believe it needs to be. – Score 2

I’m really still doing a lot of tasks that I should not have to do. Letting them go is tough because of my desire to control the details and my lack of confidence in the team members to whom I delegate. – Score 1

Aagghh! I’m crazy 100% of the time. My business is running me! This is not at all what being in business for yourself is supposed to be like and I’m not making nearly enough money for myself and my family. – Score 0

Create a Blueprint for Success

I clearly have a plan in my business that lays out what needs to happen in order to achieve my vision of a success in my business. Although I am not there yet, the path to my desired success is clear. – Score 3

I feel mostly focused in my business, have an outline in my head of the size, product and people that can make it happen and routinely work to clarify that picture. – Score 2

I’m not sure if I can be successful in my business the way I'm running it right now. It provides me with employment, and I hire people when I get busy, but I’m not sure what the right mix of employees is, to what size I want the company to grow and what our product focus really is. – Score 1

We live day by day in my company, hoping we can pay the bills and hoping for that next big client. We’ll hire feverishly when the business arrives and I’ll have to work my tail off, but it will get done and maybe I can put a little money into savings or retirement that month. - Score 0

Building Bridges