performance improvement

Look back to move forward

Year end is a time to look forward to plan for the future of your business. It’s also a time to look backward to assess the past year’s performance with a critical eye. Past successes and failures can both provide valuable information to drive future growth.

Maya Angelou described her respect for the past, saying “If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you don’t know where you’re going.”

Indeed! Our focus in business is often to look to the future – on moving onward and upward. But leaving the past behind, unexamined, leaves a critical gap in your understanding of how to get there. Analyzing the past gives you the wisdom to choose the best future path.

A SWOTT (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats, and Trends) analysis is a great way to look back on your year to identify what helped and what hindered your goals.

For example, you might ask yourself:

Strengths
  • What did you do well last year?
  • What part of your business is most profitable?
Weaknesses
  • Where does your company need improvement?
  • Are you lacking resources anywhere?
Opportunities
  • Can you identify new products or services to offer?
  • Can you identify new target markets?
Threats
  • Are you facing new obstacles next year?
  • Do your competitors have new products or services?
Trends
  • Have you identified any new industry trends?
  • Are any of last year’s trends losing traction?

As you work through your analysis, you’ll probably notice next year’s goals beginning to emerge from your answers. The result of the SWOTT is the foundation of your strategic plan for the upcoming year. Think of your strategic plan as your GPS. Once you’ve figured out where you are (your current state) and your destination (where you’d like to be), your strategic plan guides you to it.

Can you see clearly?

So, you’ve analyzed the past year and are ready to dive into your strategic plan. Stop for a moment and ask yourself one last question: am I seeing the complete picture?

Chances are you’re not.

No matter how involved you are with all the various aspects of your business – no matter how well you know your people, processes, and products or services – you can only view them from your own perspective. And when you’re as deeply involved as you are, your perspective is influenced by history and what you can see. What about things you can’t see (blind spots). You take for granted that the way things are is how they should be. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it, right? But a process that appears to be working might not be working as well as it could or should. Or, it might depend on outdated resources that could be improved. Looking at your business from a different perspective gives you a fresh insight into the familiar and opens up possibilities.

David Waymann, AdviCoach, can show you how to look at your business from a different perspective. With David’s guidance, you won’t just think outside the box. You’ll step outside the box and look deeply into it.

A business coach with personal solutions

As a business coach in the Ann Arbor area, David has helped many local Michigan business owners align their businesses for success. If you’re not happy with your business’s growth, David can help you change course.

David specializes in helping small and medium-sized businesses in Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, and all SE Michigan plan for the future. Contact David or call 734-726-5208 today to set up a strategy and review session!