Most successful small and medium sized businesses track and monitor their performance.
But many business owners see Key Performance Indicators as a tool better suited to larger corporates... or they might think they use KPIs in their business, but in truth, it's a bit hit and miss.
From what I see on a regular basis, many business owners are overly relaxed about the importance of implementing effective KPIs or don't manage to track them consistently enough.
Here are some of the most common problems I find with KPIs in SMEs...
📌 The KPIs are measuring the wrong things
📌 The KPIs are out of date
📌 Data is frequently missing or late or incomplete
📌 They're not tracked regularly (or frequently) enough
📌 Action isn't taken when problems are identified
📌 Or the response is insufficient or takes too long
📌 Too little individual accountability for each KPI (lack of ownership)
Businesses of all sizes seek faster, more effective and efficient ways to acquire and retain the right kind of customers, increase sales and optimise margins.
But knowing where (and where not) to direct time, energy and resource; what to fix and what to kill off, all requires high quality data, from simply asking the right questions, which support making consistently high quality decisions.
Not just long term strategic decisions but tactical, daily decisions.
Smart use of KPIs will provide exactly that.
