Launching a business is a feat unto itself. It takes time, focus, and every resource you can get your hands on to get a product or idea into the marketplace. But the hard work isn’t over. In fact, the hard work is really just getting started. That’s probably why most small businesses fail within their first three years.
It’s one (incredible) thing to launch a business, but it’s another thing entirely to sustain that business for five, 10, or 20 years.
Here’s what you need to sustain, scale, and grow:
Values
Scott Harrison of charity:water, a nonprofit that’s been in business for more than 12 years, said on The Launch Youniversity Podcast that writing out your values is something that can happen as early as day one. Your values will be your guide on how to hire, fire, and map out your business.
Read more: How to Find Your Values
Culture
Get crystal clear about the culture you’re trying to create. What kinds of people do you need on your team? What environment do you want to work in? What will Monday mornings feel like?
Plan to Pivot
Not unlike Friends’ Ross Geller trying to get a sofa up winding stairs, your business model will have to evolve if you want to survive. What works today isn’t necessarily what will work years from now. Don’t believe us? Ask Blockbuster or Kodak.
Track the Right Metrics
If you’re not a business data guru, analytics can be overwhelming. Since business owners often don’t know where to start, they track the metrics they can easily see, like social media likes and follows. There’s nothing wrong with Facebook or Instagram metrics, but is that where you’re seeing your highest customer conversion? Here’s how to find the most important metric for your business.
Replicate What You Admire
Business owners put a lot of pressure on themselves to do something that’s never been done before. Innovation is important for sustainability, but it’s okay to notice what’s working well for other companies around you. And we don’t mean just your direct competitors in your own town — look at the big businesses you admire and see what they’re doing to evolve. If you’re a nonprofit, instead of asking people to donate each month… you could roll out a Netflix-like subscription service.
If your business is in it for the long haul, expect challenges and changes. But with the right culture, values, and evolving business plans, you’ll be set up to throw your 10th-anniversary party in no time.
metrics
The Most Important Metric for Your Business
Your business or product has launched. Congratulations!
Now, it’s time to focus on analytics. Sigh.
If you’re not someone who has professional training in analytics, trying to make sense of the numbers running across your metrics dashboard probably feels like reading Greek. Every marketer and business owner has been there.
Analytics can be overwhelming, especially for launchers and entrepreneurs who often prefer dreaming and doing over details. But, if you’re reading this blog, then you know as much as we do that analytics are too important to be ignored.
But when you don’t know how to find the story through the datasets and numbers, where do you start? How do you figure out what’s important? What should you be tracking first?
This, unfortunately, is where most people get it wrong.
They start with what they can see: Facebook fans, blog traffic, Twitter and Instagram followers, email subscribers…the list goes on. All of those metrics are good and important, but it doesn’t mean they’re the most important.
So how do you find the most important? Start with the cash and work your way back.
Revenue is the lifeblood of your business, so your number one metric will always be cash and profit. From cash and profit, step back. What does your customer do before completing their purchase?
This could be lots of things.
If your business is online, then they probably need to add a product to their shopping cart and go through the checkout process. In that case, the next important metric would be analyzing all the data around your shopping cart and checkout. You’ll begin asking: How many cart abandons were there last week? What’s the length of time a product sits in a customer’s cart before buying? Are there any drop-offs mid checkout? Why?
If your product or business is done through a brick and mortar store, the next important metric for you might be foot traffic into the shop. How are people finding it? What is bringing them inside for the first time? What’s keeping them from entering the store? What challenges do they face getting there, such as open hours, traffic, parking, etc.?
Start with the cash and work your way back.
Once you have a handle on your shopping cart or foot traffic metrics, take another step back. Now, perhaps, you’re looking at your website display and email newsletters, or Yelp reviews and Instagram location tags.
Eventually, you’ll work your way further and further back into all the data you have available. And when you get there, it won’t look like Greek. You’ll have connected every dot along the way. You’ll understand what the numbers mean, you’ll develop and refine your instincts on metric trends, and—most importantly—you’ll be able to leverage the data to do more dreaming and doing.