While all business owners want to earn as much profit as possible, they aren’t always sure of the best and smartest ways to do so. Perhaps you can relate to having a strong desire to create profitable business goals for your company but only a vague idea on how to set and execute them? Chicagoland CPAs works with small business owners and corporation owners every day. Below are some actionable tips that you can implement right away to improve your bottom line.
Start by Agreeing on Quarterly Outcomes for Your Business
As a business owner, you may think that your leadership team agrees with you on what the company is trying to accomplish. However, you shouldn’t feel too surprised if you ask five people in upper management what the most pressing outcomes are for each quarter and receive five different answers. This is a good time to sit down with your leadership team and hear what each person has to say. The objective is to come up with a list of three to five profitable business goals per quarter that the entire team can get excited about and work hard to achieve.
Make One Person Accountable for Each Goal
Although businesses set profitability goals all the time, few actually achieve them. The more people involved in working towards the goals, the less likely the business is to see a positive outcome. That is because people pass the responsibility off to someone else and no one wants to accept personal accountability for meeting company goals. It’s crucial to avoid this outcome from the start by clearly identifying the goal and the person responsible for meeting it. Assigning one person a few tasks is better than assigning an entire group several tasks with no idea who is doing what.
Review Progress Often
A weekly check-in and a monthly status update meeting can go a long way towards ensuring that the management team is making progress towards the agreed-upon quarterly outcomes. While the monthly status updates should take place in person, it would be more efficient to complete the brief weekly check-in online using a software or cloud program that allows working teams to collaborate. Ensure efficiency at the monthly meeting by establishing an agenda and allowing each person a set amount of time to provide an update.
Practice Transparency with Tracking Goal Progress
Tracking progress on paper probably means that the report will sit unread on more than one person’s desk. Reporting progress openly ensures accountability and allows others who are not directly involved in the process an opportunity to show their support. A whiteboard updated weekly is an old-fashioned business strategy but it’s still a good one.
Schedule a Consultation with Chicagoland CPAs
These are just four business goal strategies you might consider implementing at your company. We also invite you to schedule an appointment with Chicagoland CPAs to discuss other possibilities to improve the profit margin of your business. We have served the financial needs of individuals and business owners in Chicago and the surrounding communities for 25 years and look forward to helping to ignite your company’s finances
