Even within the hustle and bustle of Corporate America, there’s time for self-reflection.
Assessing your current situation can help you identify key strengths and weaknesses, as well as what to do to improve them both.
It can help you make adjustments to the way things are right now and aim for an even more successful future.
However, these assessments shouldn’t be taken lightly. It’s not as simple as asking yourself a few biased questions that you know the answer to. It’s about diving deeper to find new things to work on.
Here’s how to evaluate a business and what factors should play a big role in your self-assessment.
1. What’s the Potential?
One of the most essential questions to ask yourself is the potential of the business that you’re running.
Potential can always change based on the adjustments that you make down the line. But take a hard look in the mirror for a moment… In the current state that your company is in, what is it’s potential?
If the future looks bleak or hard to envision, that’s okay! It’s the entire reason you’re doing this evaluation.
After you’ve seen the potential of your current business model, compare it to the end result you’re hoping to have. Comparing the differences and similarities will help you see what changes need to be made.
2. Study the Sales Patterns
Every company’s sales can be defined down to a pattern or trend that helps it flourish.
The best sales patterns are those that are heavily-diversified with both new business and consumer loyalty (repeating customers). This shows the ability of your sales team and should be identified as a strength.
However, there are also some sales patterns that are too reliant on one major client.
While there’s nothing wrong with that, and it isn’t necessarily a “weakness”, it should be chalked up as something that needs improvement.
3. Analyze the Marketing
Now that you’ve taken a look at the sales results, it’s time to take a glance at what starts those sales: the marketing strategy.
What are the current ways your business is marketing its products? Are there any marketing avenues, such as Google Adwords, that you’d like to integrate? How are the sales conversions off such campaigns?
Take a look at how your marketing stack up against the competition. If they’re having more success, find out what you’re marketing campaigns are lacking.
4. Key Performance Indicators
One of the most essential ways to keep up with your business’s performance is by integrating key performance indicators.
These clever tools will help you keep up with the success in your business endeavors by measuring factors such as conversion and revenue.
Create new KPIs to keep up with both new and old goals you’ll have after the self-assessment is finished.
5. Look at the Products
Now that you’ve seen the marketing campaigns and the sales results of those campaigns, it’s time to look at the product(s) that you have.
Are they filling the needs of your customers to their max potential? Are there new needs that have popped up among your clients that the product can’t fill?
Truth is, your product may be on its way out from relevancy and there’s no longer a need for it. It may be time to say goodbye and put it on the shelf until clients need it once again.
6. The Marketplace
If all checks out with your products and you’ve seen the results you’re having with sales of said products, then take a glance at the marketplace.
What is the level of competition in your industry? What is the market share among you and your competitors?
Be honest with yourself. Flattering yourself won’t do any good here. Having a firm understanding of where your company lies on the food chain will light a fire in you to do more.
7. Employees
A key component to the potential and future success of your company is the in-house talent you have to run your business.
Is there a lot of turnover in your business? Are your employees happy and proud to work for your brand? Ask them what recommendations they have for you to consider.
They’re the eyes and ears of your operations. Don’t take anything they say for granted!
8. Benefits
A company is only as good as how much it cares for its employees. If you don’t think it’s your job to make sure your workers’ futures are secure… you’re dead wrong.
Take a look at the benefits you offer your employees. Are they doing more harm than good? Are they serving their purpose? Is there a benefit the employees would want you to offer for them?
This plays a huge role in their job satisfaction. It ups the level of employee engagement and thus ups their productivity on a daily basis.
9. Essential Personnel
Now that you’ve taken a hard look at your employees and their job satisfaction, you need to take a closer look at those that are vital to your operations.
If you’ve seen tremendous growth in certain aspects of your business, which employees are majorly responsible for that? Long story short: You can’t let the competition take them from you.
Sit them all down, show them your appreciation and express your interest in giving them more responsibility and more compensation for their efforts.
10. Equipment
Last but not least is the equipment that your business uses each workday. You’ll want to make sure the tools you give your employees are streamlining their process as much as possible.
Take the time to research all the equipment that your departments use. Are there any recommendations they’d make on new equipment?
Getting them set up with the best in the business will lead to more success in the near future.
How to Evaluate a Business: Leave the Bias at the Door
When considering how to evaluate a business you need to remember it’s not a time to be prideful.
Keep your eyes and ears open to the results you find and what your employees are telling you.
Be sure to read several of our other articles that cover topics such as this one and others just like it.
