12 proven questions to actually improve business performance

You want to improve your business. Formally this is referred to as Business Performance Management. Perhaps you need new customers or a better experience for the existing ones. But where do you start? There's so much going on in any business, from finding talent and customers to ensuring the account numbers all add up. Entrepreneurs, both new founders or seasoned executives, can get lost in the never-ending demands.

How do you get some perspective on your business and its performance?

We all need a simple approach like a health check or a quick scan. Good news. I will outline a simple approach that I have used many times, and they will quickly and practically reveal how this business is going, and you can improve its performance.

Approach No.1 The Four P's

Let's look at your business from a hyper practical perspective. Let's break down the company into four universal parts that will be handy for a tech startup or a traditional business that's working just fine without the splashiness of Silicon Valley

You can divide a business into four essential areas;

  1. Product: the product, services or things your sell to customers

  2. People: the staff and partners you require to offer your product

  3. Profit: the things you measure and a subsequent net margin

  4. Promotion: how present your business and sell to your customers

It would be best to allocate your different business activities into these four other areas. This arranging is essential because we will isolate specific parts of people's work to evaluate performance.

Here are some examples of business activities divided into the Four P's;

  1. Product

    1. Solving the customer's problem and relieving pains

    2. Creating meaningful benefits for the customer's problem and creating gains

    3. Making a list of new ideas in a product backlog

  2. People:

    1. Creating roles and identifying talent

    2. Recruiting and onboarding employees

    3. Growing and promoting current team

  3. Profit:

    1. Measuring Net Profit/Income

    2. Operating Cash Flow

    3. Accounts Receivable Aging

  4. Promotion:

    1. Creating a unique brand

    2. Attracting new customers

    3. Referrals from existing customers

Four P's Evaulation Questions 

12 Challenging questions to reveal opportunities to improve your business performance;

  1. Product:

    1. In the last 30 days, have you validated that you are solving the customer's problem via an in-person session?

    2. In the last 30 days, have you validated that your offering is freeing up the customer to higher priorities? Is your value proposition like 'magic' in the customer's eyes? Did you receive this feedback via an in-person session?

    3. When was the last time you edited your ideas for future products?

      Here’s a great book on Amazon if you want to explore how to improve your products and services: Lean StartUp by Eric Ries


  2. People:

    1. Do you have a well-written job description of the next role you want to hire?

    2. Have you created a step by step list of the employee hiring journey?

    3. Do your employees understand how their performing against expectations? If we asked an employee and their manager for an employee performance score out of ten, would they have the same number?

      Here’s a great book on Amazon if you want to explore how to improve your team performance: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patric Lencioni.

  3. Profit:

    1. Do you have enough net income to make growth and future investments?

    2. Do we have a ratio of 2:1 for working capital?

    3. Is your average for Accounts Receivable Aging lower than Accounts Payable Aging?

      Here’s a great book on Amazon if you want to explore how to improve your margins: Lean Analytics by Kroll and Yoskovitz.

  4. Promotion:

    1. Does your business generate organic sales leads?

    2. Does your business close enough sales leads?

    3. Does your business generate referrals from existing customers?

      Here’s a great book on Amazon if you want to explore how to improve your products and services: Crushing It! by Gary Vaynerchuck.

As you answer the questions, be brutally honest. The questions should make you uncomfortable. Embrace it! The whole point here is to reveal areas of opportunity in your business. Examine your answers and follow up on topics you could not honestly answer "yes" to.

If you're interested in going deeper on some of these topics, here are four episodes from the Moonshots Podcast that will 

  1. Product

    1. Eric Ries and the Lean Startup

  2. People:

    1. Patric Lencioni and the Five Dysfunctions of a Team

  3. Profit:

    1. The Millionaire Next Door, William D. Danko

  4. Promotion:

    1. Gary Vaynerchuk

Mike Parsons

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