Keeping Yourself Accountable

I get the SFS email from Toburen, in this months email he talks about holding yourself accountable to your business growth and success. It caused me to remember my our goals we set in 2011. So I'll share them with you guys and try to level the time of implementation.

I would suggest that when you set out to making these goals, plan a nice trip that will be relaxing and rewarding for all your hard work and stimulate an environment to be creative and constructive for your future growth plan. When we set these goals that I will share, we went on a four day in cruse in September 2011, and planned to set short term goals. Here they are.

* Implement Quick Books
Achieved at the start of the upcoming new year 2012

* Pay off first cleaning van
Paid off September 2013 (would have been paid off sooner, but realized we were being penalized in taxes for this effort)

* Hire technician in training (2 days a week)
This is a reasonable strategy for someone who has never been an employer. Having employees is a serious addition anyone will consider. You shouldn't start this type of venture if your not serious a but supporting and committing to the employee and their employment. This was implemented February 2012. This position quickly evolved into a full time position.

* Purchase Second Cleaning Van. New/Used. Train technician to run solo 2/3 days a week.
This was an extreme overtaking. Don't fool yourself and think you can make it here in 6 months. It takes time. We went through two employees before finding one for 8 months to do again. Now we have a wonderful employee that we are extremely proud of. It took a full year to get to this point. Remember at this point we ALL are learning. This was implemented November 2012.

* Pick up a more Commercial accounts.
This is a growth in progress goal. We looked are our potential and strengths. We matched those with an achievable goal that could be reached over a short period. We meet that goal over the past two years.

* Buy a dehumidifier.
We are in the sample stage of water remediation. This works takes some collective support. So far things are moving in a good direction.

* Implement client review program online.
This was implemented ASAP and is an ongoing goal and has done extremely well.

We have scheduled our next Goal planning event for thus year and will make a new list of shirt term goals. This is an exciting trip for us and we bounce ideas off each other and finalize them before we return home. This is a trip that will pay for itself in more than one way.

I hope you guys are taking the time to sharpen the saw. ( Stephen R. Covey 7 Habits). How do you "Keep yourself accountable"?

Excellent post Ryan. It just shows how important identifying and achieving goals is to a business and it sounds like you made great strides in achieving them.

How was the learning curve with QuickBooks?

Very easy. I would suggest that it be done at the beginning of the year. It's so great to track all your info. I was able to pull up what we produced in red stain treatments in a particular month. I print out each months productions and compare to last years. It's is wonderful!

Being an avid list maker, I like what you are doing. It is very clean and simple, yet very effective. Sometimes it is very easy to get over-whelmed by making too much of a list, but you are on the mark.

As my old track coach used to say, "You can't drive to Dallas without a map, and you can't achieve your goals without one either".

7 Goals in two years, that's it. Maybe I'll call it 7 in 2.  

So as we approach the new year....what goals are you setting to achieve in 2014.

1. More Time off With My Family. Which means more responsibility for our Technician.
2. Develop our Bio-hazard division.
3. Build more commercial relationships.

Just a start to the next few weeks of planning.

Ryan S wrote:So as we approach the new year....what goals are you setting to achieve in 2014.

1. More Time off With My Family. Which means more responsibility for our Technician.
2.  Develop our Bio-hazard division.
3.  Build more commercial relationships.

Just a start to the next few weeks of planning.

I failed to acheive a few goals last year and plan on carrying some of them (2nd van) over into 2014. Unlike you, I am actually trying to reduce the services down to a select few and then hone them to a fine luster. I left bio-hazard due to disposal costs and regulations, radon work due to shifting housing markets, meth lab cleanings due to insurance costs, and will probably walk away from flood work as well due to the aggravation of insurance companies.

I have my eye on invading a new territory with a new approach which includes trying to incorporate the ozone water with a true "healthy cleaning" initiative. Instead of competing with the others apples to apples, I want to set myself off as being a competely different animal. With luck, I will find the right niche in the right territory to make for a great year.  

start my goals off

ski more this winter

golf more this summer

Get to Hawaii at least twice next year

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haha nice, I have a couple stand up paddle boards... love those things in the summer I fish off of the bigger one sometimes

Ok I'll make it official. I want to be like terry when I grow up.

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How you guys doing on your 2014 goals? Have you made some, have you check a few off the list?

Ryan S wrote:Ok I'll make it official. I want to be like terry when I grow up.

I didn't know T grew up yet? Seems like a big kid to me....I want to be like the big kid someday.