Review business regularly to keep track of progress

In a Jua-kali economy, it is not enough to work smart. In the words of the advertisers, you have to work smartest.

A major component of working smart is having an understanding of where you have come from and more importantly, where you are going. This is the reason for review in business.

Progress review is part of human nature. We like to be told we are doing well. The same goes for business.

Review in business encompasses measurement, monitoring and evaluation.

Measurement seeks to know how far we have come and the amount of work that remains undone. Monitoring seeks to establish if we are on the right path, if the policies and objectives set are being pursued.

Finally, evaluation comes at the end to establish if the objectives, deliverables and targets were met.

Essentially, your business should have a vision on where you want to be to be in ten years.

From that vision, you get small objectives to be met monthly, quarterly or annually called deliverables or targets.

The targets can be in form of sales figures, capital growth, asset acquisition, customer satisfaction levels or market niche. From the deliverables, the business should have mechanisms to measure its success. How can you do this?

First, make sure you have a constant flow of information from the day-to-day running of the business that is given to all parties involved in ensuring targets are met.

Secondly, make sure each player has a role and a set of deliverables. From these, you can check the contribution frequently and asses their significance to the business.

Thirdly, never underestimate the power of feedback.

Your clients, suppliers and other stakeholders have a clearer idea of where the business is because they deal with it from a third party perspective.

Give them an opportunity to communicate with you on your progress.

Finally, the business manager should sit down periodically, peruse through the reports and management information and assess the performance of each business unit against the deliverables in that business period.