Your 2020 Mid-Year Progress Report
By Kevin Lemasters, Agora Strategic Advisor
With the COVID-19 issue this year, I have heard a lot of people share how SLOW they feel this year is moving along. April must have had at least 48 days this year, right? Well, here we are approaching mid-year, and what a different year it has proven to be.
Whether it’s been good or bad up until now, it is a great time to sit down and assess your progress for 2020. Did you start the year with some goals and objectives? I certainly hope so. Over the years, there have been numerous times I sat here in June looking at how far off I was from obtaining my goals for the year. If you are a small business, you don’t have to live or die by the goals you set for yourself back in 2019 for this year.
If this year has taught us anything, it is that we have zero control over what can happen in life or business. For over 20 years, I’ve had a 95% success rate in forecasting my revenues and profits in my industry. But this year, all of that experience goes out the window. Now is the time to sit down and reevaluate and adjust.
First, we need to assess where we really are year to date. How have you done in regards to taking care of your people? Both your team members as well as your customers. What about the numbers? Hopefully you have some KPIs that are tracked regularly. Take a look at all of the things that you measure and factor your success upon. Set time aside and get this done ASAP.
Secondly, adjust. Look at where you are in comparison to where you thought you would be. If you are someone who tracks your data, you have an idea of where you are off. Take the time to see what changes you need to make to your goals and objectives for the year. Numbers aren’t written in stone. Making changes to your future goals can help re-energize you and your team to focus on the adjusted goals and feel confident that success is in reach again.
