First Quarter Assessment of Your Business

Today is the last day in the first quarter of 2007 - can you believe it? Whether you are a small business owner, entrepreneur, or a self-employed professional, the business you own needs a candid assessment of the first 90 days of this year. (Some of you may not use the calendar year as your business year, so July 1 - June 30 may actually be the calendar you use. If this is the case with your business, you are ending your 3rd quarter today - and still need to candidly assess your business.)

Here are the questions that I think are extremely useful in assessing your business at the end of each quarter:

1. How much money came in? List the total receipts for the quarter.
2. How much did the business cost you this quarter? List all costs assoiciated with the business for the quarter.
3. What was the profit or loss for the quarter? Basically, the difference in the receipts and the costs give you the profit or the loss.
4. What were your targets or goals for the quarter - and how successful were you at meeting or exceeding them?
5. What were the challenges? What were the results of the challenges?
6. What are the targets or goals for the next 90 days? Use a format for writing SMART goals: specific, measureable, attainable, realistic, with a definite timeframe or time line.
7. What do you need to do or have more of next quarter?
8. What do you need to do or have less of next quarter?
9. How will you market your business next quarter based on the marketing results of this quarter?
10. What is still outstanding or hasn't been handled - debts, receipts, etc. - and what is your plan for addressing all that still needs to come in?
11. What have you learned this quarter about your business, your colleagues, clients or customers?
12. What have you learned about yourself?

These 12 questions provide a very simplistic way to find out how you're doing in your business. The candid answers to these 12 questions can mean the difference between major growth and failure.