Monitoring Your Progress

A well-written business plan defines the goals and objectives that you wish to achieve over the next few years in specific, quantifiable, terms. It may project a certain level of sales by a given date, the acquisition of a certain number of clients, or any of a number of other objective measures of success. Whatever the conditions that spell success, you'll want to watch your progress toward those goals over time. If you're on track, great! If not, you're in a position to take steps to get back on track before it's too late.

The process of monitoring your business's performance can be relatively painless. Here are the issues to consider:

• Which aspects of your business's performance should you look at and what information will best establish how you're doing?
• How will you gather, compile, and analyze performance information?
• How often should you look?