I'd just like to thank…

Picture the scene. Its five years into the future. You are at a black tie event with everyone dressed in his or her best outfits. The head of the local Chamber of Commerce has just read your company's name out as being the winner of the best small business in your area. You walk up to accept your award and think back over everything that has happened in the last five years.

What was it about your business that led the judges to award you the prize? How did you get your company out of the rut that it was in five years ago? Who were the people that you worked with in that time that have contributed to your success?

OK, reality check. Not everyone can win awards and not everyone wants to. Most people have their own personal objective that could be more to do with quality of life or financial rewards than prizes in business competitions. How are you getting on achieving these objectives? Will you be where you want to be in five years time?

If your objectives are financial then a good start should be reliable and relevant management information. If you have no other methods of measuring performance then using your monthly management accounts as the basis for discussion will be your best start-point. Accounts will help you understand the key performance indicators that make your business tick.

It is well known that there are only four ways to grow a business:

• Increase the number of good customers
• Increase the transaction frequency
• Increase the average transaction value
• Improve your business processes and the efficiency of your people

If you are going to achieve the five-year goals that you have set yourself, focusing on these areas must be a fundamental part of your plans. Each of the above points should lead you to ask certain questions of yourself. What defines a good customer (to you)? Can we increase our product range to encourage people to buy more often? Can we stretch our services or products so that customers buy more added value items?

These questions are the tip of the iceberg but they are a start. Once you begin this process who knows where it will end? A trip to get measured for a dinner jacket perhaps?