Performance Reviews for the Solopreneur (Part 2)

Performance Reviews for the Solopreneur (Part 2)

09 09 11, 2:10 pm
Filed under: Business Related, Resources

Assessing Your Performance

You are your business.

As solopreneurs, your biggest strengths and weaknesses are highlighted and amplified through your businesses.

The most incredible part of your business?  Everything that happens is dictated by and catalyzed through you. Did I also mention this can be the most overwhelming part, too?

It’s important to be able to recognize where are you making the most difference in your business and where are you holding your business back.  And while I have never met a solopreneur who wasn’t analyzing their business and gauging next steps, they are often caught in the cycle of working “in” the business versus finding time to work “on” it.

Aside from general Year End Review questions, I challenge you to get a bit more specific with your business in this performance review.

Here are two different lenses you can use to look at your business to see what possibilities and threats exist as you move closer to your goals.

Leveraging 1-2 hours per quarter in performance reviews gives solopreneurs the opportunity for you to create a clear path for yourself and your business, helping along those results we wish for in our work and lives.

E-Myth Lens: The Manager, The Technician, and The Entrepreneur

Michael Gerber describes each entrepreneur as wearing these three hats.  The Technician does the actual work.  The Manager manages the flow of work.  And, the Entrepreneur is the visionary leader, guiding the company forward.

• In which role do you spend most of your time?
• Why do you spend most of your time there (e.g. you love that role, are good at that type of work, your avoiding the other areas)?
• Do you have other people covering the less attended to roles?
• Which role do you need help developing?
• What is your plan to address your gaps?

Jen Spencer Coaches Lens:
Operations*, Marketing, Sales, Customer Service + Relations
*can include finance

Through the consulting work I do, these are the pillars of a working business – areas that work together to bring your product(s) and service(s) to life and to your consumer.  Look at each of these areas and figure out how they connect to each other in your business. I’ve included a list of questions below to get you started…

• How do each of these areas operate independently?  How do they communicate with one another?
• Are you doing a great job with marketing but having issues converting that to sales?
• Does the flow of work make sense in terms of how you manage projects and how deliverables are met?
• Are you customers happy with the product you produce?  How could you improve their experience?

In both the E-Myth and JSC lenses, I recommend wrapping up your insights into a visual, showing how each role relates to one another.

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