If you’re looking to grow your business, you may well be considering drawing up a 90-day strategy or marketing plan, so this month’s blog is all about how to set KPIs for a 90-day plan which help you to actually measure progress.

It’s very easy to feel like your business is making steps forward when in reality it’s just that things are operationally busy. Full diaries, endless to do lists and lots of activity can make us feel like everything is going well, but there may actually be very little measurable progress.

I meet plenty of business owners who work flat out but cannot clearly explain what has improved; there is a big difference between activity and outcomes, and this is where Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) come in.

Read on to find a more practical approach to setting goals and find out my top tips for coming up with KPIs for a 90-day plan.

Why being busy is not the same as growing

It can be easy to assume that more activity will always lead to better results – and I’ve worked with lots of small business owners who confuse effort with impact.

This is why it’s crucial to focus on good Key Performance Indicators to help measure your activity, and why I’d love to help you to select the best KPIs for a 90-day plan.

There’s a big difference between activity metrics, such as social media posts published, meetings attended or hours worked, and outcome metrics like the generation of qualified leads, improved profit margins and increased customer retention.

Of course, those activity metrics still have value, but only when they’re connected to a business objective. You need to measure what your activity achieves, not simply how much activity takes place.

For example, increasing your social media output alone isn’t a good indicator of performance, but improving your social media engagement in a way that leads your followers towards a deal or promotion which increases sales, is.

What is a KPI?

We’re looking at setting KPIs for a 90-day plan, but you may be wondering what a KPI even is.

KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator. It’s a measurable figure that tells you how well your business is performing against a specific goal.

In simple terms, a KPI helps you answer the question, ‘am I making progress towards what I want to achieve?’.

For example, if an aim of your small business is to increase sales, a KPI to measure this would be monthly sales revenue, as this creates a metric by which you can quantify how well you’re achieving your aim.

Sometimes they’re easy to think about, for example, if a goal for your business is to improve profitability, the KPI would be your gross profit margin. But it can be trickier too, and more nuanced – if your aim is to free up more of your time, the KPI becomes more like tracking how many hours you’re spending in the business vs on the business.

So, now that we’re clear on what exactly a KPI is, how can you go about starting to set yours?

Start with the outcome, not the KPI

If you want to set KPIs for a 90-day plan, you need to know how to identify the right measures before you set any targets.

KPIs should follow your business priorities, not the other way around.

My advice to you is to identify one to three priorities for your business that you’d like to achieve in the next 90 days.

This could be anything from adjusting your own workload to retaining a higher proportion of customers.

What would success look like for you at the end of the next three months?

If only one thing improved in your business over the next 90 days, what would make the biggest positive difference?

I spend a lot of time telling my clients to focus their efforts on the changes that matter most – too many priorities dilute your attention and spread the net too wide, which in turn makes accountability harder. It’s best to be as specific as you can be, so that it’s easier to track your progress.

Turn your KPIs into realistic 90-day targets

Now that you’ve chosen your metrics, it’s time to turn them into meaningful targets.

This may feel like a bit of a shot in the dark, but a good starting point is to establish a baseline which is based upon your company’s current performance, rather than pure guesswork.

Key elements of the best KPIs for a 90-day plan would be:

  • Setting a specific target and deadline for each KPI.
  • Making sure the target is ambitious enough to encourage progress, whilst being realistic given the resources available to you as well as market conditions.
  • Identifying what action can be taken to influence each measure.

For example, the vague goal of ‘improve sales’ could be turned into a trackable KPI such as ‘increase monthly qualified lead conversion rate from 15% to 20% within 90 days’.

This KPI includes a specific target, a deadline, an idea of the base level already operated from, and how the target can be achieved.

Without a baseline, your target is difficult to assess, whilst a goal without an action plan is merely an aspiration.

But it’s also about striking a balance – growth targets should be ambitious enough to stretch the business, without encouraging unsustainable workloads, poor-quality service or decisions which damage profitability.

Get in contact to talk about how you can set KPIs for a 90-day plan with your business

If you’re ready to make the next 90 days count, then you’re in the right place. I’ve worked with countless small business owners who have been in your shoes, and with my help they’ve been able to see meaningful outcomes rather than just staying busy.

If you’d like help turning your business ambitions into a focused, achievable growth plan then get in contact via my website to book a call where we can help set your KPIs for a 90-day plan and get the ball rolling achieve your goals!