3 Must-Have Metrics Every Entrepreneur Needs to Measure Success by @WSRapport

by Karima Mariama-Arthur, Esq. | Featured Contributor

When you’re your own boss, it can be easy to fall short of your own expectations. When no one else is keeping you accountable, having an internal sense of urgency and taking serial responsibility for outcomes are paramount, but often absent from the success equation.

The million dollar question: Why won’t you hold yourself accountable?

Here’s the thing. Most people have the best of intentions. But intentions don’t garner results. Taking decisive action is the precursor to creating desired outcomes.

Here are three must-have metrics that will help you prime your entrepreneurial pump:

1. Investment.

Have you done the work? Every entrepreneur wants results, but too often we aren’t willing to work smart for them, as Chris Leavitt star of ‘Million Dollar Listing Miami’ brilliantly teaches. You can’t legitimately be disappointed by your lack of results if you haven’t made fundamental investments. Not squandering time and proactively investing in yourself, business and overall success on a daily basis—are all necessary if you want to reach critical benchmarks and take your success to the next level. How will you make your investment? It may mean overhauling your mindset: Staying up later and getting up earlier than everyone else, or investing additional time and resources in core competencies, professional development, marketing and the pursuit of high-visibility/high-exposure opportunities ad nauseam. The point is that you have to decide whether you’re willing to pay the price for your success. Reach outside of your comfort zone and decide how you will strategically invest in yourself, business and overall success. Then, execute.

2. Return on Investment.

So you’ve done the work. But, what do you have to show for it? Equally as important as making the investment, is measuring it. Capturing a return on your investment is what keeps entrepreneurs motivated and focused on doing more and better. Are you measuring yours? If so, how are you measuring it? Are you gaining new clients based on increased visibility and marketing efforts? Did you land a new consulting contract after your last corporate speaking gig? Are you getting call backs from the myriad of RFPs you submitted? Or, have you increased your expertise based on recent professional development sessions? However you’ve chosen to invest, make sure that you can see and feel the impact of your investment—else how can you promote forward progress and determine where you need to make necessary tweaks?

3. Blind spot discovery.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “You don’t know what you don’t know?” Perhaps that is true—to some degree. However, how do you discover blind spots (those areas there your performance is less than stellar) as an entrepreneur? With potentially no one else there to point them out, it might be a stretch. However, discovering and improving blind spots is one of the fastest ways to advance your platform as an entrepreneur. Further, as you become stronger in one area, another blind spot usually emerges. It’s kind of funny how that works out. So, here’s how to pull back the shades and reach for the success metric:

1. Get a mentor. Ask them to assess your strong suits as well as blind spots. Ask for advice on how to improve weaker areas and implement.
2. Watch and learn from the pros. Who are the experts doing a bang-up job in your field? Are they doing key things that you are not? If so, take a page from their playbook and up the ante. After all, why reinvent the wheel if you don’t have to? Then, revisit point one and two. Assess your investment and your ROI.
3. Hire a coach. This option will obviously mean putting your money where your mouth is, but it can also mean the difference between success and failure. Hiring an expert to teach you the ropes and hold your feet to the fire can be one of the best investments you ever make in business.

Every entrepreneur can improve the law of averages by using these must-have metrics to measure and advance their overall success.

To your success!

Photo Credit: Simon Howden via FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

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Karima Mariama-Arthur, Esq. – Expert Facilitator and Professional Development Consultant –Washington, DC

Founder and CEO, WordSmithRapport

As the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of WordSmithRapport™, Karima brings more than two decades of comprehensive, blue chip experience in law, business, and academia to the field of professional development. A leading authority in cutting-edge adult education and professional development, Karima is distinguished by her commitment to excellence and extraordinary talent for elevating executive brands. As an expert facilitator, executive communications consultant, and strategic leadership advisor, she trains, coaches, and consults individuals and organizations on the dynamics of complex communication and high performance leadership competence.

Karima is a Distinguished Toastmaster, United States Senate and a Corporate Speaker, certified by the International Association of corporate speakers.

Karima is the author of Get out of Your Way & Stop Sabotaging Your Success and the highly anticipated Boardroom Talking Points: A Guide to Polished Communication for Executives. A regular contributor to numerous high-profile media outlets, she has clarified the discussion on professional development as a leadership imperative. Karima is also featured on She Source, an online braintrust of female experts on diverse topics designed to serve journalists, producers, and booking agents who seek female guests and sources.

A Cornell Fellow and graduate of the University of California, Davis, and Roger Williams University School of Law, Karima enjoys helping young adults to increase self-confidence through communication and leadership excellence when not coaching executives.

Follow Karima on Twitter: @wsrapport or visit her Website, WordSmithRapport.com.

Karima Mariama-Arthur