The keys to a successful business don’t just appear – they have to be discovered. But, with so many different things to juggle, burnout is just around the corner, making it difficult to monitor/measure performance and check for problems. You need quick ways to ensure everything is on track – that’s where a Control System can help. And, good news, it’s really simple to implement. 

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Control Systems Can Help You Find the Keys to a Successful Business 🤩

Tell me if this sounds familiar…

You’re juggling a bunch of different tasks while you start and grow your business, you might get the hang of it after a while and start to build some confidence. 

You’re moving between tasks like a hummingbird, thinking the keys to a successful business are well in hand. 

You don’t realize it yet, but you’ve spread yourself so thin that your margin for error has become really small. 

Suddenly, something unexpected comes into view – maybe a new problem pops up, a customer is unhappy, there’s a quality issue, or a piece of equipment needs to be replaced. 

No matter the specifics of the issue, you didn’t plan for it, and it swiftly disrupts the delicate balance you once held. 

Frustrated, you turn your attention to the now urgent fire in front of you. 

But, you were so close to burnout before this happened that you’re definitely not bringing your A-game to creatively solving the problem. 

Meanwhile, you’re laser focused on solving this new problem, but everything else risks crashing down, adding to the stress and pressure you already feel. 

Sound familiar? 

You’re not alone 

Being reactive when problems pop up is a common Growing Pain all new small business owners face. You can learn more about Growing Pains, by the way, in my email courses. 

| COURSES: 4 Amazingly Simple Email Courses For Small Business Owners

Sometimes, we’re so busy juggling that we forget to proactively look for signs of trouble. 

An experience like this might lead to a realization – you need to shift your attention: 

Instead of fire-fighting and wondering what went wrong, you need ways to monitor/measure performance and check for problems in your business proactively – before they get out of hand and disrupt you. 

That’s where a Control System comes in…

Instead of frantically fighting fires when they pop up, a Control System helps you continuously improve over time. 

And, just 1% better every day can be enough to make a serious impact on your business over the long-term – you’ll discover the keys to a successful business in the process. 

Generally, here’s how it works, you will:  

• Establish a Control System to expose the problems in your business
• Experiment with ways to solve the problem
• Repeat the process over time

A Control System is something you should set up proactively – before there’s a problem. That way, when (not if) problems occur, you can: 

• Shift all of your energy to problem-solving, skipping over the hair-on-fire stage and going straight to experimentation and execution. 
• Attempt to account for those problems in the design of your business, preempting problems before they ever appear. 

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The Keys to a Successful Business Are Upstream ⏫

Control Systems will help you see problems in new ways – not just as things to urgently solve today, but as things to account for in the actual design of your business. 

Best-selling author, Dan Heath, explores this idea in his book, Upstream: the Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen. 

You might recognize that name – he’s also the co-author of books like Made to Stick and Switch, with his co-author and brother Chip Heath. 

Throughout the book, he tells incredibly insightful stories of people who have identified a problem and looked for a long-term solution.

For example, to keep more kids safe, you could hire more lifeguards on the beach. But, what if you could teach more kids to swim? 

Heath explains: “So often we find ourselves reacting to problems, putting out fires, dealing with emergencies. We should shift our attention to preventing them.” 

To do that, Heath says, you need to think upstream and consider how to prevent problems from happening in the first place. 

Critically, if you’re learning how to manage a small business successfully, keep in mind that you need to consider both upstream and downstream solutions. 

Let’s look at a few examples…

Issue ⚠️	Downstream ⬇️	Upstream ⬆️
If machinery critical to production breaks down, you might…	Pay for costly repairs (with time and money) or MacGyver your way to a solution.	Engage in regular maintenance to identify warning signs that prevent failure.
If you lose track of a customer order and it is going to be late, you might…	Refund the money or compromise your boundaries to get the order out the door.	Consolidate orders into a source of truth for better visibility and prioritization.
If you forgot to set business income aside for tax time, you might…	Scramble to find the cash, possibly compromising other financial goals.	Keep detailed records of transactions and set money aside quarterly going forward.

Looking downstream, you might need to take immediate action to get back on track or make customers whole because the damage has been done. The impacts are visible. 

Looking upstream, you are trying to prevent future impacts, which requires getting curious, asking questions, and experimenting with new ways of doing things. 

But, there are several barriers to upstream thinking, including: 

• Problem blindness: when you don’t even know there’s a problem
• Lack of ownership: when you don’t see it as your problem to solve
• Tunneling: when you are busy juggling the short-term that you can’t pause to consider the long-term without causing further short-term pain

As business owners, these barriers absolutely apply. 

We’ve already explored the third, so let’s consider the first two problems…

Problem blindness…

Heath explains this well: 

“When we don’t see a problem, we can’t solve it. And that blindness can create passivity even in the face of enormous harm. To move upstream, we must first overcome problem blindness.”

The key, he says, is this: “The seed of improvement is dissatisfaction”

If your business performance indicators are off track, you should be dissatisfied and immediately get curious about how to get back on track. 

Control Systems document how to measure business performance – so if something’s not working, it should be easier to spot. 

And, of course, if you’ve already given your business a financial health check-up, it’ll be easier too. Oh, you haven’t yet? Well, check out my FREE Business Financial Health Checklist then.

| FREE CHECKLIST: You Absolutely Need This Simple Business Financial Health Checklist

Lack of ownership…

There are, of course, going to be surprises and unexpected events you just can’t plan for – things that are outside of your control. 

Thinking upstream is about exploring the challenges that are within your ability to impact or influence. 

For some day-to-day problems, it might be obvious that you are responsible for identifying a solution – especially if you’re a solopreneur without a team or other support. 

But, sometimes, it looks a little more complicated. 

Let’s say you source your materials from a vendor or assemble your product in someone else’s factory and something goes wrong on their side. It’s okay to be frustrated, but you can’t cast blame and leave it there. It’s not productive. 

Your business depends on the problem being solved. So waiting and/or yelling is not an option. 

As the leader of your business, you need to take ownership and work with the vendor to solve the problem, which may even lead to a stronger, more trusting relationship with them. 

Control Systems expose gaps in the effectiveness of your business operations, so that you can continuously improve. But, if you don’t take ownership, the keys to a successful business will remain out of reach. 

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You Need to Know How to Measure Business Performance 🤔

With all of that in mind, let’s walk through how to design an effective Control System. 

Here’s a visual representation of of the process for reference: 

There are 8 critical steps: 

Step 01: Goals

It all starts with naming a specific and measurable goal. You need to be clear about what you’re trying to achieve and how you’ll know if you’re successful. 

Consider questions like: 

• What specific metrics are you trying to change or impact? 
• What’s your goal? What makes this mission critical? 
• What’s the problem? What are you trying to achieve?
• What constraints exist in this situation? How real are those constraints?

| RELATED: 3 Powerful Steps to Setting Clear Financial Goals For A New Business

Step 02: Mindset

Mindset is how you think and feel about what you’re doing. Your thoughts and feelings impact your actions in the moment, which then have a direct impact on your results. 

Your mindset, therefore, has a multiplier effect on your business results – with either positive or negative effects. So, this step is really about bringing awareness to your mindset. 

Consider questions like: 

• What level of commitment do you feel to this goal? 
• What do you need in order to be focused and clear about what you’re doing?
• What doubts might get in the way of achieving these results? 

| RELATED: How to Manage Money in Business Always Starts with a Mindset Boost

Step 03: Behavior

Identify the specific actions you will take to deliver on your goal. Think about your behavior – how will you activate these goals? What’s your plan to achieve the results you want? 

Consider questions like: 

• What do you need to start, stop, or continue to make it happen? 
• What new routines or tactics might be needed? 
• What actions would really excite you?
• What are you making time for? 

Step 04: Results

Name what results and/or progress you expect to see. 

You should give yourself clear, unambiguous expectations: 

• What’s the specific metric you’re going to check?
• How often are you going to check progress? 
• Who’s responsible for checking?
• How does that checking happen? (E.g., tools, reports, a phone call, etc.)

Step 05: Measurement 

Spell out how you’ll measure results and what questions you’ll ask to know if you’re on or off track. 

You might, for example, compare your actual results with your goal and make observations: 

• What progress has been made to date? 
• What’s the trend? Are you moving in the right direction? 

Critically, this step is ongoing and happens routinely before the deadline associated with your goals or business performance indicators. 

You might want a bunch of indicators across multiple aspects of your business: profit, marketing, customer lead time, and more.

| RELATED: How to Find the Keys to Successful Marketing with 3 Metrics

| RELATED: How to Improve Business Performance & Increase Profit with 2 Key Metrics

Step 06: Deadline

Name a deadline to hold yourself accountable – don’t let the goal drag on forever. 

Now, get busy – keeping step 7 and 8 in mind…

Step 07: Reinforce or Change Behavior

If you are within the goal period and/or before the deadline you set for yourself, use this as an opportunity to reflect on the results to date. Did you hit your goal yet (yes or no)? 

• If yes, what might you want to reinforce or keep doing so that you can exceed your goal? What did you learn? How did you create the results you wanted? If you were to raise the bar, what would it look like?
• If not, what might you need to change so that you can get closer to your goal? What would motivate you to change? What did you learn?

If you need support and guidance on how to change your behavior to better set yourself up for success, well, have you ever considered working 1:1 with a small business coach? That’s kind of my jam.

| 1:1 COACHING: Learn More or Book a FREE Discovery Call Today

Step 08: Retrospective

If the goal period has ended and/or you are at or past the deadline you set for yourself, it’s time to evaluate your results. Did you hit your goal (yes or no)? 

• If yes, how might you reward yourself? And, what might you need to institutionalize to ensure you can repeat these results? What’s going to be true going forward? What did you learn?
• If not, what might you need to start, stop, or continue to get closer to achieving your goal next time? What might help you navigate this terrain? What did you learn? What’s the real challenge?

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Uncover the Keys to a Successful Business – Start Here 🤓

It’s going to take time to learn how to manage a small business successfully – because growing pains are normal, inevitable, and a regular part of starting and growing a business. 

But, by monitoring the health of your business with a Control System, you’ll be better equipped to navigate growth because you’ll expose gaps and problems in your business proactively.

Remember, the keys to a successful business don’t just appear – they have to be discovered through continuous improvement of your business model.  

Stating the obvious, there are two skills that underpin this entire thing: discipline and execution. 

If those are skills you’re interested in strengthening, you might want to explore my workbook to practice essential skills and habits so you can run your business effectively.

| WORKBOOK: How to Run a Business Successfully with These 3 Essential Entrepreneurial Skills