Strengthening the Business - Reviewing progress and taking the lessons

Continual progress is very challenging in farming business. Progress is about growth in many ways but it is not necessarily all about growth in the size of the business. Unfortunately progress and growth are often not maintained when the owner would like them to be so. Sometimes the owner is not really in control of the growth or they may be repeating the same old issues that are limiting progress. Let’s discuss one way to help you increase your chances of implementing positive progress.

Whether growth is measured personally, in client numbers, in the value of total transactions, in the value per transaction, or even in the number of fully fed finishing animals run at a high profit (or some other measure), you need to review what has taken place prior to now. The point here is that lessons will be gained whether the results were great or poor. You can then apply these lessons in everything you do from this point forward to create far better and long lasting results.

How do you review? It is very simple and it works best kept this way.

Firstly, look at where you originally wanted to be right now. What were your defined goals? Did you have any defined goals? (That can be a clue right there). How far, high, low, fast or slow did you intend to progress? What did you want to achieve?
Next, define where you are now. What level did you reach? This is usually the easiest part because it is current. Make sure you are brutally honest about it though or the exercise will be worthless.
Thirdly, assess the difference between the current situation and the goal. How close / far away from the goal are you now? Are you right on the mark, a little away from it (high or low) or miles away from it (high or low)? Defining the difference can allow instant recognition of problems and solutions.
Next, define why the current result is as it is. Chances are you will end up in a different place from where you originally intended (high or low) and this presents immediate learning opportunities. In fact asking “why?” means you are willing to be part of the solution. Not asking it or ignoring the difference altogether often means you are part of the problem.
After this, search for the lesson in the exercise. Ask yourself “how can I do this better?” or “how can I ensure I repeat this method” if the result that was far better than expected. Open questions are always a sign of being open to progress. Lack of open questioning usually means lessons will not be gained and the results will continue to be variable.
Make sure you record the lesson somehow so that you can use it again in the future. Don’t just try to remember it as you will forget it during pressure times. Write it down, enter it in a “Lessons” file on your PC, discuss it with trusted people and think about it yourself.
By far the most important step is implementing the lesson! Remember, a lesson isn’t learned until it is put into practice and you improve the outcome. It may be a principle of some kind that can be applied to any situation, or it could be a simple task or series of tasks necessary for achieving a very specific outcome. Either way, put it into practice!

Lessons are always positive and better results can be obtained regardless of whether the reviewed outcomes are positive or negative. Don’t always rely on others giving you the answers. Learn to think for yourself and gain incredible amounts from your own experiences.

As a business owner you have a huge number of experiences from day to day. Don't waste them - make them work for you!