Saturday 21 January 2012
Tuesday 10 January 2012
Just Like The Books Say!
2011 was a very exciting year for us at Hidden Treasures Bookstore. For the very first time in our existence, we set a sales target for the year. I experienced first hand what I had read in my books on managing a small business - having a SMART objective gives focus and direction to your activities.
Once the target was set, I had to work through how it will be achieved. It took about three months of trial and error to figure things out. By March 2011, I arrived at a simple model which I shared with my staff. We decided that we'll monitor the number of people who come into the bookstore and the cumulative sales figure. In addition, we decided to compare the 2011 figures with the 2010 figures.
As the year progressed, it was exciting to see the figures rise. Each month, the race was first to achieve a sales figure that was higher than the same month in the previous year. When that was achieved, the race shifted to achieving the target for the month. In some months, adrenalin was high, as we came really close to the target. In some others, discouragement set in as we ended the month, really far from the target.
At the end of September, we surpassed out 2010 sales figure. It was a wow moment!!! Our sales had plateaued for three years, 2008, 2009 and 2010. And now, with three months to go to the end of 2011, we had reached that plateau!! As the year end approached, each business day saw us putting on our thinking caps and asking ourselves what new things we could do. My staff and I could not be stopped.
On Christmas Eve, we closed the bookstore for the year 2011. Did we meet the target we set for ourselves in Hidden Treasures Bookstore? No. However, we achieved eighty percent of the target. We achieved the highest annual sales ever in our history. We learnt by experience that setting a SMART objective does enable you to achieve outstanding results, JUST LIKE THE BOOKS SAY!
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