Choosing KPIs: Turning your company vision into KPIs
This is part 2 of a 5 part series on Choosing KPIs.
It is tempting to start with “industry standard” metrics when choosing your KPIs. There are countless articles about exactly which metrics are the most important based on the industry you are in and how your business works.
However, your business is unique. Your vision for what you want your business to become is unique as well, and the path you take to growing your business will also be unique. If you start from that vision, you will be sure to choose the metrics that are the most important in reaching your goals and move you towards that vision.
Let’s walk through the process of starting from your vision and choosing the critical metrics that will become your KPIs. As an example, we’ll use the fictional company Doug’s Drones which wants to take on Starbucks by delivery coffee via drones. We’ll start with the vision for Doug’s Drones and use it to figure out the KPIs it should choose.
Vision
| Your vision is what your business is building towards in the future. |
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Goals
| Your goals are the next few steps along the path to your vision. These steps are what will give you confidence that your vision is achievable and that you are on the right path. |
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KPIs
| Our KPIs are simply the metrics we need to track to measure our achievement of the goals we set. |
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As you can see, starting from your vision ensures that the KPIs you choose are directly related to the goals you have set to achieve that vision. Instead of relying on general wisdom, you can choose the right KPIs for your business.
How many KPIs should you have? We’ll talk about how many tomorrow.
Quote of the Day: “When you make a choice, you change the future.” ― Deepak Chopra