Plan For 2022

HIT YOUR NEW YEAR’S GOAL HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE LET YOUR 2021 RESOLUTIONS fall by the wayside? Be honest.

Just like personal goals for the new year, business goals are often abandoned early on, just ask Bill Haas, president of Haas Performance Consulting.

“The year ends, you set goals. When it starts, it’s exciting, and then you find distractions,” Haas says.

It’s November now, which means 2022 is right around the corner. And, although it may be too late to hit your 2021 goal, it’s the perfect time to get set up for success next year. Don’t wait until New Year’s Eve, Haas advises. Deciding on the right goal and prepping for it before the end of the year can make it easier to attain and for you to stay on track, Haas explains. It’s never too early—or too late—to start on a path to bettering your business. So, set your goal and once you have it, follow these tips to stay on track and actually achieve it.

DEFINE YOUR WHY.

This step is key, Haas explains, because it helps you hone in on why you’re going after what you’re after. You have to have something that you’re chasing, he explains. To get started, he advises looking at the previous year and figuring out what exactly you were missing. In other words, what weren’t you able to do that you wish you could have done? Is there a piece of equipment you wish you could have purchased? A training you missed out on? Finding the want (or wants) gives the incentive and needs to be a part of your goal setting. EVALUATE

WHERE YOU’RE AT.

November is actually the perfect time to start on the upcoming year because you have 10 months of data, Haas says. A formal evaluation is key. For example, if you’re trying to increase revenue, figure out all of your KPIs from 2021 and break it down to figure out where exactly those numbers come from. Get your final sales number and break it down by your team. How many people did you have that got you that number? How effective was your shop in terms of production? What was your labor rate? What was your effective labor rate? These are all questions that you need to answer. Then, you need to look at what is going to change in the upcoming year as far as fixed costs. Is your rent going up? Are you adding a new team member? Take these factors into consideration before setting your profit goal for the upcoming year, Haas says.

MAKE IT ATTAINABLE.

Once you’ve analyzed the data and know what you can realistically produce, you can break it down to a daily goal that seems less overwhelming than dropping a huge number you’d like to hit on your team, Haas says. A daily sales goal is a good way to keep that overall goal at the top of mind, which will help keep you on track for the year. The next step is sharing this information with everyone on your team so each person knows what is expected.

GET TEAM BUY-IN.

You have to have the math to back up everything you do, Haas says. That way, if someone on your team says, ‘You’re crazy,’ you have something concrete to show him or her. Share these numbers with your team, go over it with them so they understand the path you’re taking to reach the goal. It’s also important to do this because your team can help you identify a mistake or something you may have overlooked, Haas says. Sit down with your service advisors in November or at the beginning of the year to find out what they need to be more productive. You need to know what people need and make it happen, he says. Once you’ve made the team a part of the process and shown them how they’re much more likely to help you get there.

KEEP YOURSELF ON TRACK.

Haas says that an effective way to ensure that you actually stick to your resolution is by finding someone to check in with you on your goal—an accountability partner. This could be your CPA or bookkeeper, or, even another shop owner that you’re friends with, he says. Another shop owner can make it fun because you can make it competitive with the other person. Check in with each other once per month and share your numbers and push each other to do better, Haas says. That peer pressure is amazing for what it will allow people to do, Haas says.

ONCE YOU FALL, GET BACK UP.

A common cause for abandoning a New Year’s resolution is a slip up. But that’s not a good reason to abandon your goal, Haas says. Maybe one month you were really distracted because you were short-staffed and you missed your monthly goal or maybe you just forgot to check in with your team—that happens to everyone. Now, start fresh. Open up those manilla folders that have been piling up on your desk with your KPIs from your CPA and get back on track, Haas says.