Measuring business success to maximise results: how to do it (and why)

Susannah George, CEO and founder of Urban List, shares the metrics she’s used to drive Urban List to success and her tips for how you can do the same.

From day one of Urban List, we have been clear about what we are setting out to achieve — from the big-picture vision of being #1 for culture seekers who live like it matters, to the understanding of the daily activities that will most effectively deliver the weekly, monthly and quarterly goals.

When launching the site, I had two post-it notes on my pinboard — my goals for the first month of launch. I wanted 900 unique visitors to come to the site; a number built on the ‘science’ of how many people I knew, and how many of them I could trust to share with one other. And I wanted one business owner to reach out with the wish to be featured on the site; a sign that they viewed what I was creating as valuable and a potential driver of new business. Not a commercial transaction but a sign of goodwill; a desire to align their business with mine …

We did achieve those goals.

And we did it within the first 24 hours. The initial shot in the arm that my dream may one day become something.

Were it not for those two post-it notes, I would not have experienced the sense of self-belief and achievement that came on that launch day. And the experience of being clear of our goals, and the adrenaline hit of achieving them became forever ingrained in our culture.

One of our values — what we set, we get — was born of that moment. A commitment to be clear about what we want to achieve, steering our efforts and activity toward that goal. A belief that ambitious targets see us performing at our best – as a challenger, we’ve always backed ourselves to outpace the market and do more than most, often with less resources. And above all, the dedication and integrity to do what we say we will, even when it’s hard.

Measuring business success

Here are the key principles and systems that see us living this value and performing ahead of the game.

Aligning goals to strategy

Our goals align to our strategy — an objective measure of progress toward our vision, quarter by quarter, year by year.

We set goals annually, at a company level — objective measures that mark progress and growth. These goals have moved over time, aligned to the key initiatives of the year. Currently, our goals are set to measure revenue, profitability, audience and team happiness.

These goals cascade down to each of the departments, which in turn have their set of 3-5 key metrics to move the dial.

Know what success looks like

We look to the industry, and to top performing business peers, to support the setting of goals.

Understanding what success looks like for others, and how industries are tracking over time, helps us understand what ‘good’ vs ‘exceptional’ look like, and at times have empowered us to make tough and critical decisions.

For example, understanding the profit margins others operate at can help you determine your relative efficiency compared to peers, and raise important questions as to whether your perception of being ‘lean and mean’ is a true reflection, or whether there are operational tweaks to be made. Conversely, you may be overly conservative at a time when others are investing to grow.

Business resources like Gallup can give benchmarks on other companies’ goals for employee engagement and happiness. For some, 8/10 may be viewed as a good score. If culture is prized within your strategy, perhaps 9/10 is a more appropriate goal.

It all depends on where you’re seeking to shine.

Be responsive over reactive

Create a structure that tracks leading indicators and trends over end-of-period results and reports.

Monitoring key metrics weekly allows you to identify trends in the moment — offering the opportunity to course correct and/or amplify performance ahead of receiving the end result. Regular monitoring of the metrics that matter enables the team to focus their activity and attention at the time that matters, rather than being fed results after the time to change has passed.

Often, downward trends are able to be identified well ahead of the otherwise-inevitable result; and can transform performance if spotted early. These can also be powerful coaching opportunities that are very supportive for the team — helping them identify and resolve their challenges rather than missing targets and the sense of disappointment that can follow.

Empower your team

Make it personal and put your team in the driver’s set — empowering them to steer their own success and giving maximum opportunity for true accountability to arise.

Cascade those department goals into each team member’s KPIs — giving them a clear picture of the contribution they make, and the responsibilities and opportunities they have in achieving them.

Providing each team member with their own scorecard — something they complete each week (not their manager, but them) — gives transparency, and instils a sense of confidence, accountability and trust; both in them and their ability to deliver, and in knowing that support will be there should one of their metrics be off course.

Use these metrics to create meaningful meetings and one-on-ones. Using these scorecards to steer the conversations — solving for the metrics that aren’t on track, and amplifying those that are outperforming — ensures meetings are meaningful and address the issues and opportunities that matter.

They instil confidence that everyone across the business is aligned — within their teams, and across the departments — ultimately guaranteeing that everyone is in the same boat, and rowing in the same direction, ever faster, week by week.

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