Self Assessment

It is easy to become complacent. Once you have the company rolling, you put it on auto-pilot, losing much of your competitive edge. This can happen without you even noticing. You track financial results, which are lagging indicators, showing results after the fact. By the time the numbers start to decline, it is often difficult to deal with the causes of the problems.

Current Performance Level - Start by paying closer attention to performance. How long does it take to write up a sale? How many repeat trips does it take to get the job done right? How many backorders are you tracking? What percentage of questions or problems are resolved during the first call? You need to know how well you are performing relative to your customers expectations and your competitor’s capabilities.

How is your employee morale? This is a good indicator of future difficulties. Cynicism, indifference, and defensiveness are attitudes that almost always lead to problems. Nifty signs and slogans aren’t likely to help. Get in touch with your employees, find out what their concerns are and let them know you are dedicated to helping them succeed.

SWOT Analysis - Use the SWOT analysis to determine how Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats affect your store’s present situation and future outlook. This evaluation will help you determine what you do best, I.e. how you can outperform your competitors so that you can further develop your unique retail position in the market, your reason for being, why consumers shop your store instead of another. This analysis should also highlight the weaknesses you must overcome to achieve the level of success you seek.

Assumption Breaking - Every business is run based on a set of assumptions that determine its strategy and how it operates. You compete with other stores based on price, you offer unique products and services, your people are the best in the industry. Whatever set of assumptions your company operates under determines how you design your operations and make business decisions. When changes come along that invalidate a business’s assumptions and the company continues to operate as it always has, trouble is inevitable.

Assumption breaking is the most difficult part of the reflection process. It is more comfortable to maintain the status quo. Yet this is the step that makes all the difference. Collecting and organizing all the information in the world and then failing to use it effectively is useless. The real challenge you face is taking what you’ve learned in the reflection process, using it to break the assumptions you have lived by in the past and redesigning your company to overcome the new challenges speeding your way. It is in the breaking and recreating of your set of assumptions that true progress is made.

Critical Issues - These are the issues you must face and overcome in order for your company to achieve the objectives you have set for it. What new skills must be developed? What new knowledge must be gained? What new systems must be implemented? What new infrastructure must be brought into service?