Issue link: https://nbm.uberflip.com/i/1491554
8 4 G R A P H I C S P R O • M A R C H 2 0 2 3 G R A P H I C S - P R O. C O M S T I T C H S O L U T I O N S | J E N N I F E R C O X Jennifer Cox is one of the founders and serves as president of the National Network of Embroidery Professionals (NNEP), an organization that supports embroidery and apparel decoration professionals with programs and services designed to increase profitability and production. You can contact her at jennifer@nnep.com. Are You Going to Do the Same Thing? Increased growth and profit doesn't come from sitting still A new year is often presented as a "reset" or a "fresh start." What we eat, how we plan to get more active or fitter, what we will do in our free time, and even how we intend to improve, advance, and grow our businesses. e kicker, however, is that if we do the same things that we did in the past year, why do we expect to see any kind of change, even an incremental one, moving forward? Last month, I encouraged you to pick one thing and practice that one thing until it becomes a habit, a routine that you do not even have to think about anymore. Now, you just do it, whatever it is, in the different, new or better way so that over time, you accomplish some level of change in that area. is time, I want you to dial your thinking out, big, instead of dialing into one small and specific thing. is kind of thinking is called the 30,000-foot view, big picture thinking, or other terms along those lines. In order for you to take your business where you want it to go, you need to know at least two things: 1) where you are right now and 2) where you want to be. You can measure these two points in any number of ways: annual sales, business location, how much you pay yourself and/or your staff, number of locations, number of employees, number of customers, number of jobs completed, number of units produced, etc. Every business owner has their own key metrics, the numbers by which they measure themselves. What are your key metrics? Grab a post-it note and write down your current number (where you are right now) and then write your target (where you want to be). If you have more than one metric that you measure your business by, fill in the current value and the goal for each identified metric. Right here is the place where I want you to pause and take a big look at what you just put on the paper. Is this the key metric or B U S I N E S S S T R A T E G I E S