2014 Resolutions!
A new year is upon us, which means it’s time for the long-standing tradition of setting goals and resolving to better, both personally and professionally, in 2014. For those of us with businesses, it is a time to reflect on the previous year and set new goals for the upcoming year. As we look into the New Year, maybe we need to reevaluate the idea of setting goals? What if we focus on processes, instead, and let the goals take care of themselves?
The car wash business is a very process-oriented business; equipment, point of sale, employees, site layout, and chemicals are all designed and trained to complete a process. Let’s look at just one aspect of our entire business, employees.
A 2014 goal might be something like improved employee training. While this is a great goal that will enhance your business, if you create a process for your employees instead, the goal will take care of itself. Develop a process for hiring, orientation, ongoing education, and employee evaluations and you will have a better-trained staff that is more prepared and capable of serving your customers.
If we start looking at each process and focus on the most efficient way of doing things (and then stick to the process), our goals and our business will take care of themselves. Bill Snyder, head coach of the Kansas State football team, says it like this, “Just get better every day.” It sounds simple but it is true; if we focus on the process of getting better every day, the end goal will take care of itself.