More Than Traditional KPIs
There are common Key Perfomance Indicators (KPIs) for all businesses, which are metrics used to measure the performance of your business. These can cover many aspects of your business, from productivity to the success of a particular project. However, it becomes a little trickier to quantify less tangible benefits, such as metrics for trust, message reach, and impact on society.
To the CorePowered business owner or socially minded entrepreneur these things matter just as much as the tangible benefits. They also matter to your potential clients and customers.
Edelman, the world’s largest PR agency, recently released its annual Trust Barometer survey results. It reported that financial performance is becoming a less important factor in earning customer’s trust, whereas the importance of how business behaves is growing.
Edelman’s President and CEO, Richard Edelman, explained:
“Running a profitable business and having top-rated leadership no longer, alone, build long-term trust… Business must … [serve] the needs of shareholders and broader stakeholders by being profitable and acting as a positive force in society.”
As a CorePowered entrepreneur, our business is about more than profit. What we define as “being productive” is going to be different for each of us and many of these items are difficult to track and measure.
People, Planet, Profit – The Triple Bottom Line
One common KPI for the CorePowered entrepreneur and conscious capitalist is the triple bottom line. This includes three main areas: People, Planet, and Profit.
If we look at these 3 items, we have certain indicators within each that we can use to measure our productivity.
Determining your profit is straightforward, as you determine the profit of your business by determining your basic income minus expenses.
Determining your effect on the planet involves asking yourself certain questions. How did we help to contribute to the planet? Did your products or services harm the environment in some way? Is your company actively trying to make a difference?
In order to answer those questions, you have to examine all of your business practices and hold yourself accountable. You can choose to positively impact the planet by sending a portion of your profits to social causes, providing more ethical alternatives, or consciously choosing not to engage in practices that may cause harm. This means that you have to even examine the secondary effects of your business actions, as you may unintentionally be acting against your CorePowered principles.
Determining your impact on people is again found through self-examination and careful consideration of your practices. How did your company help to contribute to the community, partners or clients? Your regular services can be an act of good in the world, if you are focused on helping people.
The CorePowered approach differs from traditional approaches to business because we realize that all three aspects of our triple bottom line are of equal importance. Our aim is to run a business that is profitable and ethical. Our CorePowered principles determine whether we’re achieving that goal.
CorePowered Metrics
Additionally, a CorePowered business is based on our personal values, purpose and goals so we need to include additional metrics to measure our performance in these areas.
- How effective has our business been in supporting and promoting our values?
- How have we performed relative to our purpose-driven, S.M.A.R.T goals?
Ultimately, you can’t run a CorePowered business without doing some self-examination. When your business practices continually reflect your principles, your business is performing exactly as a CorePowered business should — but only you can determine that.
What CorePowered metrics do you use in your business?