The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 26: Aug/ Sept 2016 | Page 6

BUSINESS ADVICE
Carl Reader is one of the UK's leading experts and advisors
to SMEs. He is the author of 'The StartUp Coach' and the
newly released 'Franchise Handbook'. Carl is also a director
at d&t chartered accountants and strategic advisors, based in
Badbury near Swindon. This edition he discusses the power of
KPIs and his recent book launch.

DEFINE YOUR KPIs
Some of you may have seen my Facebook Live video touching
on the difference between leading and lagging KPIs. The
problem most businesses have is that they don’t think about
the logical difference between these types of KPIs, and end
up chasing their own tail. We'll start with a breakdown:
Leading KPIs - These are the ones you can control.
It includes activities such as:

Okay, but I don’t want to reach a goal of 75,000
leaflets. I want £50k sales.

• Calls made
• Doors knocked
• Leaflets distributed

None of us want to “achieve” 75,000 leaflets. This is simply
the necessary action to get to your sales figure. Your goal will
stay the same.

It’s the initial actions that ultimately lead to a result.

To manage your business effectively though, there is no point
managing the KPI of sales, gross profit margin etc after the
event. By then it’s too late and will undoubtedly be off target
because of the wrong focus, and you’ll be playing catch-up.

Lagging KPIs
These are the ones that tell you what’s happened:
• Sales
• Profit
• Cash in bank

Instead, you need to do some simple maths:
• Work out your end goal,
• Chunk it back a level or two (i.e. to get
£50,000 income I need 50 customers, who come from 150
meetings, which come from 750 conversations)
• Then apply your conversion ratio (every
time I deliver 100 leaflets I have one call, on average. If
I multiply this by the 750 conversations I want… I know I
need to deliver 75,000 leaflets).
It’s fairly simple. Work out what you want, track back to
what you need to do, and then monitor that.

The launch of my new book
In 2015 I launched my first book, The StartUp Coach published by Hodder
& Stoughton. It's a 'Teach Yourself' guide to setting up in business giving
practical tips and advice to guide you through the process.
If you're inspired by the start-up stories in
this special edition of TBE (turn to pages
20-21), then perhaps you should purchase
a copy, it's available from the Amazon
store.
Once you've decided on the route you're
going to go down, perhaps you will decide
a franchise is for you. In which case, you'll
need to take a look at my latest offering.
Hodder & Stoughton have partnered
with me again to create 'The Franchising
Handbook: How to Choose, Start and Run
a Successful Franchise'.
The book offers everything you need to

know about acquiring, running and making
money out of a franchise.
The Franchise Handbook focuses on
making sure that potential franchisees
are aware of the journey ahead of them.
I've brought together the thoughts and
opinions of the franchise industry’s leading
influencers, with contributions from the
likes of the British Franchise Association
(BFA), professional advisors, franchisors and
franchisees; providing gems of knowledge
from those who build franchises, award the
licenses, regulate the industry and advise
the leading brands.

As franchising is a two-way business
arrangement, the book is simply a must
read including exactly what franchisors
are looking for, what can or cannot be
negotiated with a franchisor, and how
best to present yourself to ensure that
you win the franchise you want.
Both the StartUp Coach and The
Franchising Handbook are available
to buy online via the Amazon store.
For more info:
www.carlreader.com

Follow:
@CarlReader

now recruiting staff... and clients!
visit our websites for more information
www.dennisandturnbull.com

www.dandtcareers.co.uk
01793 741414

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THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2016