Five Year Plans – What Analytics Do You Use?

As the 5^th year of my original business plan comes to a close, it seems like a good time to reflect on how things have played out.

There are plenty of data points to look at to determine how sound my original plan was and if the course changes made along the way proved to be the right ones to take.

The single most important metrics in my 2012 business plan where # of Filipinos trained to be analysts, # of schools I have worked with and $ of revenue I have generated.

Looking first at the revenue, because if you cant make a profit after 5 years then you are doing something seriously wrong. I started making a profit I year 3, which is pretty typical of business startups.

I made my most money in year 4, but had a more diversified revenue stream in year 5. Revenues have been closer to my actual target as year 4 was one of almost too much growth.

Originally just making money from public trainings, over the years I have added paid speaking engagements, consulting, outsourcing and most recently publishing a book.

SO based on $, I have achieved my original plans and am able to comfortably move on to the financial goals of my next 5 year plan.

When it comes to working with schools, who represent the future of analytics in the Philippines, I have consistently given talks, been part of activities and mentored interns/OJT.

When I check off the list of schools I have worked with in the past 5 years I can definitely say I have met this metric.

The third data point I look at is number of Filipinos trained.

When talking about public trainings we are about 1000 persons over the past 5 years. When we add the number of attendees of public speaking engagements, the number gets closer to 5,000. And that’s paid events.

If I add the number of students and free events we are getting close to 10,000.

SO, I have fall surpassed my expectations from 5 years ago on that metric.

When assessing the success of a business plan you need to measure data over time to make sure you are making progress.

You also need to be able to make course corrections.

Before the training business started taking off, I did some consulting. To generate consistent revenue, I got into outsourcing.

Both course changes allowed me to continue pursuing my original goal of training Filipinos to use more data in their decision making and to empower analytics centric cultures.

So what are the key metric of your business plan? How do you measure them and make sure you are making progress. Do you have a threshold that you set to make course changes if you are not meeting that threshold?

To effectively execute a business plan, you need good analytics in place.

Analytics in the Philippines – The Philippines is at the center of the action when it comes to solutions to the global need for analytics. Blessed with a solid foundation of young, educated and English speaking workforce, companies around the world are look for Filipino analytics talent to fill analytics positions. DMAIPH was set up to facilitate these solutions and bring the talent and the business together. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly so we can help you take advantage of this unique global opportunity.