Reflections on Q1 2024
Insights from the 3-Legged Stool Model
One week into April and the 1st quarter is already behind us. Wasn’t it just yesterday when people were complaining that January took forever to finish?
February was swift, and March went by just like that. And so the first quarter of the year is already done. 1 down 3 more to go.
One of the things my Accountability Group did recently was to do a Quarterly Business Review. We used to have this all the time when I was working in the BPO industry. It was a nerve-wracking experience, especially when you have to defend your numbers.
But now as a freelance copywriter, I view it differently.
One of the things that I suggested our group use was the 3-legged stool model. If you’re not familiar with this, don’t worry. It’s a very simple concept that you can use whether you’re in business or with your other goals as well.
So basically, the 3-legged stool is a business concept, likened to a stool with three legs. Each leg represents an important aspect of your business and to have a good business, you need to have all three legs.
For example, in my previous company, we would always use the term CEO for the 3-legged stool. What it represents is:
C = Customers
E = Employees
O = Organization
A good example of this would be when customers would request an adjustment towards their bill. As an employee, you want to make the customer happy, since it’s part of your KPI (Key Performance Indicators).
But at the same time, you also need to maintain a balance between your other metrics like Credits and Adjustment, as well as make sure that the Organization is profitable.
Another example would be using this model instead: Client, Financials, and Employees.
So as a business, you want to make your clients happy by hitting your metric goals. You also want to make sure that your Financials are healthy of course, since you’re running a business. But, you also have to take into account employee satisfaction. Since they are the ones driving the company and helping you meet client satisfaction.
Using this model, we took turns in presenting our numbers. One thing I was proud of was being able to hit my revenue goal for Q1. I also did well with the Operations/Fulfillment side (the 2nd leg of my stool) but need more work improving with the marketing side (lead generation). Since I had clients right now, this was something that I had sort of neglected in my business.
Doing the exercise helped me understand more about where my business was heading. Take pride in my accomplishments, and know where the leaks are in my business so I can plug them in and create action plans to improve for the next quarters.
How about you? How was your 1st quarter? If you did well, congratulations! If not, don’t worry. There are still 3 more quarters left in the year and you can turn things around. But first, you need to assess where you are, so you can know how to move forward.
On to the next quarter!
