Brief your family on your business performance

This article first appeared on August 12th, 2011.

Behind every great entrepreneur is a brilliant support network – family, friends, mentors and other wise heads – who help you get through the difficult times.

Some of these people may be investors, some may be workers in your business, some might be partners in your non-work life. But they are very important to your business success.

But how much do you tell them about how your business is performing?

While many members of your support network make sacrifices for the good of your business (single-handedly minding kids while you’re at events or on business trips) I have found that entrepreneurs leave their supporters in the dark about what’s actually going on at work.

There may be good reasons for this – talking shop when you’re at home isn’t necessarily healthy.

But to ensure that everyone know what your business is going through, why not arrange to have a special briefing for your support network.

Get them in the office, give them some drinks and nibbles and thank them for everything they do. Then present to them on the performance of your business.

Explain your value proposition, talk through some highlights and lowlights and inform them about milestones. You might not want to get too deep into the financial details and that’s fine.

But do give them an idea of how sales are tracking (growing at a monthly rate of XX%, for example) and what your rough targets are.

They’ll have a better understanding of why you’re doing what you are doing, and you’ll be able to show how important they are to your success.

Get it done – today!