Ellevated Outcomes 2023 Report Card & 2024 Strategy
If you’re a friend, client, or generous subscriber to our email list, you know that I write and speak with a balance of discernment and transparency. Given what Ellevated Outcomes does, I think take our position of role modeling seriously. So, I constantly calibrate between inspiration and real, raw talk. Afterall, honesty is one of our values. I definitely don’t get things right all the time; and I think that’s been the driver of my success, in fact. I get back up quickly when I’ve fallen down, and I’m unflappable in trying again and again (and again). And this, my friends, is my segue for the Ellevated Outcomes 2023 report card and 2024 strategy.
I have not kept it a secret that 2023 was a challenge; and I know this is true for many. Political and economic factors notwithstanding, there were a number of social shifts last year. I still can’t summarize them in a clean way (as I don’t think they’re done), but believe you me: there was absolutely a social undertoe afoot in 2023.
When you read on, you may wonder: why are you waxing poetic about how “bad” things were, when Ellevated Outcomes achieved 80% of its goals? Which is, according to the Great Game of Business, is what it takes to truly be great. Well, because there were some great things and results, and there were some “buts.” Here are our results and where we fell down…
We achieved 91% (or 78%) of our revenue goals.
We look at our real revenue in two ways: received and annual (if you’re an accounting geek, you can call these cash and accrual). The way we explain this to clients is: cash revenue measures the current health of your business, and annual revenue measures the future health of your business. So, the reason I’ve shared 2 percentages with you is to be transparent about which is which: we achieved 91% of our received revenue goal and 78% of our annual revenue goal.
And I suppose, depending on how you think about goals, you may think these results are great or awful. As someone who lives by the 80% rule (and always builds in plans to absorb risk, ha!) I see it as strong. Not exceptional or “blow the roof off,” but very strong. Especially when you look at our 5-year trajectory….
We grew 52% from 2022-2023.
And… we exceeded our 2023 profit goal! BUT there’s more to this story than meets the eye.
I took a step backwards in my CEO role.
A driving factor of our increased profit was: I personally absobed more non-CEO work last year. And look: upon reflection, I would not have this differently. I made conscious choices, every step of the way. For I believe that the most important result that a CEO is responsible for, is the financial health of the business. And sometimes, you must roll up your sleeves and do what needs to be done.
But I must acknowledge my failure that I ended the year with less energy because I spent too much time on the wrong type of work. (I know this because I take my Energy Audit every 6 months).
The other error of the year was…
I misallocated resource to the wrong priorities.
Our 2023 priorities (in this order) were:
- Marketing & Business Development
- Product & Pricing
- People
We completed 100% of the initiatives in Product & Pricing and People. Yay!
But if you notice… these were priorities 2 and 3. On the other hand, we did 30-40% of our Marketing & Business Development initiatives. As you know, I talk all the time(!) about Business Development. And now I demonstrate to you: we are no exception to the rule. The process works! IF you work the process.
But if you complete 30-40% of your initiatives, you may only hit 44% of your new client goal. Maybe. So I hear 😉
Now, if you have a background in risk management, you have a couple stealth initiatives running alongside it, to protect for the downside. But still, the point remains: The process works, if you work the process.
But the other big lesson to emphasize is: there’s a reason for priorities, and they are not created equal. Your #1 priority must be your #1 priority; and in 2023 I allowed myself and our team to bedistracted by safer-feeling projects.
Frankly, we were hiding in the inside of the business. We kept saying, “We need more foundational stuff to feel safe.” And it hindered our most important initiative: growth.
Which is the perfect transition to our 2024 Strategy. It’s simple. Starkly clear. And unmistakable.
Grow our Advisory Practice 37%
In other words: Level Up.
We have our eyes wide open: adding the next level – growing higher – means being more visible. Having more to lose if a piece crumbles. Being more susceptible to the elements.
I have the visual of a building in mind. Our foundation is deep. So deep, in fact, that it’s enough to support us being double our current size. There’s nowhere to go but up. In fact, it’s a greater risk to the business to stay the same, than to grow. To add more floors. Or levels, you might say.
We’ve spent 6 years building a healthy, sound, sustainable business with a rock-solid foundation. It is now time to add new levels, soaring into the sky.
Cara’s been saying, “I can feel that the Ellevated Outcomes rocketship is about to take off.” The launchpad is ready. We just need to light the fuse. Tammy and Erin have echoed the remarks; and I can’t help but have flashbacks to a Sheryl Sandberg quote that our beloved Ivy Kusinga reminded me of in 2016, when I faced a career crossroad:
If you’re offered a seat on a rocketship, don’t ask what seat!
Just get on.
