Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch

Despite Aesop's sage advice, I say you should count your chickens before they hatch.

In The Milkmaid and Her Pail, Aesop tells of a young woman balancing a pail of milk on her head as she walks to market. She dreams of buying a dress with the money she will earn from selling the chickens she will buy from selling the butter she will make with the milk in her pail. Her dreams are ruined when she spills all of her milk as she fantasizes tossing her head at gentlemen suitors while wearing her new dress.

Excellent story and a great moral. But it's the exact opposite advice I give to small businesses. I say count every single one of those chickens before they hatch.

Run your numbers. Run your scenarios.

If you are on your way to market, be sure to calcuate what investment will yield the greatest return.

Some simple math can go a long way. Consider some basic marketing metrics like response rate, conversion rate and traffic. Apply some conservative assumptions and predict your outcomes.

Be sure to account for the pitfalls, hurdles and obstacles that might prevent you from reaching the desired outcomes and adjust your plan accordingly.

Had Aesop's milkmaid really counted her chickens before they hatched, she may have figured out some different options. Maybe she would have decided to make the butter at home instead of transporting the milk. Maybe she would have travelled a faster route to market or maybe she would have created a more focused plan to prevent daydreaming.

For your small business, think with the end in mind and plan accordingly. Move your business to the next level by counting each and every chicken before they hatch.