They say that calm seas don’t make good sailors, and I reckon steering a business through a global pandemic is a true testament to that idea. When you’re a business owner, naturally it’s a part of your overall strategy to prepare for inevitable challenges: big-picture issues like economic downturns, legislative changes and technological disruption, and company-specific ones like staffing and scaling. But something we never really saw coming was a global pandemic; you can plan all you want for an obstacle that has a historical precedent, but not so much when it comes totally left of field.

The pandemic is truly uncharted territory; we had no maps or navigation tools to ready us, and the journey has been nothing if not uncompromising. In April, we had to make the difficult decision to implement a few redundancies. We also temporarily stood down our remaining employees without pay and brought them back on reduced hours a month or so later. Over the course of the stand-down period, my co-founder Michael and I spent countless hours devising a plan to restore the company to full capacity, and staff to full-time hours, by September this year. During that time, we devised a tool to help us get there: our custom-built revenue trigger tracker. 

The basic premise is more or less in the name. The tool lets us set forecasts for purchases, renovations, leasing, new business, track our revenue month to month, and measure when and by how much we can increase our team’s pay. Using the tool, we determine best and worst-case scenarios for each arm of our business and mark trigger points that will allow us to increase working hours, and consequently salaries, for every employee. On top of this, we use it to set milestones for boosting marketing spend and investment back into technology – both of which are vital in growing the company.

Already, we’ve seen so many direct and indirect positives through the introduction of the revenue trigger tracker. Not only does the tool chart our financials, but it also creates a shift in Milk Chocolate’s dynamic. It gives our team a better grasp on the financial workings of the company (a side of the business that was previously kept confidential), which helps foster a sense of trust and security between us and our staff. 

It’s also helped us implement a regular all-hands to recognise and honour our achievements. Every Friday, we conduct an in-depth review of the tracker’s trigger points to show our team how we’re progressing, and we celebrate each win with a few beers. The meeting isn’t just about revenue, though; our Friday sessions are an opportunity to see how the business is growing and to allow each staff member to showcase their work, which develops insight and interaction between verticals. We also take a deep dive into the business data, both current and historical, along with market trends and insights we believe are relevant pieces of knowledge for our staff to understand.

The revenue trigger tracker has been integral in our ability to come out of a difficult period in a relatively stable position. We achieved our ambition to get our staff back to full-time salaries by September, and as a result of that accomplishment, have agreed that the trigger tracker is here to stay – it’s now a fundamental part of our company-wide goal-setting. By being completely open about our numerical targets, each member of our team is able to fully comprehend what we’re working towards, establishing much clearer and tangible objectives and a feeling of ownership. After all, our success doesn’t just belong to us, but to each and every member of the Milk Chocolate crew. A wild ride the pandemic may be, but we’re fortunate to have a band of master seafarers to help us weather the storm.

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