Happy last day of 2023! 

Tonight we'll say goodbye to 2023 and welcome in the new year, maybe with some confetti and a little bit of champagne. 

As we look ahead to 2024, having a plan is critical to accomplishing our goals for the year ahead. Just as critical as having a plan? Being ready to communicate it well so that our teammates can own that plan. 

I help many of our Grow Group clients, and even Grunder Landscaping Co., with their planning and time and again I see the same issue come up: leaders have a vision for what success will look like, but it is not communicated clearly. 

The trick I recommend they use: approach your plan like math homework where you had to show your work when you were in school. Showing how you got to your answer can help your team understand that your plan is rock-solid and that they can impact its success. Use data from past years and industry standards to prove your point. 

At GROW! 2024, I along with our partners at McFarlin Stanford will teach a breakout session about industry standards and benchmarks that companies should aim for. I'll give you the ammo to build your case as to why certain areas should or shouldn't be your focus in 2024. We'll dive into some the key indicators we measure for our ACE Peer Group members, what numbers we like to see on each metric, and what companies should do if they aren't hitting the numbers they should. 

As a preview of what we'll cover, here are three benchmarks you can evaluate this week:

• Average AR Days: 33 days
• Average Overhead Expense as a Percent of Sales: 35%
• Average Revenue per Company Vehicle: $240,000

Are you hitting those numbers? If you're outperforming those metrics, great! There may be other metrics you should focus on improving for 2024. If you're underperforming on those metrics, your next steps should be focused on improving the processes that impact them. We'll have sessions for that, too.

One of my favorite parts of GROW! 2024 is the variety of education we can provide for entire teams. No matter what area of your business your metrics tell you to focus on for 2024, we'll have a session designed to help leadership teams tackle it. Are you signed up to join us yet? 

Wishing you a Happy, and Successful, New Year!

Vince Torchia
Vice President
The Grow Group

P.S. Today is your last chance to register for GROW! and get the expense in your 2023 books. This can help reduce your taxable income for 2023 - head over to our website to buy your tickets before midnight!