No matter how difficult the issue is, you have to make a good business decision here for the long haul. If you have a wrong person in the right seat,… - Gino Wickman

You are not your business. Your business is an entity in and of itself. Yes, you created it, but in order to find success, you have to turn it into a self-sustaining organism. Reaching the next level requires more than just a product or service, or a simple determination to succeed. You need skills, tools, and a system to optimize your people, processes, execution, management, and communication. You need strong guiding principles that will work for your company day in and day out.

As a rule of thumb, you should end up with five to 15 numbers — hopefully closer to five. There is such a thing as too much information, so keep it simple. Once you’ve identified all the categories, you then plug them into your Scorecard template.

Once they’re defined, you must hire, fire, review, reward, and recognize people based on these core values.