CSFs are the essential areas of activity that must be performed well if you are to achieve the objectives or goals for your business or project. By identifying your CSFs, you can create a point of reference to help you direct and measure the success of your business or project.

CSFs help everyone in the team to know exactly what's most important. And this helps people pull together towards the same overall aims. CSFs are best understood by example.

 Consider a produce store "Noosa Fresh Produce", whose mission is:

 "To become the number one produce store in Noosa by selling the highest quality, freshest farm produce, from farm to customer in under 24 hours on 75% of our range and with 98% customer satisfaction."

The strategic objectives of Farm Fresh are to:

• Gain market share locally of 25%.
• Achieve fresh supplies of "farm to customer" in 24 hours for 75% of products.
• Sustain a customer satisfaction rate of 98%.
• Expand product range to attract more customers.
• Have sufficient store space to accommodate the range of products that customers want.

In order to identify possible CSFs, examine the objectives and see which areas of the business need attention so that they can be achieved. (Think Balanced Scorecard theory here) We can start by brainstorming what the Critical Success Factors might be:

Critical Success Factors:

• Gain market share locally of 25% - Increase competitiveness versus other local stores Attract new customers
• Achieve fresh supplies of “farm to customer” in 24 hours for 75% of products - Sustain successful relationships with local suppliers
• Sustain a customer satisfaction rate of 98% - Retain staff and keep up customer-focused training
• Expand product range to attract more customers - Source new products locally
• Extend store space to accommodate new products and customers - Secure financing for expansion. Manage building work and any disruption to the business

Once you have a list of possible CSFs, consider what is absolutely essential and so identify the truly Critical Success Factors.

The first CSF that we identify from the list above is "relationships with local suppliers". This is absolutely essential to ensure freshness and to source new products.

Another CSF is to attract new customers. Without new customers, the store will be unable to expand to increase market share.

A third CSF is financing for expansion. The store's objectives cannot be met without the funds to invest in expanding the store space. Here are the summary steps that will help you identify the CSFs for your business or project:

Step One:

Step Two: