Have you ever heard the saying “Failure to plan is planning to fail”? How about this one: “Hope is not a strategy”? Well, I talk to business owners every day and I’d say that about 90% of them run their business without a plan, just hoping that their business will get better. Good luck with that!
If you ask me (which you didn’t but I’m going to tell you anyway!), running your business without a plan is one of the top reasons for the lack of growth, poor profit, frequent fires, customer problems and long hours and stress that plague so many small business owners.
So Even If This Sounds Like Business 101 To You, You Need A Plan.
Running your business with a plan focuses your limited time, money and resources on the things that will make the biggest impact on your business and helps you stop doing the hodge-podge of activities that don’t matter.
When I say you need a plan, I’m not talking here about a 20-page business plan. What you need is a vision of what you want to achieve and a well-thought-out series of steps you are going to take to help you achieve your vision. Imagine building your dream home without a vision and a plan. The result would be disastrous! And the same thinking applies to your business.
In fact, creating a plan is the first thing I do with my coaching clients. And if you develop and follow your plan, it can help you achieve almost miraculous results! I have a client, for example, with a $2.5 million dollar business, who was working 90 hours a week in an inefficient business and making no profit despite all of her efforts. We created and implemented a simple plan to improve her business and in less than eight months she achieved a 6-figure profit and was working less than 55 hours a week! That’s the power of a plan.
If you don’t have a plan, now is the perfect time to develop one and start using it. You don’t need to wait until the beginning of the year.
So, pick up a pencil or hop on your computer and follow the steps I’ve laid out below. Really!
When you’re done, you will have a simple, but powerful plan which will help you breakthrough and establish your business at the next level.
Create Your Business Vision and Goals
The first thing I want you to do is close your eyes for a second (I mean after you read this!) and imagine what you really want your business to be a year from now or at the end of 2014? How big do you want it to be? How much profit will you make? What is your ideal job description in your business? What kind of life will you have when all the things you just described are reality?
Be bold and dream a little. Make it a stretch and something that you’re excited about. Write it down. Great!
There is huge power in visualizing what you want. The more clearly you can picture it the more you are likely to want it and to make it happen. Defining your 2015/2016 vision will also clarify actions you will need to take to get there.
Take An Honest Look At Where You Are Today
Now, take a look at where you are today compared to where you want to go. What sales and profit have you achieved so far? What do you spend your time doing in your business? How do you feel about your team, and the services you deliver? Write this down too. Good!
You Can Now Start To Map Out Your Breakthrough Plan.
First, break your goals down by month (quarters will work too) so that you have a clear path to follow to get you to where you want to go.
Next, think through the questions below to help you identify the actions you will need to take to achieve your goals:
- What obstacles do you see along the way? What will you need to do to overcome them?
- What are the most pressing challenges for you right now? How will you handle them?
- What things do you know you need to do in your business but haven’t gotten around to?
- What adjustments do you need to make to what you are currently doing?
- What is missing for you in getting to where you want to go? What help do you think you will need to move you forward? Where will you get it?
By now, a clearer picture should be developing of what you’ll need to do to create your successful business. If not, talk to your peers, employees, consultants or coaches for ideas.
Take all the ideas that we’ve generated here and:
- Pick the ones that you think will make the biggest difference in helping you reach your goals or overcome your challenges. These ideas will form the basis of your plan. I suggest that you pick no more than three to four key priority improvement areas to focus on per quarter. Any more than that will likely overwhelm you and keep you from getting anything done! If you don’t know how to resolve your challenges, get help.
- Also, look at everything you have on your plate and get rid of any activities that aren’t working or aren’t focused on your goals. If they aren’t adding value, stop doing them! The more things that you can say no to and take off your plate, the more you’ll be able to focus on the critical few things that will propel your business forward.
Now Write It All Down, Ideally On One Page.
Summarize your plan: where you are today, where you want to be by the end of 2014, and the steps you need to take to get there. If it looks like what you have planned won’t be enough, tweak your plan until it feels right.
You have now created a breakthrough plan for building your business. Congratulations!
