So many people make New Year’s Resolutions but, read any newspaper in January and you’ll find a newspaper article telling us how most of us have broken them before the end of the month.  It’s the same as deciding on what we are going to do with our businesses.  We make decisions about what we’re going to do and achieve, but all too often other opportunities come up, or it’s all hands on deck to get something done for a customer, and the things we were going to do get permanently postponed or forgotten altogether.  When all we’re making is a statement about what we’re going to do, it’s easy for nothing to get done.

One sure fire way to make sure you have every chance of sticking to your goals, whether it’s your New Year’s Fitness Resolution or your decision to grow your business by 30% this year, is to make a plan.  Planning is the key.

Sounds simple enough, but how many people really get round to doing it?  If you really want to achieve to something, you need to know exactly what you need to do, when you need to do it, and what you need to make sure it gets done.

My top tips for writing your plan

  • List your goals (Make them SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timebound)
  • Break each goal down so you know the big things you need to do to make it happen
  • Work out how long each of those activities is going to take
  • If there’s a team of you, work out who’s going to do each of the activities
  • Plot everything on a calendar
  • Do the tasks and activities when you’ve scheduled them
  • Regularly review everyone’s progress to make sure you’re staying on track

It’s a bit basic, but it’s a great start.  And you’ll be surprised how much more you get done when you’ve got a list of actions, a clear vision of where those actions are going to get you, and when you know the importance of completing each action at a specific time.

Planning like this doesn’t just make it easier to prioritise your own tasks, though.  It can even help you organise your clients.  For example, if you’ve got a client who always drops things on you at the last minute, try speaking to them now about the potential projects they’ve got coming up during the year.  If you can add those project dates into your own plan, you’ll be able to forecast when you might need to pull in additional resource, or could even put in measures to help get your client get mre organised and get their orders in with plenty of time to spare.

Suddenly, you’re not running round like a headless chicken trying to do everything, without the time to do it properly.  Hopefully, you’ll even have created yourself some free time – so you can carry on planning the growth of your business.

If you want to build a comprehensive and truly actionable business plan, that will grow your profits and give you more time to work ON your business, just give us a call on 01788 297 004, or email zoerussell@actioncoach.com, and she will set up a FREE, no obligation chat with me to see how we might be able to help you.