The power of planning
If I told you that planning would give you more sales, more clients, more control over your day, less overwhelm and more freedom to do the things you love, would you do it?
Well, as a business owner you’d be daft not to. But the reality is that a large proportion of small business owners are without a current business plan and don’t regularly use any kind of structured planning in their business!
Why plan?
I guess that business planning gets a bit of a bad rap. It’s certainly not as sexy as marketing or social media is it?
A lot of the time that’s based on pre-conceptions that business planning’s boring, it’s not relevant to small businesses or solopreneurs because it’ll just sit in a folder and never get used. And then, there’s just the plain old overwhelm of all the templates, advice, workshops and blueprints for successful planning that are out there in the marketplace.
I realise that through my own business and corporate experience I was really lucky to have been involved in strategic and operational planning on lots of different levels. I spent a lot of time with my department heads planning… sales, marketing, campaigns, business development, recruitment, finance, budgets – you name it, it was planned.
Most people haven’t had that kind of exposure. For many, it’s all been done for them. People go to work, do their job and then go home. Thinking about business planning isn’t on their radar and why would it be? It’s all done somewhere in the background and decided by others.
So when women choose to run their own businesses and be their own boss they’re often not quite sure where to start.
And being confused about where to start can become a scary and overwhelming place, and understandably so. When overwhelm starts, we give in to those nasty annoying voices that tell us we’re crap and we can’t do it, we’re an imposter and we’ll never run a successful business.
And that’s bullsh*it!
If you don’t have a plan then start one
There’s no absolute right or wrong. Any plan is better than no plan!
The 90 Day Business Planning cycle is an excellent place to start and I do this with the members of my Brilliant Business Women Community every quarter. You can start this type of planning at any point in the year. It doesn’t have to be at the start of a month or quarter. Just draw a line under what went before and start from there.
The beauty of 90 days is that it’s short enough to keep you focused and on track and long enough to start to see the results of your actions.
A few tips:
Take a temperature check – where are you right now in your business? Be honest about your figures around sales, income, expenses, clients, mailing lists etc. Whatever information you have then capture it to give you a true picture.
Where do you want to be in 90 days? That time can go pretty quickly so be realistic about where you want to be in your journey towards your compelling vision.
What’s the GAP? The gap can be the scary thing that most of us try to ignore but when we know what the gap is then we have the knowledge and power to make choices to close that gap.
Outcome focused action plans are essential for you to stick to your own path and not be distracted by any shiny objects on the way! They give you the ability to break things down into manageable chunks and plan out what you’ll be doing weekly, monthly or quarterly.
I want you to know that a more structured approach to planning can be the difference between floating around comparing yourself with everyone else and being distracted by shiny objects to actually acting like you’re the CEO of your business and knowing what direction you’re headed in.
When it’s your business, then it’s your plan and when it’s your plan, you get to make the rules!
Just do it!
Traditional “planning” doesn’t always come naturally. So, work with what’s best for you.
Find out what works for you:
If you need to have printouts of images in a notebook or on a vision board then fine.
If you want post-it notes around your lap top screen that’s ok.
If you need to be held accountable for your actions, then get support.
We aren’t all the same and it’s finding the right medium for you to be strategic in your business without feeling hemmed in.
Start off small.
One thing at a time.
The Plan, Do, Review cycle is a great way to get into a routine.
It’s a brilliant way to keep you focused, build a habit and get to see those steps that are taking you forward. It’s also a fantastic way of noticing quickly if anything isn’t right or you want to make changes. Every week:
Review your plan.
Understand where you are.
Understand why you’re there.
And then plan ahead for the action you’ll take the following week.
It’s a continuous cycle of working on and in your business.
And yes, I’m not just talking about planning, I’m talking about taking action. Because when you have an outcome focused action plan you’re going to be building your own brilliant business and that is the most powerful thing in the world!
