People will spend countless hours planning for one week of their year, their vacation. They may even spend months planning where they will go, when they will arrive, what they will wear, what they will do while they are there, who will go with them, how much they will spend, and when they will return. They will hire experts to make the arrangements, give them advice, and ensure they are getting the most for their money. Yet they will leave the other 51 weeks of their year (their life) to chance.
It’s time to stop leaving your business, your livelihood, to chance. Your life is too precious. You, your products and services are too valuable. Your quality of life is too important to merely show up and hope for the best every day.
Are you working toward something or merely showing up to work every day?
If you’re like the many business owners I’ve worked with you probably show up to work every day do the work that you think needs to be accomplished.
Or you’ve written a business plan at some point. Maybe you needed a business plan to obtain financing for a bank. If that’s the case my guess is that it’s sitting on a shelf collecting dust.
Your business plan must be a live working document that you follow. It’s the roadmap to your success!
Where are you going? (What are your goals?)
What needs to happen to reach your goals?
Who needs to do what to ensure you reach your goals?
What time frame will you reach them in?
If you goal was to lose 50 pounds, do you want to lose it by December or July? They are very different plans.
Your plan must be specific and time driven.
I’ve met with many business owners who said my goal is to make more money this year than last year. My response is always the same. “So if you made .25 more this year than last year you would be happy with those results?”
Making more money isn’t a sufficient goal. It’s not specific. How much more money would you like to earn? Is that revenue or net income?
Let’s look at what a strategic plan may look like in this scenario.
Goal: Generate $100,000.00 in additional revenue by December 20, 2020.
Now it’s time to break it down in to smaller goals that get you to the large goal.
- Sell 10 new cars with an average dollar sale of $10,000.00
What needs to happen to sell 10 cars with an average dollar sale of $10,000.00?
| Schedule weekly goal meeting with team | 01/05/2020 | Me |
| Calculate average dollar sale | 01/15/2020 | Brian |
| Define target market | 01/22/2020 | Stephanie |
| Determine marketing budget and expected ROI | 01/22/2020 | Ally |
| Determine marketing medium | 02/05/2020 | Mason |
| Create system to measure leads, conversion rate and average dollar sale | 02/12/2020 | Addison |
| Schedule recurring time on calendar to market | 02/20/2020 | Ettalynn |
| Market to target audience two times per week | 02/20/2020 | Julius |
| Determine greatest opportunity for improvement (leads, conversion, average dollar sale based on results | 03/01/2020 | Me, Brian, Stephanie, Ally, Mason, Addison, Ettalynn, Julius |
| Create plan for improvement | 03/08/2020 | Me, Brian, Stephanie, Ally, Mason, Addison, Ettalynn, Julius |
| Implement plan for improvement | 03/15/2020 | Me |
While this plan is a high-level example, you can clearly see that the goal is specific and there are action items that drive the success of reaching the goal. It needs to be visited and updated on a consistent basis. It also gives you the ability to focus on what actions you must take to achieve your goals, the what, the who, and the when.
Creating and following a strategic business plan
- Provide clear direction
- Measure your success
- Ensure you achieve your goals
- Stop just showing up every day