Business Planning Tip #1:
Why do small business owners consider business planning torture when Fortune 500 companies think it’s so important they devote whole departments to it?
If you really want to grow your business you need to plan at least once a year, better still once a quarter.
And you really should look at business planning as a luxury that you should enjoy because it is the one time a year that you get to stand back and look at how your business is doing rather than working IN your business. After all, it’s your business, so don’t you want it to run the way that you envisioned, generating the income you want and giving you the time that you want?
When you think of writing an annual plan for your business, do your palms sweat? Do you envision bamboo sticks being slowly driven under your fingernails? Why is it that so many small and medium-sized business owners think of business planning as nothing but pure torture, when in big business – especially publicly-traded businesses – planning is thought of so highly that most Fortune 500 companies have dedicated planning departments? Fundamentals still apply whether a business has one employee, or 100,000. And planning is still the most effective way to realize your goals and create more time to develop and grow your business.
As the Commander-in-Chief of your own business, you are certainly entitled to do what you want and most self-owned business owners prefer to focus on the doing far more than on the planning.
Which brings to mind the adage that, “everything worth doing is worth doing over…”
So the result is that most small and medium business owners know deep down that they need to plan, but find a million reasons not to and they let their businesses simply drift along, mired in the immediate events of the day.
Certainly, when you got started in your business, you never expected to deal with so many issues every day. So one year goes by and then the next and then five years go by and then ten years go by and you are still running on that hamster wheel wondering what happened to your dreams and your goals. Your spouse or partner vaguely remembers you and if you have them, your kids keep forgetting your name so they just call you “ma’am,” or “sir.”
Does it have to be this way? The answer, of course, is no.
Moreover, as the owner of your own business, you should consider business planning to be a luxury that you actually ENJOY doing at least once a year and even better, once a quarter. Why? Because it is one of the rare times when you can step back and look at your business rather than working in your business.
It gives you the chance to determine how to use your time to get the most value out of your business, so you don’t have to keep doing business the same way until you drop. It helps you define and grow your most valuable asset, so that one day you can give it to someone else to manage for you, or sell it at a price that will allow you to retire the way you want.
Written by Coach Josh Slavitt, pictured here with his son Liam
Are you interested in business planning and planning out the next quarter of your business? Here is how you can take the next step:
1.) Attend our GrowthCLUB – 90 Day Planning Session on December 11th to register CLICK HERE
2.) Contact ActionCOACH NOW at 203 210 7003
3.) Attend one of our upcoming seminars
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