It’s coming up to the silly season. Lots of merriment and parties before Christmas. Not a lot gets done. Or does it?
Back in the 70’s, 80’s and even early 90’s that was the case. It seemed everyone outside of retail mentally switched off between Melbourne Cup – for those of you not in Australia, the first Tuesday in November till about late January the next year.
But no more.
Smart business owners realise following Zig Ziglar’s dictum of, “Work when others play so you can play when others work” is just good business sense.
If external business has slowed down, take advantage of the quiet time to sit down and plan for next year.
What’s your vision for the year ahead? How about 2 to 3 years rolling forward? What goals do you want to achieve? What steps must you take to achieve them?
When considering, reflect on this year. What’s worked? What hasn’t? If you had your time again what would you do differently?
What mindset do you need to progress? What level of commitment? If you have a team is everyone on board with the same level of commitment? Realise it only takes one to sabotage your efforts either overtly or more insidiously covertly.
Once you’ve clarified your vision, you need to have a strategy and plan to execute it. Anything else is wishful thinking.
Here’s a simple analogy.
Vision: You want to travel from Sydney to Melbourne. Why do you want to go? This is a critical point often overlooked. Unless you have a compelling reason, you’re unlikely to be able to bring people along with your vision. And you may give up when the going gets tough as it inevitably will.
Strategy: It’s about 1000Km. You could fly, drive, take a train, ride a pushbike or even hitchhike. Depending on your choice you’ll need a specific plan.
Plan: Say you’re driving. Which route will you take? Inland or coast road? Will you drive straight through or stop overnight and if so where?
Goals & Milestones: What markers tell you you’re still on track? Road signs? How will you know you’ve arrived in Melbourne? Where in Melbourne constitutes the finish line?
You get the point.
Back to your business strategy.
Take the time to work on your vision. What you’d really love to achieve in the next 1, 3, 5 years. And work on a way to get there.
Detail what you need to do in the next year. Decide on milestones that tell you you’re on track. Think in terms of 90 day chunks. What can you realistically achieve in 90 days.
Then determine what you’ll do every month and at the beginning of each, every week.
And execute!
Remember a strategy and plan on paper is just that. Paper. Unless you take action and are accountable for getting it done nothing will change and you’ll look back on the year and be disappointed at your lack of results.
Having said all this, I know just how hard it is to strategize and plan in isolation.
If you would like help codifying your vision, creating a strategy and plan as well as putting it into action, our coaching and mentoring programs will keep you on track.
Think of it as buying money at a discount. By investing in yourself and your business you’ll get a multiplier effect ROI.
Call Rashid on 0414 913 334 to get started.
