Are you planning an awesome 2022?
At the end of every year, most of us start to think about our plans for the next.
Some of us make New Years' resolutions.
To do more exercise or lose a few pounds after the excesses of Christmas.
As a business owner, you are probably starting to think about your business plans and goals.
What do you want to achieve?
Perhaps start with a reflection on this year.
How has it gone?
As planned?
Or have you not been as productive as you had hoped?
In my experience, the start of a new year means lots of optimistic goals.
But then the reality of working in the business means that you don't have any time to achieve those goals.
By the end of January, these plans have got waylaid. You are stuck in the day to day minutiae of the business.
So, how can you plan to make 2022 the absolute best it can be?
Without a goal, you are just going through the motions.
Without a plan, that goal is really just a wish.
You wish to launch that new product, but you have no way of knowing if, when or how you will do it.
So, to achieve big things requires a goal and a plan on how to get there.
Review year before. - You need to know your starting point. How have you found the past year? Has it gone to plan, or have you realised that some things do not work out for you?
Perhaps some working processes could change?
Perhaps there has not been enough revenue, or you know that you need to improve marketing?
Goals for 2022 - Now you know your starting point, you can think about what you would like to change.
How do you want to work in 2022?
How would you like your business to look?
Perhaps you want to make changes that have more of an impact on your lifestyle - work fewer hours or change the workload so that you can reduce stresses?
Make a list of all you would like to achieve throughout the year.
Launch a new website?
Drop a day a week?
Have a holiday?
Sales targets?
Revenue targets?
Plan out the route. - There will be a route to achieving each of those goals. You need to think about what is required to get you to where you want to be.
How much do you need to increase revenue to achieve a specific sales figure next year?
If you want to drop a day each week, what can you do to reduce your workload? Do you need to look at outsourcing? Or perhaps you need to hire someone?
Break each of your goals down into smaller chunks.
As the saying goes, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
Once you know the route to achieve your goal, think about all of the tasks to fulfil that route.
Now you have essentially written the MOTHER of all to-do lists. But this is for a WHOLE year.
You simply need to schedule these tasks in your diary, calendar, or however you managed your schedule.
Schedule -
You can even break the big goals down further and set mini-goals for each quarter.
Perhaps you want to launch a new product.
The goal for the first quarter could be to develop that product.
The aim for the second quarter could be to finalise branding or packaging for the product.
The third quarter could focus on the marketing plan.
And the final quarter is for the launch.
So now you have 3 months to achieve each of these smaller goals.
Perhaps, for the 3rd quarter, you need to arrange the marketing for the product.
The first month would be planning and getting creative with your ideas.
The second month would be producing the marketing material.
This could be the photography, or you might decide to make some videos or write the advertising copy.
Whatever is needed for the marketing will be made within this second month.
The third and final month of the 'marketing' quarter would be implementation. Posting and scheduling all of the marketing you have already made in the last month.
So you can see, by breaking the product launch down into essentially 12 smaller chunks, it is much more achievable.
Make time -
Because you have broken things down to being 12 smaller tasks, you know that you only have to make time, within that month, for the planned work to be done.
Realistically it is probably just a day or so each month. I'm sure that you can find that time?
And the way to make sure that you find the time? Block it out.
No appointments, calls, meetings. Be strict and plan this out in advance.
You could say, for example, that the second Thursday of every month is to focus on this big goal.
And then stick to it!
Without a goal or a plan, you will not go out of business, but your growth will be minimised, and your marketing will be unstructured.
Effectively your business is running you, not you running the business.
This method is not just for business. It can be used for all aspects of life.
Perhaps the goal is to fit into a particular outfit by October 2022.
Assess how you want to 'look' and where you are now.
What do you need to do to fit in the dress? Lose 5 pounds, or tone up?
Say the weight loss is the goal.
Break it down into smaller, more manageable chunks.
Between now and October, there are 10 months, and you want to lose 5 pounds. That means that you need to lose half a pound per month.
Is this realistic? And achievable?
I think so.
But how are you going to manage this monthly target?
By eating a little bit less and moving a little bit more.
So, you follow a healthier diet and plan each week to do some exercise.
Without this structure, you MAY achieve your goals.
With a plan in place, there is no reason that you would not reach them.
This is how businesses progress and grow.
Sometimes they wing it, and sometimes that works.
But, to see progression without feeling overwhelmed, simply make a plan.
