How to Plan Strategically In Your Business

We have all heard the quote, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail” by Sir Winston Churchill. What we don’t hear is how to actually plan! So today, I am going to share with you my system for planning that allows me to stay organized and hit milestones in my business that I am truly proud of.

#1. BIG GOAL SETTING

"IF YOU AIM FOR NOTHING, YOU’LL HIT IT EVERY TIME”!.

It’s important to set goals, no matter where you are in your business.  It could be to hit a certain revenue goal, bring on a certain number of clients, have extra spending money, take a vacation this year or just to make an impact in your client’s business.   Whatever it is, write it down the big goal and map it backwards into more achievable bites and tasks.

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Based.

One thing I touched on in a previous post is that I also started implementing Quarterly Goal Setting meetings with my Project Manager to make sure we are on track to hit our goals. It is so important to look at things that are not working in your business and how you can improve them or come up with something that will get better results, plus two minds are better than one!

#2. BREAKING IT DOWN

How do you break it all down? Well they say how do you eat an elephant, not all at once, but in small bites.  Now I don’t know where that phrase came from and its kind of gross, but so true. When a goal seems overwhelming or you have all these projects and clients all at once you have to break it up and plan it out.

Create small actionable items that can be repeated either weekly or daily until you reach that mini goal, finish that project or task.  Use a system that help you keep on track ( I am outlining the ones I use below).

Plan out your week ahead of time.   I take about an hour each Sunday night to take a look at what I have for the week, schedule in my self care time which for me includes the gym, eating lunch (yes I have to remind myself) and doing something once a month to pamper myself such as a facial, hair appt or just lunch with a friend.   I have 3 kids so my work time is precious and if I can plan out my week ahead of time I can focus starting Monday morning and not waste time figuring out what I need to do.

Check off your to-dos.  I have a project manager program that lists out my tasks for each day of the week.  I try to not schedule to many things so I don’t end up with overwhelm or get that feeling of not getting everything accomplished during the week when something pops up that’s out of your control.  I have gotten better at this by not adding to much to my plate and also getting help for the small tasks. I don’t know about you but checking all those tasks off and seeing you got everything done at the end of the day is just so rewarding, so give yourself a pat on the back.