day 5: strategic action plan

Create Your Business Road Map

I am thrilled you care so much about your small business.  That means you may have to do some work if you plan to get any benefit from it. I assure you that, even if you just do the exercises from the previous weeks and never follow through - you will get significant benefit from it.

If you follow through, you may find that it will change your life.

It may seem strange to start the process of helping you to achieve your goals by asking you to make some lists. Without this, you won't know what you've got to work with.  I have seen friends and colleagues spent more time planning their weekend getaways or school holiday vacation than they do planning their futures. The exceptions are the true successes in life. 

So, what do you really want?

You have worked hard on your Day1 - Day4 strategic action plan in the past weeks, you have made it this far - it is now time to create the road map that you will be working by over the information you've captured and create a month by month plan for action. The key to remember is your success is dependent on your action. If you do all this work and never take any action on it - you have wasted a bunch of time. Time is money and time you do not have to waste - agree?

So here we go - let's take those goals you created last week and break them down into achievable pieces. The best way to do that is to brainstorm each goal at a time. When you are brainstorming, thoughts come randomly. Write down what you think of. You can put them in order later. Don't bother to do it now because it will interrupt  the flow of the process and you won't come up with near as good of a list.

I have an example for you. Goal: Find a product that provides 'passive income' for your business.

Brainstorm action list:

1. Check website stats for what people are searching on. If you do not have a website then get in touch with me here. I would love to  help you with that.
2. Review client records for "need to have" theme.
3. Conduct survey of clients to determine wants and needs.
4. Determine best format for product - video, book, membership, etc
5. Identify costs to deliver
6. Create product, or secure other complimentary products
   
7. Announce to current clients and prospects
8. Advertise - online and offline

Once you've created the action item brainstorm list for each goal. You'll need to put them in order and assign a projected completion date. The easiest way to do that is to decide on a completion date for your goal, then put your brainstormed list of action items in reverse order. Identify the last thing you need to do for the goal to be completed first, then work backwards. If you missed an action item, add it into your list. Make sure you assign each action item a realistic date as you move through the process. You can pick up my free Action Plan Template here.

The best way to get these accomplished is to use a project management approach. Here is one of the coolest, easiest books geared toward small business owners that will help you do just that.

That's it. You are done - see how simple that was? Now you have a plan to work from to achieve your goals for next year. But remember having a plan does not change anything. Working the plan does. The key to successfully working a plan is to keep it front and center. Your plan should drive your daily activities. Bounce everything you do each day against your action plan and decide whether it's going to help you achieve the goals you've established.

Next week, I will touch base on this subject to ensure you are on track with your action planning and making your way to reaching your goals.

Got any question - get in touch with me - I would love to hear from you.

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