Have a plan, work it and stick to it

If you fail to plan you plan to fail! Not rocket science but it is the number one thing small business owners do not do for themselves. Most people know how to put a plan together then fail to follow three simple rules to make it work, here they are:

Rule number 1. – Time is a plan’s best friend

Allocate your business time, for a business to become profitable it needs time.

• Set realistic time frames for when you can and will get things done, the quickest way to stop taking action is to set unrealistic timeframes and become overwhelmed when you do not meet them.
• Give an idea an opportunity to work, announcing your business to the world today may not result in a sale immediately, give it time to work and for your customers to get used to seeing your business name and it’s benefits to them.
• Allow time for marketing activity each day. Even when your business is flourishing still allocate time to promotional activities.
• Manage yourself so that you use time productively, notice it is not time that needs to be managed, it is YOU!
• Set schedules, checklists and accountability into your day, if you cannot do it yourself engage a business coach, mentor or manager who can assist you.

Rule number 2. – All Activities must be on the plan

All activities that you undertake for your business must be productive for the business.

• Ensure you are focussed on moving forward and DOLLAR PRODUCTIVE activities, filing and sorting paperwork is for out of dollar productive time or to be outsourced
• Asses each activity for the relevance to getting to your goals, if the activity does not directly relate to you getting your goal do not do it!

Rule number 3. – Don’t over complicate it

Do what works best for you, there are literally thousands of formats you can use to develop plans for your business you need to pick a combination that works best for you.

At a minimum your plan needs to include:

• What you are trying to achieve (or your goals)
• The actions that you need to take to get you there
• Who specifically will do what by when and
• How you will measure and manage your return on investment.

We have a rule of thumb if can’t fit a project on one page, then we have over complicated it!

Sue Henry is a networking expert and author (Network or Perish 7 Accelerate: How to accelerate your business, your networking skills & yourself).  She is in demand as a public speaker, motivator and small business expert. Visit www.suehenry.biz for further information.