New Year – New Direction and Goals
So a New Year – New direction and goals equals New beginnings! It’s time to take stock and refocus – assess where we want our businesses to be in a year from now.
How did your 2018 go?
Reflect on what has happened. Where are you now? Where do you want to be twelve months from now?
What is your specific plan for 2019 to blow it out of the water?
How do we plan to get there? Write it down.
A good place to start is the One Page Business Plan
It shouldn’t be complicated. If you want everyone in the company on the same page, then you need literally to get everything onto one page. The one-page strategy allows business leaders to boil everything down to its simplest form and align it with core values, purpose, a BHAG (big hairy audacious goal) and action items.
In short: every company with revenue at or approaching $1 million, and up to $250 million, should create a one-page plan.
Here are the 4 Steps needed to complete a One Page Business Plan
Determine your Purpose or Core Values
The “should” and “should not’s” of the company are its values. What is the organisation at its core? Developing four to five core values is important to business identity and culture, but they shouldn’t be manufactured. Write them down. Don’t create new values unnecessarily.
Purpose is another consideration, and it goes hand-in-hand with core values. Why does the organisation exist? What’s its point? Getting a clear understanding of purpose and values is the first step toward creating strategies and plans.
Identify your BHAG.
Every business needs a big hairy audacious goal, or BHAG. This is the Everest the organisation will climb over the next 10 to 30 years. The goal can be qualitative or quantitative, but it should be measurable.The BHAG is where the company sees itself down the road, so all plans and strategies should work toward getting it there.It is good to remind ourselves that in business and in life, the journey, not the destination, is the reward.
Choose the right KPIs.
Strategies and plans need to be measured in a way that makes sense for the organisation. Key performance indicators and critical numbers should line up with the brand promises, and brand promises should reflect the core values and purpose.
Everything must be aligned.
At that point, by using actual quantitative metrics to guide people within the business, you can easily measure the success of individuals and teams. When teams reach their goals, reward their performance. Choose rewards that align with the brand.
Break it all down into action items that are accountable and ‘owned.’
To achieve the key metrics needed, everyone at the company needs a clear role and understanding of his or her responsibilities. So, assign action items to specific people and set straightforward expectations. Inform everyone on roles and responsibilities throughout the company: Teams need to know who is doing what to avoid confusion and to get the work done efficiently.
If not, as the plan changes, responsibilities may get blurred.
It should be a dynamic process that changes on a regular basis. The faster you grow, the more often you update it.
There’s an old quote I love…
“If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time” – Zig Ziglar
Certainly, it’s great to have a flawless business plan, your sales figures right and your market- and consumer-behaviour analysis near perfect. But this is not usually the case — regardless of those midnight inspirations, the feverish work, plans drawn up with angel investors. Instead, an entrepreneur with big ambitions should pursue six distinct strategies:
- Build a business plan.
- Get an advisor/partner.
- Define branding and marketing strategy.
- Get help.
- Create a budget-friendly marketing plan
- Be nimble, for a business pivot.