I have a book called The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday & Stephen Hanselman – it was given to me by my Accountancy Coach, and it has 366 Meditations on wisdom, perseverance, and the art of living.
“BE the person you want to be”
It has a wisdom per day and one over the weekend was entitled “Be the person you want to be”. This is very relevant to us as business owners as it talks about deciding what kind of person you want to be, then do what you have to do to achieve it. The example it gives, is an athlete and how they first have to choose the sport and then go away and put the effort in by training hard to perfect their sport.
The example given is an archer, who is highly unlikely to hit a target they did not aim for, the same goes for you, whatever your target is.
I think the parallels to business are obvious here, if you don’t know where you are going and have a written down plan, then take action you are never going to achieve your goals and potential. We live in a world where we are told you can achieve anything you want, and whilst in a lot of cases (not all) this is true you still have to put the work in, putting many hours of practice, through hard work and toil to achieve whatever it is you want.
The article then goes on to say spend some time – real, uninterrupted time thinking on what’s important to you, what your priorities are. Then, work towards that, it really isn’t enough to wish and hope. One must act and act right.
So the art of planning is essential in being successful!
Now is as good time as any to reflect and Plan
As 2020 and 2021 were extremely hard for a lot of business owners due to the Covid-19 pandemic lock downs, it was completely unique and unprecedented. In many cases it completely blew them off course and affected any plans they may have had. Maybe it is time now, for some serious reflection and doing things differently.
Some of the most successful business owners in the UK hit the ground running and moved forward quickly as consumer confidence returned. The reason they were able to do that is they had gone through a planning session, and had a clear written plan with carefully thought-out actions, goals, and clearly defined milestones to achieve that goal.
A written down Plan
We find that the most successful business owners we work with have a written down business plan -it doesn’t have to be onerous, in fact a one page carefully thought-out plan is sufficient!
We offer a half-day session planning session for our clients where they can come in and do a Face-to-Face session (or a zoom session if they prefer) where we will guide them through the process and at the end of it, they will have a plan that will have their: –
- Purpose
- Vision
- Values
- Key Performance Indicators
- Ideal target Client defined
- Value proposition for customers
- Opportunities
- Vulnerabilities/Threats
- Most critical challenge
- High level budget figures for the year
- Goals broken down into 90 days actions
The Sat Nav for your business
In order to be successful in business, you need to know where you are currently and where you are going, and this one-page plan makes it super clear and helps you to focus.
If you’d like to know more about a 1/2 day planning session and what it can do for your business, call 0161 410 0020 or email [email protected] for a free no obligation chat.