This time of the year many entrepreneurs are in a conundrum about working: When should I work? How much should I work? Should I offer that new service during this time of the year? After all, entrepreneurs are not immune to the enticement of having fun during the holidays and putting away their entrepreneurial concerns until next year.
It is tempting, isn’t it? Just let everything go and have fun? And I say you should have it, but do this one big thing first—plan for next year now. If you make your business plan now, you will not waste the first quarter of 2016 creating a plan to implement. You will already have it—ready to go.
You can design a simple business plan by thinking about 2016 as if it is already finished and it was the greatest year ever for you in your business and in your life.
Ask yourself the following questions about your business in 2016:
- How would you describe your business?
- What was your mission and vision?
- What were your financial goals?
- How did you accomplish them?
- What new services did you create?
- How much money did they make?
- What challenges did you overcome?
- How did you overcome them?
- How many new customers did you add to your customer list?
- What did you do to add new customers?
- What systems did you add to your infrastructure to make managing your business easier?
- How is your relationship with your vendors?
- Are they a referral source for you?
As you develop the answers to the above questions, write down the actions you will take make them happen. This is what I call, planning the future from the future.
You may want to add or subtract from this list of questions. Each business is different and has different needs. The point of this blog is to encourage you to plan now from the future for a brilliant 2016. You will be ready to go in January with a plan that is solid, and you will know the actions to take to make it happen just as you said it would.
If you get stuck or want to brainstorm, please call me. I am here for you.
