Are We There Yet?
"Hey Coach, I wrote a business plan, now what do I do with it?" That is a question I am asked often as the average business owner writes a plan to obtain funding and then like a tax return, hides this document in a drawer somewhere. A well crafted business plan will have an executive summary worthy of regular review. My own preference is a strategic plan or a succinct One Page Plan® that will give you, the owner, a view of what needs to be done to achieve the business's goals. When these are used and reviewed, they may even serve as a road map for the business in the owner's absence. You will also know when you arrive at your success!
An active business thriving for growth and profitability will want to know the next steps to success. Your plan will be relevant on a day to day basis, provide metrics to track the plan monthly and will answer these sustainability questions:
What are we building?
Why are we building it?
How will we build this business in our environment?
What results will we measure?
What work will be done?
Remember, you may believe as a business owner you are invincible but reality doesn't always happen according to your beliefs!
Copyright 2011 Linda Lucas Fayerweather
http://www.changinglanes.biz/
419-897-0528
linda@changinglanes.biz
Three Steps to Accountability
Making changes in routines and habits is hard for most people. We are creatures of our habits and many of our actions take place without much conscious effort or intention. Yet when we are attempting to achieve breakthrough revenue goals, we probably need to change something related to how we do business.
Committing to a stretch goal probably means we'll need to break some old habits, instill new behaviors and thought patterns that serve us, and muster the tenacity to maintain the awareness that it takes to take new actions consistently. That's the tough part! Here are three steps to make it easier for you:
1. Adopt a system of accountability - this works really well when implementing new behaviors to grow your business and increase your bottom line. Download a copy of my Daily Accountability Tracking Sheet here (http://www.salescoachforwomenentrepreneurs.com/freetools.html)
2. Each morning get into alignment with the new behaviors that you intend to take. That means, remind yourself of your WHY for attempting to breakthrough to new revenue numbers, remind yourself of the new actions that you plan to take that day (those actions that are on your Daily Accountability Tracking Sheet), and take a moment to feel how great it's going to be when you achieve the goals you've set.
3. In the evening, review how you did compared to your commitments on the tracking sheet. This step is not meant to make you feel bad, but is to help you learn about yourself and figure out what you could do differently if you didn't take the actions, and to celebrate the baby steps along the way to your goal, if you did.
You can use this process for any behavior changes you desire to make. It's an easy way to help you consciously incorporate the new behaviors you desire, on a daily basis, until they become your new habits.
Copyright 2011 Pat Altvater
http://www.salescoachforwomenentrepreneurs.com/
http://www.pataltvaterandassociates.com/
Partnering with women entrepreneurs to implement a sales process that brings them joy and increases their bottom line!
