If you're already dreading Christmas and New Year because your new business is going to take up all your free time - don't panic, you've got 90 days to plan for it... And plan for the best start to next year!
Depending on when you’re reading this, there’s’ around 90 days until Christmas and the beginning of the end of the year – that means time away from your desk and time with friends and family.
I always think this is a great time to put aside some headspace for planning your business activities for the most festive part of the year and of course, how to make a really positive start next year.
I’ve got 10 considerations for you, to help you make the best of your new business year...
Why make a 90-day plan?
Planning your business activities helps you to highlight where you want your business to be in a year’s time, why that goal is important and what activities you need to undertake to get you there.
The plan helps you stay focused on the activities that will bring the greatest value and keep you from being distracted by other shiny things!
Yes, your ultimate goal may take longer than 3 months to achieve, but clearly stating where you want to be in 12 months will help keep you on the right track.
Part of making this annual plan is that you can visualise your end goal, but also break down your 365-day marathon into shorter manageable 90-day ‘sprints’.
10 tips for planning your business activities
- Gather your numbers; any previous analytics you have, old plans and any reviews or debriefs that explain how your business has changed since you began
- Find time away from your day-to-day duties in your business – a change of location removes distractions and aids creative thinking – some people like to hire a ‘hot-desk’ or visit a quiet corner of a pub or café
- Look at your vision for the year and break it down into four stages – what can you do in each 90-day sprint to help you get there?
- Set a growth vision for the next 90 days. Apply the SMART goal principles of goal planning, in particular make it realistic and achievable. Is there one theme you can work on, one priority?
- Clarify your reason why the next 90 days are important and find a way to communicate this to others essential to your success
- Plan for the obstacles that could interrupt or risk your achievement. Think about constraints on your finances, leads, time, skill and knowledge – how can you overcome these obstacles before they happen?
- Decide on the activities for the next 90 days that will bring you the biggest gains, get you closer to the next sprint, give you the highest pay offs. Can you do them? Do you need to look at learning new software, adopting automation, or outsourcing to help you?
- Block out time in your calendar to work on the activities that will scale your business. Give yourself permission to stop working IN your business so you can work ON it. Perhaps even create some intentions or affirmations to help you move away from being busy
- Think about how you will track your progress and measure how successful your achievements have been in scaling your business. This way you can decide if your goals can be bigger, harder or if you can take more risks next time
- Be accountable to your plan – be honest, were you too ambitious, or not ambitious enough? Did you change your habits of being busy, so you had time to scale your business? Were your intentions and vision clear and specific enough?
Mike Foster
Entrepreneurs Mentor
