I know… the idea of business planning gets a big groan from most entrepreneurs. What I know for sure is that coaches who do some planning usually do better financially than those who don’t. My first big profit year came for me the first year I planned my business.
Start with a discovery process. The result is a solid jumping-off-place for a more fun and profitable year.
Powerful Questions to Ask Yourself
1. What are your personal goals for the year?
- What is your theme for this year? It could be about the phase of your business or about a mindset you want to cultivate. Mine for this year is EASE.
- What are the best times for your vacations? Always get family and me-time into your calendar first. I like to plan 3 weeks off at a time, even if some of it is stay-at-home time.
- How do you want your work time to flow? For me, Mondays – Wednesdays are open for clients and consults. Thursdays are for business development. I’m off Friday, Saturday and Sunday!
2. What are your number goals?
- How much revenue would you like to earn?
- How much profit are you aiming for?
- How much would you like to grow your list?
3. What improvements will you make to your biz?
- What could be better leveraged?
- What needs to go away?
- Is it time to grow beyond 1:1 services to products or group programs?
4. Who are your ideal clients now?
- What specific characteristics or traits do your best individual clients have going for them? For example, my ideal clients love entrepreneurship, they want to jump up a level, and they want to be well known for the transformation they provide.
5. Who do you want to play with?
- What types of colleagues, promotional partners and spheres of influence would you like to play with this year?
- Who could help you grow your list, get you in front of your target audience, or collaborate well with you?
- How will you find them and develop relationships of trust?
6. How many promotional campaigns will you run?
- What will you offer and at what price?
- How many enrollments would you like?
- What’s the promotional period?
- How can you give yourself plenty of time to complete each campaign boldly and without overwhelm?
Most entrepreneurs forget to plan well thought out promotional strategies and that keeps their results small. Don’t worry about the details yet, just get down the number of campaigns what you’re offering and the launch dates. Later, you can chunk down the details.
7. What support systems do you need to ease your way?
- Who can help shorten your learning curves?
- What 3rd party systems or software will assist you?
- Who do you want on your team? Is it time for you to have a VA or assistant?
After these seven steps, you’ll want to create a task list and timing and action calendar.
Let’s get a discussion going about biz planning: Did I forget anything you’d include? What’s been holding you back from planning in the past? How has planning helped you have better results?
