How do I implement my Business Plan?

So Much to do In My Business

As a business mentor,  I  often  hear small business owners say  they have so many things to do in business all at once,  and are often by themselves. 

So while thinking about their Purpose and Values, clients also need to be served,  and the bottom line needs to be fed… so strategising, planning, goal setting, building a new compelling business proposition, target marketing, cash flow and profit and loss projecting (and the list goes on) might be great in theory,  but how do you make time and tackle these as well as  run a business and a life at the same time?

Nobody I talk to dismisses strategy and planning as unnecessary.  It’s just that allocating real time is difficult.  But really it is “How do I actually go about understanding and then doing these things and in what sequence and with measurable expectations?”…..”Also don’t assume that if I make the time that I will know what and how to implement”

The answer lies firstly in a mindset change. “If I do these things just because someone tells me to, then my approach risks being incremental and uncoordinated”.

Setting yourself  up for success with a plan

If your mindset seeks to understand first how doing these things will better point and grow your business, then  by setting yourself  up for success with a plan, directions and stepped measurable goals then it makes sense that you will see the value in investing and allocating your time.

Secondly, if your mindset is up for a new way, seek some help from others who have navigated how you go about developing a strategy and then a plan with sensible and measurable time bound stepped goals to deliver on your priorities. I.e. how you actually choose to work ON your business alongside IN your business. Easier said than done!

One way of tackling this mindset change and cement the discipline of balancing the ON and IN the business priority, is to carve out some dedicated time away from your business, preferably with like-minded business owners who are also trying to solve this jigsaw.

Collaboration with likeminded people will accelerate your strategy and plan building and importantly will help form-up the real and measurable time bound goals needed to achieve your plan.

More importantly this collaboration will help you test your proposition and unearth who can help you decipher what needs to be done and who can help get it done. Even more importantly will be learning from others to implement and sustain how to keep yourself accountable working ON your business as a priority.

Great timing for seeking out a collaborative likeminded environment is before the end of a financial year (May) or my preference before the start of the next calendar year (Oct) so that you hit the ground running with goals set and ready once you have refreshed from the New Year break.

Tips and tools to get things done

Search for and choose practical business programs that will deliver this likeminded group and objective. Pay particular attention to the content with real tips and tools to get things done:

-         how to set your goals in the context of a strategy,

-         deciphering those aspects that you are not an expert in and

-         how to go about setting goals and getting these done and

-         being accountable

Leigh Powell is a business strategist and mentor with yourtimematters.com.au specialising in helping businesses build a compelling proposition that solves real problems focussing less on “what” a business does and more on translating the “value delivered” to a client and the “impact” this has on their business.

Contact Leigh to discuss your strategy or have Leigh speak at your next event.