Every year business owners abandon their annual planning goals because they lack a clear purpose, and have not laid the foundation for To plan means you have a purpose in mind. While tactics and strategies to achieve the goals set forth might change the PLAN, the foundation for what you want to accomplish shouldn’t.
Here’s how to lay the foundation for planning annual goals for 2023.
Planning is a natural human instinct that we do in our everyday lives, in our professional life and personal life.
But a lot of us don’t do it well.
Let’s look at the definition of planning in a business context.
“Planning is the fundamental management function, which involves deciding beforehand, what is to be done, when it is to be done, how it is to be done and who is going to do it. It is an intellectual process which lays down an organization’s objectives and develops various courses of action, by which the organization can achieve those objectives. It chalks out exactly how to attain a specific goal.” (Business Jargons)
Now you may have a million goals that you have in your business but obviously, there’s only one of you.
The best way to decide what should be your priorities for the next year is to evaluate how much control you have over what it is that you hope to achieve
Understanding what things you can and can’t control is a good starting point, and from there you can divide your plan into three categories: “needs”, “wants”, and “would like to's”.
The goal of any planning should be to propel the business until it reaches the level of success as defined by the organization so planning should encompass all of these characteristics in some capacity to be successful. We talk about this more in this ActionTIP video.
So, to start, get some clarity on what you’d like to achieve in the next 3 years. This should ideally be something you’ve decided when you first started your business and that you should be thinking about regularly. Some examples could include: opening a new location, retiring, hiring x amount of people or selling the business.
With that in mind, what is it you’d like to achieve in the next 12 months? Using your three-year plan as a guide you can decide what needs to happen over the next year so that you can achieve those.
Once you’ve got the 12 months goals, break them down and work backwards to what needs to be done in the next 90 days only. Start the planning at that level and first get good at creating a 90-day plan, like ActionCOACH’'s GrowthCLUB. This can be broken down into monthly focus areas and weekly goals, plans, and actions that again connect to the 90-day goals.
Remember that any and all goals for your organization should be SMART, Smart, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. Making sure you’re adhering to this is the best way to ensure success for all planning activities.
When you consider success, it is not by accident that people achieve great things, use a systemized approach
Success does not happen spontaneously. It requires input and effort. Success requires focus and dedication over time.
Whether you are working on a business, a relationship, or on health goals, you can apply the formula for success that ActionCOACH coaches its clients on.
Big, audacious, massive dreams are the first variables in the formula. But dreams that aren’t written and aren’t shared are just wishes. Without being brave enough to write your ‘crazy’ dreams down, they are just intangible thoughts. They never get any traction because the unwritten can not be solidified. They are amorphous, lacking real power to help you drive for change.
Now you are at the point where you must act. Get started. Work on your plan. Action might lead to failure, which means you need to go back to your learning and planning stages and rethink your strategy. Don’t consider a setback as a roadblock or the end. It is a directional beacon leading you into a new direction for success. But you must get a result.
I highly suggest that you sign up for our next GrowthCLUB session. GrowthCLUB is a Quarterly workshop which was started to help clients and their management team plan and prepare their 90-day plan.
Reach out to us today to talk about how you can become a part of our next GrowthCLUB.
I am a certified Business Coach, providing business help, business advice, business coaching and mentoring services to successful and emerging business owners. I have a passion for helping businesses like yours grow and become profitable, so you, the business owner can enjoy the lifestyle you deserve.
As your Business Coach and advisor, I will help you deliver the results you desire using proven tools, methodologies and systems, tested and perfected over tens of thousands of businesses worldwide for over more than two decades. I will hold you accountable for your results and just like a sports coach, push you to perform at optimal levels. Let's schedule a complimentary Business Coaching session to get started.