All business owners know that one of the hardest things to do is take time out to review the health and direction of your own company, particularly in the busy times of the year.
Perhaps as you go through the Christmas gifts you've received this year, you might give yourself the most valuable gift of all—setting aside some time in the new year to review your progress and book a business planning session.
If you’re one or two years into your new venture, chances are you’ve already come out of the honeymoon period and you’re facing the tough realities of what running your own business actually entails. You might even feel pretty beaten up by the whole experience.
This is normal. It’s tough to run your own business and it’s even tougher to run one that makes good profits, that gives you some security and financial freedom, and that allows you to take a day off every now and again. All of which are vital to your ongoing state of mind, let alone the long-term viability of your business.
But it’s also true that sometimes we get caught in the weeds and can’t find our way out. We can’t see the solutions so we start to suspect they don’t exist. Well, they probably do exist, but often we need a fresh pair of eyes and ears to help us move forward.
That’s where a good business planning session with a team like ours can actually be just the thing you need.
When you weigh up the benefits of a planning session versus the time and energy it takes, it’s a no-brainer. In just one morning or afternoon session we can help you review and reset the direction of your business; we’ll help you make sure all the stakeholders’ goals are aligned; you’ll be able to identify achievable financial performance targets; you’ll get clarity on what it will take to achieve your goals and then how to be accountable to them; we’ll help you identify your unique critical challenges, as well as the opportunities in your business; you’ll set timeframes for achieving your key goals; and we can help you come up with new ways of communicating effectively to your team.
These are more than good business and accounting practices, they’re essential elements of what it takes to bring clarity to your business and give it direction. It may well be that a little clarity is all you need right now to take some pretty major steps forward.
If there’s one thing we’ve discovered in 30 years of business, it’s that it’s easy to make profits on a spreadsheet. It’s a little harder to know what steps you need to take in order to get there for real. But sometimes business planning can be overwhelming. Our strength is in being able to distill all your great ideas down to one or two things you need to do first. Our collaboration with you will help you set your priorities.
So, if your brain feels a little fried after trying everything you can think of to make your business a success, it may just mean you need a second brain to come alongside and help you look beyond the weeds to some practical steps forward.
Taking time out, relaxing in a different environment, letting someone else ask the tough questions for a few hours, could well be the best way for you to start your 2020 business plan.
Let’s talk about how we can achieve that together.