Are you focused on today, or where you want to be?
With small teams typically making up SME businesses the owner is often spending all day working in the business, making sales, solving burning issues and dealing with a mountain of phone calls and emails.
How often you take time out to consider what you want your business to be in a few years’ time, and how far you are along the journey. Without a firm destination, decisions are often ad hoc and a response to what is happening on the day.
What do you need to consider? It is a good idea to focus on a 3 to 5 year time frame.
- How big do you want your company to be? Where are you going to be operating? What products/services are you going to be offering?
- Who is your target market? Which customers should you be working with, or not working with?
- What level of quality of your product or service do you need to consistently deliver to your customers?
- What do you want your minimum standard of customer service to be?
- What is your point of difference? Why should customers buy from you instead of your competitor?
- What type of culture do you want to have in your company?
The next step is to break it down into milestones that you want to achieve in 6 months, 1 year, 3 years and 5 years.
Now that you decided where you want your business to get to, you need to write it down. It does not need to be a lengthy business plan that get lost or not looked at again. It can be put into a simple one page plan, or even just a statement on your office wall.
Writing down your plan has several advantages. By putting it into words you are solidifying the ideas that have been floating in your head. It becomes a commitment that you are more likely to stick to. It is also able to be shared with others.
Sharing your plan with your staff enables them to know where the business is heading. They may have some ideas on how to help you get there, and it becomes a focus from which to make decisions on a daily basis in your business. If everyone in the business is heading in the same direction, there is less wastage of effort, less distractions, and you are more likely to reach your goals.
Sharing your plan with others also allows you to be held accountable for your actions. Just like having a fitness partner gives you motivation to turn up and keep going, a business partner or trusted business advisor can help hold you accountable and ensure you are on track.
Review your plan at least annually. Review what progress you have made in the last year and celebrate your successes.
Focus on the future.