Three Simple Questions to Guide Your 2010 Plan

by Joan Friedlander

Yeah-hey! Here we are again, at another year end, and another year beginning. In one of the email holiday greetings I received, the sender referred to 2009 as the "Year of Fear." I might not disagree. Many people in all walks of life, and from many industries, have had to face down their biggest fears. Some have quite literally had to start all over again.

At times like these I feel especially lucky to be a business owner. Reviewing, reflecting and starting anew comes with the territory. Business cycles present us with numerous "opportunities" to reinvent ourselves throughout our business lives. We must periodically reassess in order to continue to grow. If it doesn't come naturally, resiliency will most certainly become a well-developed trait along the way.

Always on the lookout for direct and simple, I offer you 3 questions posed by a friend and colleague, Jeff Schoolcraft, in his weekly local networking newsletter to help you plan for 2010.

1. What do you want to keep doing?
2. What do you want to stop doing?
3. What do you want to start doing?

Your answers to the 3 questions may not result in a full-on strategic plan for 2010, but I think they guide you to start where it's most important to start, from your gut and with your heart. To help further draw out material from these questions, I give you a few additional questions for reflection.

1. What do you want to keep doing?

To answer this question I might suggest that you think about what you did that seemed to work for you, for your clients and for your brand. I'd most certainly ask you what you did that you enjoyed doing, that contributed to sales, service, quality of life, etc. Furthermore, which projects and tasks seem to best leverage your greatest, never-need-to-think-about it talents and strengths? Are they also good for business? Or, are they good projects to continue engaging with because they enhance the richness of life in general?

2. What do you want to stop doing?

In many ways I think this is a more powerful question than the first. We all get caught in habits, commitments, projects and tasks that take more time than we intended, or they deserve. Furthermore, what's been a perfect project or commitment in the past may not be going forward. There is no judgment in either case, but whatever comes to mind when you answer this question, pay very close attention.

No matter what you come up with for the list of things that it's time you stop doing, there's no need to dump it right away if it's not practical to do so. Depending on the nature of the project, and who and what will be impacted, it's perfectly fine to give you - and others - plenty of notice before you let it go completely.

3. What do you want to start doing?

This is where you give voice to those projects and priorities that have been on the back-burner or on your "some day" plan. What have you been putting off that would give your business - and you - the boost of energy it needs? What would you have the time and mental capacity to do once you eliminate the projects and commitments you listed in your answer to question number two? Is there something that you could do, and if you were to do it - or more of it - sales would soar, more free time would be had, and life would be grand?

What about personal development? Is there a skill to learn, a course to take or a hobby to embark on, that would be fun for you, and perhaps good for business? (Remember, what's good for you is good for business.)

The Wheel of Business

For those of you who are visual thinkers I offer you the "Wheel of Business" to help you visualize the projects and tasks you are likely to be engaged with as a small business owner or independent professional. What percentage of your time do you estimate you spend on projects associated with each of these business activity areas? What do you want to keep doing just as you have been? What do you want to start doing more of? What do you want to do less of? What does it look like now? What would you love it to look like in 2010?

To get started, determine how many hours a week you want to allocate to running your business, and determine how much revenue you want to generate in the year. Then, think about how you answered the 3 questions posed above as they will help guide you to what you are drawn to give more time to and less time to. I might suggest that you draw a Wheel of Business that depicts what things look like now, and then another to show how you want to split out your time in 2010. If the difference is significant don't be discouraged. You can think of the future Wheel as something to move toward by mid-year 2010.

Finally, once you've drawn your Wheel of Business for 2010, go back to your revenue and hours available-for-work goals. Does the percentage of time you've allocated to each business area seem to support those goals? (Trust your gut on this.) If not, what is missing? If something needs more time, do you have to be the one to do it? Could you hire someone else to help you do something that's important, but not the best task or project for you?

If, after you've answered the 3 questions and drawn your Wheel of Business for 2010, you're ready to write out a more detailed and strategic plan, feel free to download the Dare to Plan Kit if you don't have it already.

May you thrive in 2010!

 

by Joan Friedlander, © 2009. All rights reserved.