The Dream: YOU - the owner of a growing, thriving business. People look up success in the dictionary and see a picture of you.
Reality: OVERWHELM
Your to-do list is long and every item has it’s own to-do list. You wake up in a near panic every morning, work as hard and fast as you can (the GRIND), go to bed exhausted and start all over the next day. Yep, you are making money but you have no time to do anything with it. This isn’t the success you dreamed about.
What the heck happened?
You didn’t plan for success.
To grow your business to the income level you dream about, the work will probably become overwhelming and impossible.
Success will engulf you and you may even wonder if achieving your dream income is truly “success.” The overwhelm negatively impacts the quality of your work, your customer’s experience, and slow growth. (Not to mention your personal life.)
You need a plan in place to not only reach that success, but to grow your business even bigger.
Here are SIX ACTION ITEMS to start now TO PLAN FOR YOUR SUCCESS:
#1. Block out time to work ON your business – and protect that time. In the beginning, you will probably do all of the work yourself so define the hours and days that are customer focused and business focused. Then, as soon as you start earning some money, set aside a budget for outsourcing. (Plan to increase your outsourcing budget as you increase your earnings.)
#2. Outsource. The time to start delegating work is now. And I’m not talking about the work you do for your business. The best place to start outsourcing is your personal life. Grocery delivery is a terrific time-saver. Many stores have the option for delivery or pick-up for a small fee. Yep, you will have to pay for the convenience and the thrifty voice in your head is saying, “don’t pay someone else to do your grocery shopping,” right? But ask yourself, is that hour more valuable spent on your business?
#3. Start looking for VAs, writers and other hired help immediately. Don't wait until you need them or have the budget to hire them. You want to get out there and make friends with them now. Social media is a great place to find these people. You can follow their updates and learn if they are someone you want to work with. When it comes time to start outsourcing work, you'll already have some people in mind.
You should also consider hiring someone to take care of your marketing and social media tasks. You don't want to completely give this up, but it can be very beneficial to have someone keep up with small updates, share your links and other similar tasks. You'll still want to login to your accounts and interact and post something a bit more personal from time to time.
#4. Create systems – and document them - as you go so you can train the people you hire. They need to know how you complete tasks with step-by-step instructions. If you create systems and checklists in the beginning, it's much easier to train people once you hire them. It’s easy to document your processes. Use an app like Loom to record your screen as you complete a task, then ask your VA to create a checklist and process for that task from the video.
#5. Plan for equipment upgrades. Starting out, you may have an older computer. If you want to expand into using video, audios or doing webinars, you'll need good equipment and a decent budget to get good software. Your monthly spending plan should include equipment upgrades and software. Remember to include accessories like printers, microphones, a good chair, a good camera for product shots, etc.
#6 Set aside time – quarterly, monthly, weekly, daily – to review your goals & plans and reassess.
- What is working?
- What needs to be improved?
- What are you spending time on that isn’t moving your business toward your goals?
Get into the habit of regularly checking in on your goals, evaluating your plans and monitoring how you are spending your time.
It’s easy to get caught up in the daily to-do list and lose sight of how your daily tasks are impacting your goals. For example, you have a goal of booking 3 new clients a month through engagements in a Facebook group. It is eye-opening to discover that the 2 hours a week you are engaging in someone else’s Facebook group has not generated any new business. Don’t be afraid of cutting out that task and spending those 2 hours a week reaching out to your ideal clients directly.
Planning for success helps makes success possible and wonderful ------ instead of a nightmare.
Create systems.
Outsource – both personal tasks and business tasks.
Plan your equipment upgrades.
Review and re-evaluate your goals, your plans, and how you are spending your time.
Here’s to your success!
5 Important Reasons to Develop Good Entrepreneur Habits
Change ONE thing for Beyond-Your-Dreams Success and Happiness