Forget The 2020 Plan – Focus On The Present And Action Steps
Forget The 2020 Plan – Focus On The Present And Action Steps
I don’t mean to be negative, but I have many different reactions and feelings to all this 2020 yearlong planning. To be honest, it feels like New Year’s resolutions, and we know that 90% of those are never kept. It is all about commitment.
This year my clients, newsletters, media, everywhere I go, I hear the 2020 plan, and so I sat down to make mine. This article is a result of my thinking about planning and what I really believe is a more effective approach to ensure a productive and more predictable success.
It is imperative to understand the need for Research, Evaluation, and Vision.
Research means looking at your current offering and making sure it matches the needs and wants of the current demands of your prospects or clients? It also means market research to take a good look at who your competitors are and what they are saying and doing.
Evaluation means gaining clarity of where you are and developing a strategic approach to get where you want to go.
A 2020 plan? Seriously? All the time and effort that you put into planning, in my opinion, is better off understanding your market, your position in the market, revenue streams, and the strategies that you want to put in place to grow your business.
My clients tell me that they love that I am one of the only coaches/consultants they have ever talked to that is not focused on and always talking about long-term and short-term goals but focused on revenue. Why? Because when we focus on bringing in revenue and creating cash flow, we will be able to implement a bigger plan.
Plans often fail, and they fail because life and business happen, and there is so much we cannot plan for. Many people make a plan, put it in a folder or a drawer and never look at it again. We are human; we get struck by life’s events, and also, we get stuck in repetition compulsion of doing the same thing over and over again. Time flies, it’s another year, and we didn’t do anything on the plan. So, it begins, in my mind, with current research on your business, evaluating what’s happening in your company, and implementing new ideas.
I think the more critical questions that need to be answered when looking at business development are these:
- How much money do I want to make?
- How am I going to make sure that I make it?
- What are the streams of revenue that bring in money?
- What is the low hanging fruit?
- What has a longer sales cycle, and is the high hanging fruit?
- Which has the highest profit margin?
- How many of each of those came from what marketing strategies?
- Which marketing strategies do I want to put in place?
- How do the marketing strategies align with the target streams of revenue?
Vision:
- What’s the vision I hold for my company and my life?
- Where do I want to be in six months, one year, three years?
- What would that look like?
- How much money would need to come in from what streams of revenue to make sure that I’m working in the direction?
When a client says to me, “I’m interested in earning $120,000 this year”, I say, “that’s great, let’s break it down into 30 days”. A 30-day approach is a winning approach! If we can figure out how to generate 10,000 this month and every month after that, we will end up with a great year. You know how many of each stream of revenue you’ll need, and that will be directly aligned to sales and marketing and getting what you want. If we create repeatable systems and structures when life throws us turbulence, the business will have enough cash flow, systems and people to carry on.
The reality of today’s fast-paced everyday ever-changing life and marketplace is very overwhelming and stressful, and to run a good business requires Focusing On The Present and Talking Action. I am much more interested in my clients and me, focusing on what isn’t working and developing an understanding of what needs to be done right now!
Let’s leave the plan in the drawer and go to work!