Want to know how to finish the year strong as a small business owner? As…
Do you need to create an annual plan for your business but not sure what you should include in your plan? If so my annual strategic planning day (aka a 202? Strategy Day) might be perfect for you. Keep on reading to find out everything you need to know about my annual strategic planning day (Strategy Day).
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What is it?
An annual strategic planning day (Strategy Day) is a one-day service for coaches, consultants and online service providers. I work with a client for one day and will guide them through a planning process, which means by the end of the day they have a strategic plan for the year ahead.
Why did I create this service?
In the world of big business, it is standard practice to have an away day once a year and create an annual plan for your business. I’m a big fan of planning and even though the days of swanning off to somewhere gorgeous with a team are behind me that didn’t stop me taking a day off to work on my business and make an annual plan. I soon learnt that I was a rarity and most solopreneurs and small business owners don’t have an annual plan. That seems crazy to me so I decided to create a service specifically to help coaches, consultants and online service providers to create their annual plan in a day.
How does it work?
Stage 1 – The Questionnaire
Once you’ve booked your Strategy Day you’ll be sent a strategy day questionnaire. This questionnaire has three purposes. Firstly, you’ll provide a range of information about your business so that I can get up-to-speed with your business ahead of the Strategy Day. Secondly, there are questions that are designed to get you thinking before the day so you can make the most of the day. Thirdly, it will highlight what information you’ll need to gather before the day (financials, data around leads/enquiries/conversion etc) so you can easily access on the day.
Stage 2 – The Session
At the agreed time and date, we’ll meet on Zoom for your session. By the end of the session, you’ll have confirmed your new prices.
The Annual Strategic Planning Day is split up into 5 areas
- Review & Reflect
- Goals
- Services & Pricing
- Marketing & Sales
- Monthly Plan
Review & Reflect
We’ll start the day by having a session dedicated to reviewing and reflecting. The purpose of the annual strategic planning day is to get clear on what you want to achieve over the next year and then create an action plan in order to achieve those goals. However, you can’t create a plan to get from Point A (where you are right now) to Point B (where you want to be in the next year) if you aren’t clear about Point A. All too often I find that solo and small business owners don’t have a true understanding of their current position and that is why we kick off the day with this session.
In the review and reflect session we’ll look back at how the last year has gone. This will include (if applicable) looking at your sales, your audience, the success of specific services and the performance of your marketing.
Goals
Next is the fun part. You’ll get to set your goals for the next year. This will be a mixture of financial goals (how much you want to earn, what you want to be able to pay yourself), impact goals (the number of clients you want to work with or how big an audience you want to grow) and lifestyle goals (taking August off, never working weekends or only working 10am – 2pm). It may be you have other goals such as launching a new service or publishing a book. At this point you can share all of the goals, no matter the size and how quickly you think you’ll be able to achieve them over the next year.
Services & Pricing
Once you are clear on your goals we’ll move onto reviews your services and pricing. We’ll review your services and make decisions about what is staying, what will be retired in the year and what you’ll introduce. Then we’ll review the pricing for every service and ensure that your pricing could allow you to reach your financial goals (within the boundaries of your lifestyle goals).
Marketing & Sales
Next we’ll look at your marketing and sales. We’ll use information from the review and reflect session to decide what your marketing strategy for the next year will be. We’ll look at your ideal client, messaging, channels and schedule. You’ll leave confident that you have the right message for your ideal client and where you’ll be sharing that message and the frequency of your marketing. If you are following an evergreen model we’ll create a weekly / monthly timetable for you to follow and if you follow a launch model we’ll plan out one launch cycle.
Monthly Plan
The purpose of an annual strategic planning day is to create a plan for a year so once you’ve made all of the decisions through the earlier sessions we’ll then bring that together. I’ll help you to create a plan that enables you to understand each month what you need to be focusing on as the CEO in your business, what the focus of your marketing is and what is happening on an operations or administrative level. As a soloprenuer or small business owner juggling all of these hats can be difficult and the monthly plan will help you to feel confident about where your resources (time and money) should be focused.
Stage 3 – The Follow Up
After the day, you’ll get a follow-up email from me. This will include anything that I created on the day for you (such as a pricing spreadsheet or the annual timeline).
There is also an option to upgrade and get a monthly accountability session for the duration of the plan.
How much does it cost?
A Strategy Day costs £2,000.
When can I book an Annual Strategic Planning Day (Strategy Day)?
You will see me promoting my Strategy Days in around October – December for those who like to plan for the new calendar year and then in February and March for UK business owners who plan based on the financial year. However, I do offer them all year round. I know businesses run on different annual cycles either due to what they offer or because they have a different financial years.
To book a 2024 Strategy Day click here
Who is an Annual Strategic Planning Day (Strategy Day)
An Annual Strategic Planning Day, like all of my services, are designed specifically for coaches, consultants and online service providers.
An Annual Strategic Planning Day is perfect for:
- Accountants
- Bookkeepers
- Boutique Creative Agencies
- Coaches
- Consultants
- Copywriters
- Designers
- Online Business Managers (OBMS)
- Photographers
- Social Media Managers
- Virtual Assistants (VAs)
How do I book?
If you’d like a virtual strategy day that runs from 10am to 5pm UK time then you can book straight away by clicking here.
If you’d like your virtual strategy day at a different time or you’d like an in-person strategy day you’ll need to get in touch. DM me on LinkedIn, Instagram or use my contact form.
There you have it! You now know everything about my annual strategic planning day.
That’s everything you need to know, and honestly I’ve gone into more detail here than on the sales page, but just in case you can check out the sales page for a 2024 Strategy Day here.
And if you still have any questions then please don’t hesitate to ask. You can send a question from my contact form here or feel free to drop me a DM on Instagram or LinkedIn.
WANT MORE SUPPORT TO IMPROVE YOUR MARKETING AND GROW YOUR BUSINESS?
For some people having a plan, and even a monthly accountability call, isn’t enough. That is why I offer a 6-month business and marketing mentoring programme. When you sign up for this programme you’ll work with me 1-to1- for 6 months and in addition to all the strategic advice, you’ll be able to get training to help with any aspect of your marketing, have ongoing accountability (daily or weekly), as well as someone who wholeheartedly has your back and will be cheering you on every step of the way. You can find out about my 6-month business and marketing mentoring programme here.
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