How to plan for your best year ever in business

Want to know how to plan for your best year ever in business? Saying you want to have your best year ever and actually having your best year ever are too very different things. Business owners who are serious about growing their business and taking their business to the next level plan, which is what I’m going to help you do. Keep on reading to find out how to plan for your best year ever in business.

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HOW TO PLAN FOR YOUR BEST YEAR EVER IN BUSINES

Review the current, or last, year

It’s easy when you are in planning mode to dive straight into the future, but planning is all about working out how to get from A to B. In this instance A is where your business is right now so it is important to properly understand where your business is right now and what happened over the current, or last, year for it to get to that place.

If you had goals for your business for the last year then review these and see what you have achieved and what you haven’t. In either instance ask yourself why you did or didn’t achieve those goals. Next, you should review the key metrics in your business across the year so you can assess any key changes. Then you can add some personal reflections on how you felt the year went.

By the end, you want to ensure you have a clear picture of where the business is right now and what happened this year for it to be in this situation. This will mean you not only have a clear idea of your Point A, but when moving onto the planning stage you can decide what actions to continue with and which ones to stop.

Set your business goal

Now that you fully understand where your business is right now (Point A) it is time to think about where you want to go (Point B). Your best year ever in business is likely to look very different to mine and other business owners. That is why it is essential that you define what you mean by your best year ever in business.

When setting goals for the whole year you are likely to have multiple goals such as:

Financial Goals

There are a number of different financial goals you could set for your business. For example, you can have goals around your overall revenue, the amount or percentage of profit, the amount you want to pay yourself and the amount of money available to reinvest in the business. Find out what the 3 essential financial goals for solopreneurs and small business owners are here.

Client / Impact Goals

These goals will be related to the clients you work with and the impact your business is marketing. You could set goals such as work with over X clients or increase the international nature of your business by working with clients from X different countries.

Lifestyle Goals

If you have a lifestyle business then you might include those goals. You might set a goal such as working a maximum of X hours per week, being able to take X weeks of holiday in the year or never work on the weekends.

Service/Product Goals

Your best year ever might involve making changes to what you sell. If so, this would be identified by setting service/product goals. You could have goals such as to create a self-study course, to write and publish a book or to add a membership.

Marketing and Sales Goals

Another type of goal you might want to set could be one in relation to sales and marketing. For example, you might have a specific sales target for a specific product or service or have a marketing goal of growing your email list to X,000 subscribers.

WANT TO CREATE A PLAN FOR YOUR WHOLE YEAR IN JUST ONE DAY?

That is exactly what can happen when you book a 2023/24 Strategy Day!

I have a tried-and-tested process that I’ve used for years that ensures that in just one day I can help business owners to create a plan for the whole year ahead.

All you have to do is fill in a questionnaire beforehand and then turn up on the day. I’ll then lead you through the whole process and write everything down – making it super easy for you!

For more information and to book a 2023/24 Strategy Day click here.

Plan for your best year ever in business

At this moment in time you are crystal clear on where your business is right now and what your version of your best year ever is. Now it is time to plan how to get there.

The planning section will be different for each business but here are some common areas to cover:

Financial forecasting

Having a large revenue on a piece of paper with no breakdown is pretty useless. Break down your revenue goal so you have a clearer understanding of what that means in terms of sales you need to achieve via different services or products, or you can break it down via sales required on a monthly or quarterly basis. If your revenue target is a growth target then you choose what growth strategy you are going to use in your business. Find out more about how to choose a growth strategy here.

You should also do some cash flow forecasting. This will enable you to understand what cash your business should have access to and is especially important if you have a variance in your monthly income and/or you intend to make some considerable investments in your business.

Services and Products

If throughout the year there are going to be any changes to the services and products you offer then you should plan for this. For example, if one of your goals is to scale your business then you’d need to decide what the scalable offer will be and when in the year you’ll add that into the services and products available to buy. You can find out more about how to scale your online, service-based, business here.

Knowing what you will be selling throughout the year is vital for 2 reasons. Firstly, without this, you can’t create your sales and marketing strategy. Secondly, if you are planning on adding something to your business then you’ll need to plan for the creation of that service or product.

Sales and Marketing

Will your services and products be available to buy throughout the whole year (evergreen) or for a limited period of time? If the latter, you’ll need to decide when they’ll be available and then plot the launches that will be needed. Review the marketing channels you are using and ensure that you have a clear buyer journey for all of the services and products you sell. For every service or product, you should have a clear ideal client, the core messages, know the marketing channels you’ll be using, when you’ll be marketing throughout the year and how someone can buy from you.

Resources

What will you need in order to execute the plan and achieve your goal? Traditionally when looking at resources you’d be looking at your team and your technology. It may be that you need to get external support (which could be on a contract or ongoing basis). You should also consider the software, apps etc that you need for your business. In addition, you should also think about your development. If you are the main resource in your business, but you have an obvious skill gap that will prevent you from properly executing the plan then you could identify how you’ll close that skill gap.

Set clear milestones and metrics to monitor

A plan, no matter who has created it, should never be followed blindly and not monitored. Especially when a plan has been created for a whole year! Things change so it is your responsibility to ensure that your plan has clear milestones and metrics. This will ensure that throughout the year you can monitor your progress and if something isn’t going to plan you can spot it sooner rather than later. This will allow you to make sufficient changes mid-year and still have your best year ever in business, rather than getting to the end of the year and realising something wasn’t working as expected but it is now too late.

That’s it. You now know how to plan for your best year ever in business.

Too many business owners say they want to have their best year ever in business, but then don’t take the time to plan for that success. I hope by reading this blog post you will now follow the steps and create a plan. And if the thought of doing it by yourself doesn’t excite you then I can do it with you on a 2023/24 Strategy Day. More information can be found here.

In the comments, I would love to hear what your biggest takeaway is.

WANT HELP CREATING A PLAN FOR YOUR BEST YEAR EVER?

You can absolutely create a plan by yourself, but you don’t have to!