I'm sure you know the importance of having a strategic growth plan for your business.
However, one of the questions that I often get asked a lot is exactly what to put into the plan and how to go about it. And even if you write the plan, you can feel overwhelmed and not sure what to focus on.
Strategic Growth Plan for Your Business
Oftentimes what happens is whilst you may have the overall strategic growth plan for your business in place, it is not broken down into quarterly plans or 90 day big bold plans, as we call those in our business.
That's the reality. If you're always focusing on a year, you are going to get off track. You're going to get overwhelmed. Lose focus, and you'll find that you've got conflicting priorities. All of this will cause a lot of chaos in your business. You must break down that bigger plan into those four 90-day plans. Honestly, it doesn't mean establishing the four 90-day plans all at once either. That's good news. We're just going to start with the first one!
What Needs To Be On That 90-Day Plan?
Well, the best way to create a detailed strategic growth plan is to capture the vision for the year first. The bigger plan, so that you keep that in the context of what you're trying to achieve. The next thing that you'll also look at is understanding more around what's that big nut to crack. That main area of focus for you and your business that really must shift.
Let me give you some examples of what that might look like.
One of your big nuts to crack could be consistent lead generation for new clients. Or increasing your fees. Maybe hiring a new team member to help you in this quarter. Perhaps, maybe getting consistent marketing in place.
They're typically those things that have been hanging around for a while. Problems that you haven't solved. Maybe you haven't implemented certain systems in your business yet. You know that without them, you're not going to be able to grow. So you want to keep the focus to make sure that in that quarter we get that solved.
The 3 Core Priorities of the 90-Day Plan
The next place that you have to look at in your 90-day plan is what are the three, and only three, core priorities or projects that you're going to be working on to move the needle on your business?
You'll be amazed. I'm sure you're guilty of this yourself, and I certainly was as well. We have many priorities written down! That is not a strategic growth plan. It's simply a long 'to do' list that never gets checked off.
I spoke with one gentleman recently and he said, "Here they are. They're all written down, Vanessa," and he had 19. He was kind of proud of them, right? He's wearing them as a badge of honor. I said, "Well, what are you focusing on? And how do you know where you're making progress?" And the minute I asked him that question, he felt busted. He admitted he doesn't really know what to do. He felt like he's constantly jumping between those priorities. They all felt urgent.
The Reason to Look at the 3 Core Priorities
What are the three core priorities you must work on this quarter in your business?
You have to look at the 3 core priorities or 3 core projects only. The reality is that you have a business that you're already working in. You've got clients that you're already serving. You don't have the time, nor the energy, nor the space to work on 100 different things at once. It is very important to outline those projects so that when you put all of your energy and attention into them, they're going to make a massive difference in your business.
What are your 3 core priorities or 3 projects?
Defining the Success Criteria
Once you define the priorities or projects, then inside of them, define the success criteria. Take one of those project areas, and start to define what's a good, better, or best goal for that particular project. It's about setting a range. Let me give you an example of that.
You may say that your core priority really is increasing revenue. For a lot of our clients, that is a core priority. So we look at setting the revenue goal. And you may say, "Well, in the first quarter I want to add," let's just say,"$50,000 in new business over and above what I've currently got coming in."
Is that really your stretch goal or is that the minimum goal? Specify and then you'll know that's the goal that you must go towards. The stretch goal might be $70,000 for the quarter, therefore logically speaking, $60,000 is going to fit somewhere in the middle, right? That's the good, better, best. So now you've got a range between $50,000 and $70,000 for that quarter.
What's Your 90-Day Strategic Growth Plan?
I hope you found this helpful in terms of thinking through your own 90-day plan.
First and foremost, you need to be thinking about your business in terms of 90-day plans. Four quarters for the year, and that's where you're going to create your priorities and your focus. Hold that vision. The context for your business, so that everybody knows what you're working towards.
Break it down into three project areas, and then break those down into the good, better, best goals. Again, you're working within a range. There's that range that you can work towards.
We know full well that when our clients hit their good goals, they get super excited. That's the language they'll use. "Yay, Vanessa! Oh my gosh, the good goal that we set felt like a stretch, and I'm already there." Of course, now we can move towards a better goal, right? That is how you will move the needle on your business!
What Should Your Priorities Be?
If you'd love some help to think through what should be your priorities or what should be on your own 90-day plan, we'll gladly hop on a call with you to chat further about your goals and your vision for your business. To find out what's working and what's not working, and start to outline what should be on your priority plan.
In order to do that, you need to go to businessgrowthacademy.com/playbigger and just book some time on our calendar and answer a few simple questions. We'll look forward to speaking with you really soon about growing your small business.
SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION or Call (602) 730-5937
1 Comment
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Breaking goals and visions down to that quarterly/90 day aspect is so helpful! Such great information, as always.