September has finally ended and if you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, the end of September means more than just the beginning of Halloween season. Now that it is October 1st, it is the perfect time to make sure that we have our fourth quarter planning done. Planning is extremely important in business. Ask any business owner and they will tell you that the quote, “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail,” is absolutely tried and true.
When I first started my business, I did not have a plan for anything. I would come home from a long day at my previous job and I would sit in front of my computer to write a blog post or send out an email or call someone. I would do whatever I could for my business, but there was no structure. Without a plan, I was constantly overwhelmed and running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I learned an incredibly necessary lesson in those days: you have to have a plan if you want your business to grow.
As an entrepreneur, you need to have that forward thought so that you can bring in the revenue, clients, and the excitement you want for your business. Creating an annual and a quarterly 3-month plan will help you clearly define what your big picture goal is for your business, what your business offers and what your personal and professional mission statement will communicate to potential clients and partners. This plan will allow you to truly start building your business so you don’t have to stay stuck in the “pre-revenue” stage, struggling to find clients. As soon as I created my annual plan and my quarterly plan, I was able to see that I had been trying to jump from shiny new project to shiny new project. It was impossible for me to keep trying to work on the 20 different projects I had started. Developing my plan allowed me to focus in on the 2 to 3 projects that were most important in growing my business.
The whole point of planning is to enable the growth of your business. Once you create your plan for October through December, you will be able to stay focused on the work that is going to help you get to a place where you will be able to go into your next networking event or meeting and confidently talk about your handful of clients and your growing business that lets you do whatever you want to do.
I recently did a workshop on developing a clear 90 day plan for aspiring entrepreneurs. If you missed the workshop I did on creating a plan for your business and are having trouble figuring out what you need to do to get your business to the next level, sign up for a complimentary clarity session with me HERE. Together, we will discuss where you’re at, where you’re going and what’s getting in the way so that you can find the work you love!