>>>Stay curious

I’m calling it – February is the new January! I’m not alone in this sentiment given a similar thread of comments posted on social media in recent weeks. Finally a sense of calm with daily routines re-established after what seems to be an endless summer filled with social activities.

So, back in the room.  What is planned for your 2022?  My word or mantra this year is ’a year of possibilities’. Anything is possible, where your attention goes the energy and abundance flows.

My summer was focused on working in and building different income streams.  After the disruption of 2020 and 2021with continuous lockdowns and restrictions, it has highlighted more than ever that establishing multiple income streams in your business is the way to go.  Small businesses were impacted, some learnt new ways to pivot to remain operating, whilst others have had to make the heartbreaking decision to close as restrictions imposed were insupportable to running a profitable business with no clear pathway to reopening in sight.

No-one could predict the impact to the economy of the pandemic, however in all unprecedented times, it is the lessons learnt that can be the takeout to moving forward.  Now is a time to get back to basics, to let go of what is not serving you in your business and lifestyle.  A reset of the time, money and energy spent to continue to share your passion. 

Let’s start with a review or ‘health check’ of your day to day activities.  If you were to break down every action item on your to do list in everyday tasks performed, what is the true cost to you and your business?  An example of this is outlined in my November blog post “Are you the CEO of everything?”  Find the link here. 

Next let’s review why did you go into business?  If you’re anything like the majority of my clients and a similar thread to women in business, it was because you knew you had a unique skillset and expertise that could help other people.  What often transpires, however, is that people get stuck in the operational day to day of running a business which has an impact on their ability to grow and scale.

In those heady days of starting a business, there’s so much trial and error, a freedom in ‘sucking it and see what happens’ but how often do you actually audit or evaluate the trial and error? When it comes to the tasks in your business that aren’t related to why you started and what you do, that aren’t in your zone of genius, I can almost guarantee there’s a person out there that can do it quicker, cheaper and better than you, and I mean this with absolutely no disrespect.

Now that you have started to delve into your day to day schedule, can you see how it’s easy to lose focus in all the noise and distraction and we can find ourselves caught up in shiny object syndrome or procrastination.

We run the risk of losing sight of our goals, our vision and our bigger picture. It’s a relatively easy fix though - carve out some time to create a business plan. Before you groan and close your laptop, bear with me - I don’t mean a five hundred page business plan that details the ins and outs of everything in your business including your favourite highlighter colour, I’m referring to my fabulous one-page business plan process. My one-page business plan has a basic structure, read more here.

Look, there is a place for an extensive business plan. In fact, I havea business plan product that has been the secret weapon in many of my past businesses including my gourmet restaurant and catering business in Western Australia.  When clients are scaling their businesses to the point where external investment is required, then they simply require more detail to support their applications, and so my extended business plan fits the bill perfectly. However, there’s a time and place for a quick one-page business plan and there are so many benefits to creating one. Download your free copy here.

In my work with women as a holistic business coach I absolutely love the moment when together we uncover their vision and they fall in love with their business all over again - this sounds overly dramatic, I know, but often in the overwhelm our passion for our work becomes lost.

Our vision is our bigger picture, our desired end state, and so is a driver of everything we do in our business - or it should be! My one-page business plan is a way to cement and embed our vision into the here and now in a practical, action-focused document that drives momentum.

It’s actually quite genius in its simplicity in that it links planning and strategy with
specific, targeted actions and so it’s a great way to explore, on paper, to see how something could work as well as how you could make that something, well, something!

This is a very quick and basic overview of my one-page business plan - when I work through this process with my coaching clients there is a lot more detail that we delve into as we explore possibilities and opportunities. This is also an excellent exercise for all of us to touch base with our businesses from time to time as a first step, followed by my extended business plan which often becomes a business’ bible.

You can find out more about working with me through my fabulous programs right here and I also offer a discovery session - just reach out!

As we near the end of Summer and transition into Autumn, it is a time for a change of energy and flow, to start bringing those ideas into fruition.  Start with the end in mind.

To your success…  

Stay curious

Our vision is our bigger picture, our desired end state, and so is a driver of everything we do in our business…