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Quickstart - Are You Ignoring Your Aversion to Planning?
Quickstart
Grow a Profitable Consultancy and Still Have Time for a Life
In this issue
Note from Beverley - What Else Can We Celebrate?
One Step Further - Ignoring Your Aversion to Planning?
What's Out There? - Your Business in Lights
Personal Reflections - Sometimes You Just Have To Ask
Note from Beverley
I often send ecards to friends and colleagues as a simple thank you, how ya doing or just for fun. One of the sites I use for that has a series of celebration days. Now of course there are the common ones, Birthdays, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day etc but when I was looking at the site yesterday I thought "now I’ve seen everything" (Yes I'm afraid to say it's an American site but...)
Did you know that 24 January is "Beer Can appreciation day - "observed in celebration of the selling of beer in cans" AND "Peanut butter Day" because -"Peanut butter has been one of our favorite food items for a long time now"
So what days can you think of that we should celebrate?
Have a good week
Beverley
bev@onestepfurther.co.uk
+44 (0) 1344 625713
www.onestepfurther.co.uk
Author of Take Control of Your Time: 7 Straight Shooter Strategies for Success
One Step Further
"I haven't got time to plan"
"I wrote a plan last year, it didn't work"
"I don't know how to write a plan"
"Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable" Dwight D. Eisenhower
OK so it might have been preferable if you had completed your business planning for 2006 before the year had started. It might have been better if your strategy was clear, your overall business plan was in place and your weren't unsure, unclear or unfocused about what you want for your consultancy or your business for 2006.
Fear not. It's rarely too late to get clear, get focused and make planning a consistent workable activity.
Sales, marketing, service delivery, partnerships and staffing are all areas where planning can make a real difference to your business. The what, who, how, when and why of your business plans are what focus your day to day activity.
Vision, mission and goals are the bigger picture stuff and if you would like some information, insights and tools in this area you can find them HERE (under June 2005)
Planning is what will really help you
- manage the peaks and troughs in your business
- focus your activity
- help you make decisions
- define what you must, should and could do
- keep your efforts focused on results not busyness
Vision and goals give you the context, planning gives you the activity to achieve your vision and goals. Planning guides your monthly, weekly and daily activity.
Here are 2 resources that will help with the bigger picture planning for life and your business. As a small business owner or consultant your life and your business are connected and therefore the planning that you do should take both into account. Think of work life integration.
Download the "Pies" here The Business Pie and the Life Pie
Over the next few weeks I'll be sharing some thoughts and templates to help your planning in sales, marketing and building alliances
Your challenge for this week is to...
1. Get 100% clear on your vision and goals for 2006 (The Business and Life Pies will help)
2. Write 90 day goals for each element within the pies that apply to you and your business(add more elements where applicable)
3. Plan and prioritise your activity needed to achieve your 90 day goals
Take One Step Further and make planning a consistent part of your business. Stop being busy and start being productive. Stop being planning averse and start being a planning disciple
"Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now" Alan Lakein
What's Out There?
* Have you resolved to get more from your networking this year?
* Do you want your networking to build long term relationships?
* Are you looking for an event that will inspire you, help you and connect you to others?
Well here's just what you’re looking for. Come along to the next Business Unusual event.
"Thank you for a fun, inspirational evening - I look forward to the next one" Christine Collins Onion People Development
Here are the details:
Date: Thursday 2nd February 2006
Time: Welcome reception 6.30pm (expected finish 9.30pm)
Venue: Heckfield Place, Near Reading & Hook, RG27 0LD (Off J11 of the M4)
Investment: £27 +vat
To Find out more and Register go to www.BusinessUnusual.net
"“Experience something different, less contrived, more supportive" David Bage, Quantum Organisation.
Book by noon 26 January – Don't Miss Out
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This week's showcase businesses are run by Ian Cooper of Eyedeecee Management Ltd and Hugh McClelland of Moonsail Ltd
* Get nervous before a presentation?
* Worry you won't know what to say?
* Afraid you'll struggle to capture and retain your audience?
* Prefer not to give a presentation at all?
Learn how to be confident, clear, captivating & concise. "Painless Presentations" - taking the pain out of presenting!
Eyedeecee Management Ltd www.eyedeecee.co.uk
ian@eyedeecee.co.uk
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Finding the right words to convey your message can be quite a challenge. You know what you want to say but struggle to commit words to paper.
I write website content, brochure copy, articles, newsletters, white papers, and training materials - in the style and tone YOU want.
Moonsail Ltd - Making Words Work For Your Business. Hugh McClelland www.moonsail.co.uk
hugh@moonsail.co.uk
Personal Reflections
You may recall a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about lessons learnt form 2005 and one of those lessons was "Sometimes You Just Have To Ask."
Well last week, yet again, I found myself in that very position of "well you’ve got nothing to lose and loads to gain so just put it our there and see what happens - just ask"
So I took my own advice.
I subscribe to an online community/magazine, which is for management consultants i.e. people that work for the bigger consultancies. It suddenly struck me (DUH!) that if I subscribe, perhaps there might be other solo business owners/consultants who subscribe too. Since they are my ideal clients wouldn't it be good to get an article published on that site/in the magazine.
So I wrote to the editor and said I have an article about blah, blah, blah that I thought might be of interest to your readers. Would you consider publishing it? Within 1 hour the response came back
"Your article sounds like it would be of interests to our readers. I would like to include it our Thought Leadership section. From there it will be considered by our editors for inclusion in our weekly newsletters and Consulting Times"
Bingo! Sometimes you just have to ask
So what are you overlooking, ignoring or having a "duh moment" with that if you just asked, could complement your current marketing activity and raise your profile?
Rgds
Bev
bev@onestepfurther.co.uk
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