Strategic Planning for Small Businesses for The New Year (How to Do it Right)

2022 is almost here — I know, I can’t believe it either! But, regardless of what we say or do, it’s coming and in my opinion, the best way to head into the new year is being on top of your s**t! 

AKA start that strategic planning…

Seriously, the worst thing you can do for your business in the next 5 weeks until the new year is just sit around and be in a “reaction” mode. 

You want to create a 2022 worth remembering? 

A 2022 where your biz SKYROCKETED? 

A 2022 where you weren’t stressed to the bone the whole time? 

It’s all in the planning baby!  Today, I’m going to walk you through my 3 tried and true ways to begin to prepare & plan (strategically) for the New Year. 

Begin your small business strategic planning with an impartial audit

Ekk…I know, everyone always runs off when they hear the word “audit”.  Don’t let the name fool you, it’s not as hard as you may think! Remember the ultimate job of the audit is for you to identify areas of your business that either need improvement or are running smoothly as is. By conducting an audit you will gain a much deeper understanding into your business.

Key things to think about when conducting an audit for the purpose of strategic planning for your small business:

• Take a step back and look at the big picture from a different perspective 
• Look at each piece of your business individually
• Take the time to review not only numbers but your processes as well
• Look at your team and their effectiveness

Pssst…want some help with your audit? Get started right away with our helpful freebie – the Audit Your Biz Guide!! Get clarity on important pieces of your business! Grab it here.

Review Audit Findings

Take some time and sit down to review your audit findings.  Make sure you are in the right frame of mind, have time to sit down, and are ready to review what you find. Here at Mastermind Business Services, we have identified three specific areas you should be taking the time to look at and that we often see overlooked.

Expenses

Expenses are an incredibly important part of your business and taking the time to do a deep dive and review them can help you gain valuable insights into your business, while also gaining access into the big picture of your business. Reviewing your expenses leads to accurate bookkeeping, which will allow you to get a great view on things like: when you’ll break even, explore trends in your numbers, and make forecasts.
When you’re immersed in the day-to-day running of your business, it’s easy to get caught up in how you think your business is doing financially versus how it’s actually doing. A review can help clear this up for you.

Questions to think about:

• Do your top three expenditures align with your strategic priorities? 
• Are you seeing an ROI (Return on Investment) on these spends? 
• What is the value of these expenses in your business?

When you track your expenses, over time this will allow you to have a deeper understanding of what is working and what isn’t. You will also be able to better plan your cash flow for the future allowing you to ditch that stress and focus on parts of your business that you love!

Schedule

A common pain point for our clients are their calendars being anarchy.. It’s common for business owners to get caught up with their business and then, boom, all of a sudden 3 months have gone by & you have no idea what happened.

Questions to consider:

• How did you feel working the schedule you did? 
• Do you feel your income matches your output? 
• Are you satisfied with the income you generated? 
• Did you feel joyful 80% of the time while working? 
• What situations made you feel stressed? 
• How many hours a week did you work? 

By asking yourself these questions you force yourself to reflect inwards. Now, before you go and scroll right through this thinking it’s “woo-ey” or not worth it — HOLD UP.  If your business is taking up too much of your time & space in your life and you feel as though you aren’t getting the return from it that you set out for, it is not sustainable. Why? Because you are not going to be able to keep working at the caliber you currently are. Burn out, disappointment or worse, giving up could set in.  Focusing on your schedule and making sure you are creating a healthy business will set you up for long-term success.

Network

Make a list of who you are connecting and interacting with regularly. Whether you know it or not, they are directly impacting you and your business.

Questions to consider:

• What value are they adding to your business? 
• What value are they adding to your life? 
• What value do YOU add to their life? 
• What are you learning from them and vice versa?

Relationships are a two-way street and finding the right people to connect with can set you up for not only success in your business but happiness in your life. Yes, you may work alone, but your network does not have to be small. Creating a network of people who are in your corner and can support and educate you will be a gamechanger.

Review business progress & begin your strategic plan

Last but not least it’s time to look at all of the information you have gathered and take the time to review your progress. You want to take a look at where you are now compared to your goal.  Did you achieve what you wanted to? After understanding where you are compared to your goal you can seriously consider where to go next. 

When you are thinking about your plan moving forward you want to think in terms of 3-6 months out. Write down your end goals for these time frames. Now, we can break these down into smaller, actionable steps & goals. 

How to do this:

Make a list of months one through 6. In order to achieve your biggest goals, we need to break them down into smaller steps. Think about what needs to be done now in order to start getting to that big goal. 

For example…let’s say your goal is to acquire 3 new clients in 6 months, in order to achieve that you are going to need to connect with new people, have sales calls, etc..work your goal backwards and break down your goal into monthly tasks. By doing this you will find clarity in what steps you need to accomplish along the way to achieve your big goal. You will also be less likely to feel overwhelmed by working at your goal in small chunks.

Whether you’ve had the best year in business or one that could have gone a little better, taking the time to audit your business & goals to then craft a clear, aligned plan for the beginning of 2022 will set you up for major leaps in your business. Working on a small business strategic plan can help set your business on the road to success. Remember, even though it may look like another business owner has it better than you or perhaps more “luck” this is a lie. All success comes with a lot of ups and downs, wins and fails, the only difference between you and them is the fact that you don’t see others’ struggles. So, pick yourself up, remind yourself of the badass you are, and get to planning! 
Need some help getting your strategy in line? We got you! Book a small business strategic planning call with us and learn how we can help you gain clarity & confidence in your strategy.