Biz + Websites | Updated Oct 19
how to stay on track
until you see success
in your business
intro
It took mental strength to start your business, and all you really need to do is harness that same mental strength once again to see it through to success. It's not easy; every small business owner knows that. But you can do it.
Let's go over some practical tools that will help you remain strong.
1. Create a Business plan
Creating a business plan isn't hard and it doesn't have to take long. But the impact can be astronomical. That's why I highly recommend you make one. It's like having a roadmap.
To stay on track with your business, you need to know where you're at and where you're going.
If you're anything like me, you may get distracted a lot, especially when trying to achieve something new and difficult. The good thing is that having a plan can help you navigate through that distraction and come back when you've wandered off.
Where to start:
By the end of this post, if you follow along, you'll have your own business plan written. You can either grab some sheets of paper or a notebook, or you can get my Business Plan bundle that I designed to start and grow my own business.
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Quick View
To write your business plan, we will break up the process into 5 parts:
1. Branding
2. Assessing
3. Defining
4. Strategizing
5. Implementing
Walk through these steps with me, and you'll create your own tailored business plan.
Let's get started.
Branding
- Name. Start off by naming your business, if you haven't yet.
- Dream. Next, write out your dream for the business. Don't be afraid to dream big here. Be detailed. And it's ok to write numbers. what is your ultimate dream for this business, if the sky was the limit? Now consolidate that down into one sentence.
- Brand Description. Finally, write your brand description. As concisely as possible, who are you, what are you, and what do you do?
Assessing
Next, let's take a realistic assessment of your business to give you insight and help you strategize.
- Strengths. What are your business's unique strengths?
- Weaknesses. Conversely, what are your business's unique weaknesses?
- Opportunity. Where do you see opportunity for your business? What are opportunities that you're focusing on now, and what are some possible opportunities for the more distant future?
- Threat. What are some threats for your business? What could "make it or break it"?
Defining
Now we need to define your business as clearly as possible.
- Products. What products or services do you provide? Be detailed.
- Audience. Who is your target audience? (Be as specific as possible.)
- Problem. What problem does your business solve and how does it solve it?
Strategizing
Let's get into the planning and strategizing side of things. Here we will focus on your marketing and sales plans.
- Marketing Materials. What materials will you use to get your business out there? Will you DIY or hire a pro? Will you use photos, videos, and/or copy? Fiverr is a great place to find pros at a good price, and Canva is a great place to create your own content for free.
- Pricing Strategy. How will you price your goods or services? How are you determining that price? Will you use sales at certain times? Will you increase the price at a certain time? How about offering coupons or incentives?
- Distribution channels. Do you provide physical products and will you partner with various stores to distribute them? Will you be shipping out your own products from your home? Or do you only distribute your product virtually? Will you do in-person coaching or just physical? Think along these lines to determine your distribution channels.
Every business-type will have different options available to them, and every business will be unique in the end. Make sure you're defining these important factors so that you have a clear path forward.
Implementing
In step 5 we'll be looking into the implementation phase of your business plan. There are two ways that I ensure follow-through on my business plan: monthly planning and project planning.
Monthly Planning
To keep on top of your business, it's important to continually reassess and plan. The way I do this is by making a fresh plan each month tailored to the specific project(s) I'm working on and the specific tasks I need to get done that month.
- SMART goals. Start by making "SMART" goals for the month. I write 5 smart goals into my monthly plan.
- Acknowledge Success. Acknowledge your successes from the previous month. Try to come up with at least 3. Even if they're small, it creates momentum for you to realize you actually are moving forward.
- Keep Notes. Keep notes on your planner page throughout the month of important things you think of and need to come back to. This will help you remember and also not have to worry about those things until you're ready to come back to them.
- Consistency. I usually do my monthly planning in the last few days of each month so that my new plan is ready to go on the 1st of the month. I actually look forward to it now and it helps me see progress and get motivated for the month ahead.
- Keep writing out your dream for your business on each month's plan to keep it fresh in your mind and keep you motivated. Preferably, rewrite it by hand each time, which will help to keep it running through your mind.
- Adjust. Take this time to cross off any tasks you have now completed from previous months' plans. Simultaneously, feel free to adjust your plan as needed.
My business is ever-evolving as I am continuously learning. If I didn't give myself the chance to update and adjust my business plans each month, I would end up dropping the whole business and becoming disinterested. Allowing myself to work in adjustments as I learn and grow keeps me on track and motivated.
Project Planning
You will likely always have at least one project you're working on in your business. It will help you to execute your project and complete it successfully if you create a specific plan just for each project.
Remember, you don't need to do multiple projects at once. If you can focus on just one at a time, you may see better success rates.
Here are my top tips for creating effective project-specific plans.
- Define. Be sure to define your project well and be as specific as possible. As I mentioned above, the more focused you are on one thing, the more likely you will be to succeed. If you're all over the place or your project is not well defined, it will likely be difficult to complete it.
- Resources. Write down any relevant resources you have come across that could be helpful. It can be hard to remember these things down the road and end up frustrating or delaying your progress. Keeping all these things in one place helps! You can also write resources you've heard of or briefly seen by haven't been able to look into yet.
- Milestones. Write specific and measurable milestones that you'll achieve along the way to completing your project. These will help you see that you're making progress and increase your motivation to continue forward.
- Actions. Write out all the specific actions you must take to complete your project. You can make these bite-sized tasks and just start with the 10 most immediate ones you can think of. Then you can add more later. You can also use these actions steps to fill in your 5 SMART goals in your monthly plan.
- Timeline. Create a timeline with your target dates of when you will reach each of your milestones, and when you'd like to complete each action step.
- Reassess. Make sure you come back and write in the dates of when you actually did complete each of your actions and milestones. Also, come back and reassess your project plan regularly. If it needs to be updated, start with a fresh page and update it.
2. Keep your dream alive
Here are my best tips for using your dreams to motivate you. They will help you stay on track until you see success in your business.
1. Write
- The Dream. To start out, grab a piece of paper and write your dream for your business. We're talking the ultimate goal here. Where do you want to be in your business?
+ Dream big (don't hold back.)
+ Be specific (as many details as possible!)
+ Give numbers (how much money are you making?)
- The Reasons Why. Next, underneath the dream, write about 5 reasons why you want to achieve your dream. For example, "I want to start a successful online business so that I can travel the world." Or, "So that I don't have to worry about bills anymore."
2. Review
Every day, review these goals. Yes, I said every day. If you want to take it a step further, rewrite them out by hand every day. You want to rehearse the same dreams over and over again so that they become a part of you.
3. Visualize
You can also create a vision board that helps you visualize your dream and the reasons behind your dream.
If you're dedicated to this, do all three steps.
Every day, write your dream and reasons down again. Then, say each one out loud while visualizing it in your head. Try to imagine what it will be like in all 5 senses: what does it look like, sound like, smell like, taste like, and feel like?
That probably sounds strange, but there is actually proven power in this visualization technique. The body can't actually differentiate from the imagination and the real thing, so you're training yourself to become that person.
Finally, keep your vision board somewhere that you'll be able to see it every day. When you keep your dreams in front of you, you'll start moving toward them naturally. When you have bad days, you won't give up.
3. Invest time into your dreams
I say this all the time, but building a business takes time and effort. Especially if you're also working a day job, you have to intentionally set aside time to grow your business.
Try spending at least one hour every night working on your business, your website, researching, etc. Or maybe you dedicate one full afternoon per week to it instead. You know best.
You will see success and progress if you don't quit.
Wrapping up
I truly hope that you have gained some insight and helpful tools today. You can do this! And whatever you do, don't quit!
Send me a message on what other topics you would like me to cover in the future.
Until next time, xoxo
Rebecca