What a year 2020 has been, every one of us has had unexpected turns in our life and business.
With 4 weeks left until we welcome in 2021, I want to take some time to take your through the good, bad and ugly that 2020 bought and show you how to start planning 2021.
The Good
The best thing about 2020 is that all of my business travel had to stop. In the year leading up to 2020, I had been working towards reducing my business travel. I was doing over 2000 miles a month, plus at least 1 flight to get to clients. Having this come to a complete stop in March gave me a lot of time, space, and focus to grow the element of my business that I really felt love for.
This time and focus meant that I got to launch to push the 12-week group coaching program – Blueprint to Business – which was a dream come true. I have had the pleasure of running 3 amazing groups of people through the program and watched them have the most amazing results. Check out Stacey’s story here.
I have also had my sister and her fiancé move over from South Africa and they are living with us! This has been amazing. Especially after not seeing family for almost 2 years!
I also built a much better self-care routine. Eating better, exercising more, and being much kinder to myself along the way. Journaling became a large part of my year, and helped me process, gain clarity and show up as my best self.
The Bad
Well where to start! haha. In March when the world stopped, I lost my biggest contract and my husband lost his contract too. We went from having everything we need, to nothing at all. This meant that we had to hustle this year.
Our business fell into the small percentage of people that didn’t qualify for any help. It was on us to keep afloat and have a successful year.
This was stressful! At times I wanted to just stop, go back to work and rely on someone else again. But those moments always passed. Working for someone else is never going to be the answer for us. We dream too much of freedom and adventure.
The pressure was shifted a little with deferring of payment to HMRC being made possible, but it means that 2021 will be another year of hustle. Which we are both ok with now that we have a clear plan that works for the business.
The Ugly
Some of you will know that I lost my Grandad in August, on my birthday. This was the fifth death in my immediate family in 3 years. It was a tipping point for me. Something clicked and I realised that I needed to take the balance of my business and life even further.
This shift was a hard lesson, but one that needed to be learned. It also changed the direction of the 12-week program – Blueprint to Business. Because I added in more of the mindset, wellbeing, and business owner journey into the program. Helping my clients get even better results, in a shorter timeframe.
Likely the ugly was limited, and balance with the good that came from this crazy year. But it is important to reflect on all the elements. On all the highs and lows, what has keep you moving. Or stopped you in tracks?
Planning 2021
So what about 2021? What are the key things we need to focus on and plan to kick off 2021 in the best way?
Firstly I am going to run 5-day challenge with short daily tasks to give you a springboard into 2021! If you want to know more drop your email here.
The challenge will look at the 5 core areas that every business needs to nail to have the most successful plan.
Day 1 – Focus on your why, the life you are trying to create or sustain with your business. This would look at money, passion, vision, and inform the rest of the process.
Day 2 – Focus on who you want to work with. This is about picking your customers and understanding how to engage with them.
Day 3 – Focus on what you will offer. It is critical to be clear on what you are going to offer, and I have a great tool – The Value Ladder – to help you build out your offer and understand the journey your customer will take with you. You will map out exactly what you need to focus on and build in 2021.
Day 4 – Focus on your core offer. This is about having a way for customers to start working with you. And being clear on the offer and what transformation you can offer your customers. Remember people either buy something that fixes a problem or something that brings them joy!
Day 5 – Focus on your Freebie, the starting point of the process. This is what will engage people in your area of influence. This is about mapping out the first stages of the journey. Thinking about what your customer needs from you and how you can best add value for them.
Let’s do it together
Working through your plan for a new year can seem like a huge task. But with guided direction you can get to a place of action faster. Being decisive in business can save your loads of time and money. And that is why I want to run this challenge. To help you move to a place of quick action. To get clear on the plan you need to move forward with. How good would it feel to finish January with a solid plan for how to approach business in 2021? It doesn’t matter what stage of business you are at, that is a tempting offer.
If you are interested in this idea and want to be part of the group that gets the year off to a flying start, then drop your email address here.
