I get told all the time by small business owners that business plans are for BIG businesses. I so disagree so much! Yes, big businesses need them, but entrepreneurs and small business owners do too. When I worked with global clients we had business and people plans do make sure that deliverables where being met in the best possible way, and that people had the correct skills and knowledge to achieve the best outcomes for the business.
So as an entrepreneur, I am unsure why you feel this things aren’t important, don’t you want a business that gets easier to run as time goes on? Don’t you want a plan for your development that will continue to grow your business? Don’t you want sustainability and peace of mind?
It is funny because I trained this in the corporate world and yet when I set up my own business quickly after being made redundant I didn’t create a plan. And I did amazingly for a year (over 6 figures) and then it started to decline but at the beginning of year three, I was burnt out and barely managed £70 in the year.
But I knew a better way, I just had to take the hard road to figure it out. I set aside time to start to work on my business instead of just constantly in my business and started to create a much more sustainable model.
YOU NEED TO BLUEPRINT (OR BUSINESS PLAN) IF YOU WANT TO:
- Know how to speak to your ideal customer and win more business
- A way to make sales and improve cash flow for your business
- Belief in what you stand for and why people should choose you
- A way to make your business LEGIT and future proof
- The mindset of a successful business owner
- You want a business that over time becomes more sustainable and easier to manage
I’m so sick of social media adverts at the moment. Last week I was scrolling through my Instagram and I saw headlines like this:
“100x your sales in 30 days”
“2 years worth of content created in 30 seconds”
“10x your business in 3 weeks”
And my favorite:
“if you haven’t 10x your coaching business yet are you even working hard?”
Being in business is hard enough already without people spouting bullshit claims to try and sell their products. I understand the need for a good hook line, but telling the truth should also be important. So on my Instagram stories, I had a little rant and decided that I am going to spend this week setting the score straight. So on all of my social media, I am going to be sharing my 7 Stage Blueprint to Business Success.
And I thought I would break it down for you in here:
It is a 7 step process – but that doesn’t mean 7 weeks (I normally teach it in 12 weeks, and then implementation is down to your time availability and how far on the journey you already are.)
- Create – This is about creating your ideas. Who do you want to serve? How do you want to serve them? What type of life do you want life? How are you unique in your thoughts, message or journey?
- Explore – Diving deep into social media, websites, offers that other influences in your area are putting out into the world. This is not to copy but to learn. You will see the differences that create your unique selling point
- Emerge – Starting to emerge and test the idea, so changing your website to reflect your new journey, planning your social media to have consistency across all platforms
- Structure – It gets fun (but a little harder now) This is about building the customer journey, understanding how to get people coming on an automate buying journey to free you up to deliver the best outcomes for your customers without having to always worry about the lead generation.
- Build it– This is the tech part – building your “funnel” with landing pages, sales pages, automated payment options, mailer sequences, graphics, videos. All the things you know you should be doing but have been to scared to step out and do.
- Testing – Once it is built you test the system – understand how the system falls down is a key aspect of success. I know too many people that try someone things once and then change the whole approach because they didn’t get the result they wanted.
- Procedure – Being able to document the process so that you can rinse and repeat is the main aim. In marketing, they refer to the “Golden Ad” so the thing you can put into the world and be guaranteed to get sales from it.
Being successful looks different to every person, for some, it is enough money and time to live a great life with a few luxuries, for others it is all about the private jets and high life – and neither is more right. They are both valid and allowed, but both need a business plan to strategically make it happen.
I hope this has helped you see what is missing from your plan and helped you truly decide what you want from life and your business. Lastly, I hope it has helped you consider creating your own business plan over the next few months. If you want help then drop me a line.
What to hear a case study of a customer that implemented the Blueprint – check out Stacey’s story here