Groundhog Day

Posted by AndyM on December 15, 2009 under Business Growth | Be the First to Comment

If you are like many business owners, this time of year is a mixed bag of regrets over what you didn’t accomplish during 2009 and renewed energy to make 2010 your best year ever.  In your dark moments, do you feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day…doomed to live the same day, with the same issues and challenges, over and over?

In Greek mythology Sisyphus was doomed to push the rock up the hill, only to have it roll to the bottom over and over again.  Is that you? or do you envision yourself the hero, winning battles and conquering all challenges that come before you?

Maybe this is a little out there.  Let’s bring it back to the here and now.  Go through this little exercise:

1. Pull out your new-years-resolution-2009-business-action-plan-list thingy that you created in January 2009.  Don’t have one?  Proceed to step 3.
2. Pat yourself on the back for having a list — we need to celebrate whenever we can!  Now, look at the list.  How many of the items would still qualify as your top priorities in 2010?  100%?  Stop patting yourself on the back.  Making a list then completely ignoring it is just as bad as not having one (sorry for making you feel good for a moment, then ripping it away).  Proceed to step 3.  “Accomplish” 50% of what you set out to do?  Excellent.  Proceed to step 3 anyway.
3. Talk to your customers.  It doesn’t matter how well things are going, it is important to be paranoid.  Why do they buy from you?  What worries or frustrates them?  What has been the most helpful, exciting thing they spent money on in 2009 (whether or not it has anything to do with what you provide) and why was it helpful or exciting?  Year end is a great time to step back and check in.
4. Don’t make your action list for 2010 just yet.  Start at 50,000 feet and work your way down.  A great technique, that won’t overwhelm you, is to put together a One Page Business Plan. 
5. When you’ve defined the “what” — get help to make it happen.  Commit to executing in 2010 so your list in 2011 is a continuation or expansion on your plans for 2010, not a repeat performance.  How can you do that?  A great way to start is to read Getting Things Done by David Allen. 

So what do you do now?  Your “next action” (you’ll get why that is in quotes when you read David’s book) is simply to read up on the One Page Plan (the link above) then buy the book, or check it out at the library.  Easy right?  2010 is YOUR opportunity to break out of the Groundhog Day curse!

The Beauty of a One Page Plan

Posted by AndyM on December 10, 2009 under Business Growth | Read the First Comment

“If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter” is a quotation from T.S. Eliot.  I agree that it is hard to boil down big ideas and concepts into brief statements.  But the process is so valuable.  Not only that, the output is exponentially more valuable the shorter it gets.

You can’t tack a 3″ binder to the company bulletin board, or review it with your team in your monthly meetings.  That would be about as feasible as lugging your desktop computer on to BART just so you could keep an eye on email during your 45 minute commute.  You wouldn’t do that — that’s what PDAs are for. 

Having a concise way to articulate your business vision, mission, goals and plans brings your strategy into the everyday work life of you and your team.  How cool is that?  What good is documenting your strategy and translating it into plans if it only gets looked at once a year?

I have become a huge fan of the One Page Business Plan.  While I am not affiliated with the organziation, there are good examples to work from on their web site [Sample Plans].