Create A Plan For Success

To create a plan for success, you will need to gather your vision, mission and value statements, brain dump, and content plan. The next step is to create the action steps that you will need to get things done.

Review your brain dump and content plan to create a priority for the items you want to accomplish for your business. You will need to prioritize these items based on importance and urgency. A great prioritization tool is the Eisenhower Matrix that Dwight D. Eisenhower developed.

The Eisenhower Matrix is divided into four quadrants:

1. Important/Urgent – (Quadrant 1) Usually requires crisis management. These priorities are reactive. Your goal is to reduce the time spent here.
2. Important/Not Urgent – (Quadrant 2) – This is your future planning and strategic thinking. These priorities require initiative. Your goal is to spend more time in this quadrant.
3. Not Important/Urgent – (Quadrant 3) These tasks should be delegated to your team. Enable your team to make independent decisions.
4. Not Important/Not Urgent – (Quadrant 4) Eliminate the tasks that do not align with your vision, mission, and values. Learn to say no to these tasks.

This article from todoist explains how to use the Eisenhower matrix in more detail.

Develop the goals you want to accomplish and establish deadlines for each. Next, create a task list of action steps with each goal, including deadlines. Now work through the Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize each action step. Determine which items you need to do now, which you can schedule, and which you can delegate.

Now you can begin time blocking your calendar to have the focus time you need to accomplish these goals. Time blocking is simply organizing your calendar so you have blocks of time to work on specific projects or tasks. 

Some tips to help with your time blocking:

1. Batch like tasks together to limit switching from one task to another.
2. Designate a day of the week to work on a certain area of your business. For example, Mondays are marketing days.
3. Spend time each morning reviewing your calendar and planning your day.
4. Add breaks into your schedule, especially when doing deep thinking work.
5. Include reactive time on your calendar for anything that pops up during the day.

With your priorities set and schedule time blocked, you need to set boundaries. Boundaries will help you to do your best work, serve your clients, and free you from stress and overwhelm. 

The effects of not having boundaries for your business include:

1. Trying to do it all
2. Loss of energy 
3. Becoming resentful of clients and team members who interrupt your time.
4. The quality of your customer service suffers.
5. Your sleep and health suffer.

The place to start is by setting boundaries for yourself. 

1. Set a work schedule and stick to it.
2. Say ‘no’ to things that are not on your priority list.
3. Don’t take on more clients than you can handle.
4. Stop overscheduling your calendar with calls and meetings.
5. Limit giving free advice in your area of expertise.

Setting boundaries with clients is also necessary.

1. Clearly communicate what the client should expect from you and what you need from your client with timelines.
2. Use detailed contracts that explain your scope of work and the expectations of both parties. 
3. Explain your business hours and whether there is an additional charge for work needed outside your regular hours.
4. Avoid scope creep…when your client asks you to do work outside your contract.
5. A client’s emergency may not necessarily be your emergency.

And finally, get help when you need it. Hiring help for your personal or business needs will help you alleviate some stress and help you run your business more effectively. You may start with having family take care of some of the home responsibilities. If that isn’t possible, you may need to hire some help around the home, whether it be a house cleaner, dog walker, meal prep service, or handyman. 

If you cannot hire team members to help with the work, network with others so that you may be able to swap services. This allows you to get the skilled services you need to grow your business.

When you are able, start growing your business operations with team members. There are many freelancers who specialize in a specific niche. You only need to pay for the work they do without having to have a full or part-time employee.

Now it is time to create your plan for success. 

Virtual Professional Solutions helps small business owners and real estate agents with their marketing needs. Schedule a  free 20-Minute discovery call with Cindy to learn how we can partner with you to grow your business.