Tweet
As a tiny business owner, I sometimes slip into the lull of the daily grind.
Business as usual.
Hey — i’m making enough money as things are –
Why change? Why plan?
Think About What Got You Here
How did you get here? Most likely it was through planning and initiative. You had an idea and you brainstormed it. You formulated a plan (however formal or informal) and you EXECUTED on that plan.
In other words, you took the initiative to act upon an idea. That is rare. How many times have you heard friends, family members or coworkers TALK about an idea that they never act upon?
The Plan Worked, Now What?
So now you have found that there is a demand for your idea. You are being paid for your idea.
And now you must do the work. And (if you are lucky) you are busy with this work.
So now you settle into the daily grind – and your business stagnates.
Step Back – Look at the Big Picture
Just like anything else when you are running a tiny business — you have to set up processes that will ensure that you take time to plan.
Don’t get complacent — EXECUTE on those plans. Look for ways to grow your tiny business and set aside time each week (each month at the least) to explore new ways to market and sell your products and services.
I like to use Fridays as my planning day and I usually won’t allow myself to go 2 weeks at a time without sitting down and looking at the big picture.
It is easy to get caught up in the daily work of running your tiny business — but get your head up once in a while and have a look at the forest — you will find that sowing these seeds each week will pay big dividends.
Image Credit – rickydavid
Learn more here or sign up below
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
The “Big Picture” can get blurry when the owner, operator and task master is doing all the jobs themselves and haven’t considered getting more help. The cash flow will dictate the amount of help any business can acquire, but the lack of planning after the upfront execution is more driven from a lack of time and bandwidth than intent.
Most businesses if the owner has followed any experts advice, includes a high level business plan. It is this plan that needs to be reviewed and modified based on the early findings of the company. This document contains the original ideas and thoughts and now can be updated to include reality and the real response to in the market place. The planning and “Big Picture” thinking should include the business plan and making sure the goals and objectives are still relevant to the growth and expansion of the company.
“…but the lack of planning after the upfront execution is more driven from a lack of time and bandwidth than intent.”
Well said… and isn’t it the truth. Time is an extremely precious resource for a tiny business owner… perhaps even more precious than cash. Well… maybe not.