Do you find business plans just don’t work for you?
It’s particularly relevant at this time of year. As we get deeper into March, it can cause a bit of panic, because it’s the final month of the first quarter. March can be tough, especially for those struggling with having a business plan or implementing it. If that’s you, don’t worry. This episode of the Heart-Centred Business Podcast is for you. And it’s Day 5 of #Tashmas… so there’s a present waiting for you too!
Wait… What is #Tashmas?
I do it for both my birthday (1-12 March) and pre-Christmas (1-12 December) every year! Every day from now until my birthday on 12th March, there will be a new daily podcast episode, with a hot tip or practical strategy as per usual… but you ALSO get a gift! I love sharing the birthday vibes, and what better way to do that?! The daily gift could be a freebie, a special offer, a competition… but there will be something for YOU every single day.
Today’s gift is a free training you’re going to want to keep handy for whenever you feel frustrated with planning and productivity. JUICY!!!
Let’s dive in!!!
Here for the links referenced in the show notes?
Grab my NEW Planning and Productivity Power-Up at tashcorbin.com/ppp
EPISODE 466: Listen using the player below, or click the links to your fave platform to subscribe and listen over there:
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Quarter 1 is almost over…?
I know this time of year can feel like it’s RACING AWAY – but there’s great news for you today! Firstly, a lot of the reason why it feels that way has to do with the way we plan and organise ourselves. And secondly, in this episode, I’ll share why business plans often fail for entrepreneurs and what we can do about it.
Business plan fails
The first thing to remember about business planning is that a business plan is just a point-in-time document. It’s not as effective or useful if it’s not a living document that grows and changes. Many business plans are just lists of goals, so you don’t know what to do today to achieve them. If the plan becomes outdated, it ends up on a shelf and is never looked at again. It quickly becomes irrelevant. Also, we often get excited about planning at certain times, but momentum fizzles fast.
The power of a business plan is not just in its existence, but in its ability to create clarity and sustain momentum. Most business plans don’t do that, which is why they often fail for entrepreneurs.
Are you a front-loader?
Another big issue, especially for those who are ambitious, or identify as high-achievers… is front-loading your plans. In January, for example, you might have lots of ideas, but suddenly everything needs to be done straight away. You decided to create three new freebies to grow your mailing list, and now they all need to be finished in January or February. This puts too much in the urgent pile, making you feel behind.
That’s why, when March arrives, panic sets in. You feel like a failure when looking at your business plan. It becomes overwhelming, reminding you of how much you haven’t done.
Where’s the data?
What can create even more of a challenge is the lack of data in planning. If you create a plan, but it wasn’t based on what works, you might start over repeatedly. But it’s not based on insights from previous plans. It’s not informing your decision-making, just a fresh start over and over.
We need a perfect storm…
What if you create your plan… but you don’t give yourself any wriggle room? I see this especially prevalent for those who love a fresh start in the new year, and who set high expectations for themselves. This requires perfectionism to implement. There’s no room for ‘life’ to happen in those plans.
The clincher: Directing action
If your business plan is just a long list of goals, it doesn’t give you any direction or prioritisation so you can actually implement it. A great business plan directs your actions, it doesn’t just catalogue all your goals. Giant lists of goals and ideas just lead to overwhelm and decision fatigue.
Think about it: If you’ve opened a business plan with 65 things to do, but no clarity on where to start, you’ve likely felt overwhelmed. It’s hard to know which task to focus on, so you might end up just doing nothing or picking something irrelevant.
So what do you do?
Entrepreneurs might say they’re better off without a plan, but the issue lies with the plan’s structure, not just ‘business planning’ itself.
The problem is the way you plan. Either there’s no structure to make it actionable, or the structure doesn’t suit your business model. We need to learn how to translate your business plan into actions that work for you instead of discarding business planning altogether.
There’s temptation to wear it as a badge of honour, saying, “I just go with the flow and follow my intuition.” … and I get that. But when you dig beneath the surface, the reason for that is because you’ve created plans in the past that didn’t work for you. But planning itself isn’t the problem. Instead of throwing out business planning, we need to create simple plans with structure and strategies that work for you.
The benefits of great business plans
I would LOVE for every entrepreneur to experience life with an effective, aligned business plan. Because I absolutely have seen the difference it can make. When effective, business plans have multiple benefits. Productivity increases—not by jamming more work in, but by improving results. You can achieve more in less time, producing greater and greater results.
My advice? If you struggle with business plans, focus on shorter-term planning first, especially in early business stages.
Try this instead
I recommend setting big picture goals on a yearly and quarterly basis, but when it comes to strategy and actions, just focus on short-term timeframes. In the beginning of my business, I only planned for shorter time frames. Understand that time frames must fit your business model. Find the structure that helps you implement effectively.
Most business plans fail entrepreneurs as templates that are offered online suit larger, more predictable businesses. They’re insufficient to drive focused action or implementation, so they aren’t actually effective in driving productivity. You need a system for translating plans into action, in a way that works for YOU!
Time for your gift!
It’s Day 5 of #Tashmas and your gift today is my Planning and Productivity Power-Up training. It was so popular last year that I recorded it for evergreen access. You’ll also get my quarterly planning template, letting you create a quarterly plan that fits the advice I’ve provided in this podcast.
Grab it now at tashcorbin.com/ppp.
Until next time, I cannot WAIT to see you SHINE.
