What long, medium and short terms goals do you have for your business?

Stephen Covey says start with the end in mind, so when you’re planning the future of your business, start by thinking about where you want your business to be long term. This could be 10 years away, 5 years away or 3 years away – it’s up to you. It could be about selling your business for a particular sum of money; it could be related to your turnover, number of clients or the reputation of your business. It’s up to you to get creative and choose a goal that inspires you to strive for it. You can have more than one long term goal if you want.

Once you have your long term goal, you need to break it down into more manageable goals. For instance, if your long term goal is to sell your business in 5 years, a medium term goal might be to be working only 3 days a week in 12 months, which is part of the way to being able to sell a business that doesn’t rely on you. If you goal is to be named the best in your field in the UK, a medium term goal could be to be seen as the best in your county in a year’s time. You can have as many medium term goals as you like to help you reach your long term goal.

You should be getting the hang of this process now, because it’s time to break your medium term goals down into short term ones – goals that you can almost reach already. So if your medium term goal is to be working 3 days a week in 12 months time, a short term goal could be to review your current working practices to see how you can grow a business that doesn’t rely on you.  Another could be to look at your staff or whatever team you have, to see what needs to be done to build a solid team of people around you, who can work while you’re away from the office. Linked to this, another short term goal could be to spend some time with an HR or recruitment consultant, to see what they advise in terms of growing your team.

Your short term goals can also be marketing goals. One could be to add a page to your website telling people about the sort of people you’re looking for, to help you grow your team. Another could be related to finding networking groups where you can meet the people you need to advise you and help you build your team.

As with your medium term goals, you can have as many as you like. If your medium term goal is 12 months away, you might need one main short term goal for each of those 12 months.

Spend some time planning where you want to take your business and you’re much more likely to get there.

This is an excerpt from my new book about Marketing Planning, which will be published on 16 November 2011.  Pre-launch orders now being taken – click here to reserve your copy.

Where is your business?

When you first set out on a journey with a map, you need to know where you are. If you don’t know where you’re starting from, you can’t work out the best route to your destination and you can’t determine how long it’s going to take you to get there.

The first thing you need to think about when you’re creating a Marketing Plan for your business is where your business is now. Knowing where you are at the start of this journey will help you plan the best route to your goals. It will also help you set your goals so that you can see the distance you’ve got to travel between where you are now and where you want to be. You might think that you’d like to take on 100 new clients in the next twelve months, charging each one £1000 per day for consulting or coaching. However, if you’ve only got two clients right now and you’re only charging £300 per day, you’ll have a lot of work to do to reach your goal. (Of course, if that’s the goal you really want to aim for, that’s great and knowing your starting point will help you plan the most effective way of getting there.)

So what is your business? What resources do you have at your disposal, to deliver your services to your clients? How long have you been doing what you do and what sort of reputation and experience do you have?

You also need to think about the products and services that you currently provide and be clear on what you offer, to help you decide the best direction to take. Are you delivering what your clients actually want and are you doing what you really want to do? Is there a demand for what you want to offer or are you doing something you only think people might want?

Who are your clients? What sort of people and businesses do you work for? Where are they and why do they need your help?

Finally, what about your competitors? Do you know who your main competitors are and what they do? How much do they charge and what makes you different from them?

Take the time to think about all these questions and the answers as they apply to your business and make sure you know the starting point of your business journey.

This is an excerpt from my new book about Marketing Planning, which will be published on 16 November 2011.  Pre-launch orders now being taken – click here to reserve your copy.

Want to know how to develop a consistent brand? Take a Holiday (Inn)

Back in May I went to a workshop in London that was held at a Holiday Inn. Before we started, I helped myself to a mug of coffee from the row of jugs at the coffee station. None of those silly cups and sauces, which don’t hold much coffee and which need two hands. When we came out on a break, there was plenty of fresh coffee, as well as a huge range of different teas. And there were muffins! At every break it was same – plenty of hot drinks and clean mugs, as well as an endless supply of lovely things to eat – not just those biscuits in packets.

In July I attended a three day course in London, at another Holiday Inn. The service was exactly the same – big mugs, an endless supply of tea and coffee, and different yummy, home made things to eat at every break. When you’re on an intensive three day course, from 9am until 6pm, you need a good supply of refreshments, as well as happy, smiling staff who are more than happy to find more biscuits, when you’ve eaten all they’ve put out for you.

Recently I spent another day at a meeting at yet another Holiday Inn and guess what? We got the same level of service. The only thing that was different was the pick & mix sweets and the pop corn that arrived for our afternoon break!

It’s not that I spend a lot of time in Holiday Inns on purpose – it just seems to happen. However, because of the consistent branding and service, when I was looking for a venue for my full day workshop near Oxford, I’ve decided on Holiday Inn. When I went for a look round, they told me about all the different delicious options I could have at the breaks and yes, they serve the drinks in mugs!

So if you’re looking for ways to keep your clients coming back for more, look at how you can develop a consistent brand and service. And if you want some practical advice and exercises on developing that consistent brand and service, come along to the workshop on 16 November 2011. Click here for all the details and come and see how Holiday Inn do it!