Simple Strategic Plan Creation

Laura Posey of Dancing Elephants sent out a note to her LinkedIn connections offering a discounted rate for her one page strategic plan. I had been thinking about what I want my business to look like and on December 6th 2012 took the plunge… well almost, it was the first piece to the plunge; I paid the money, signed up, made a commitment to myself.

What I also knew was that December was going to be INSANE from an activity perspective and I wasn’t going to have the brainpower to even begin to think about this let alone the time to do it!

December 30th 2012 – finally I printed out the book and tried good about this… I did NOT jump ahead; I’m not happy with how my way is going so I’m committing to myself to follow Laura’s way – completely (gulp).
> OK so I’m now on page 13 of 58 and she is telling me “You won’t need long – typically no more than an hour – to do the overall plan.” I think she is overly optimistic….
> Really I’m going to TRUST in her… on page 14 she wants me to let go of the how…. I’m all about the how as a person, now I’m letting go and moving on.
> Pg 17 I always use pyramids for myself & clients… now there is one here about WHY the plan will work (happy smile)
> LOVE the idea that core values aren’t just about what I do but also about who I work with!
“Your core values and beliefs determine how you treat customers, employees and suppli¬ers; how you interact with the larger community; who to hire, sell to and buy from. They are the guidelines by which people will judge whether to engage with you. They are guidelines you and your employees will use to decide who you should engage with.”
> Random note… taking the time to renew my adobe subscription so I can make the workbook editable; I’d rather do this part electronically
> Pg 25 “vision of your perfect life” I started reading the next piece before doing the exercise and started to feel overwhelmed! I need to STOP and do this before I go further and include anything about my business…
> I had fun with the vision, waited until the very end to put a number on it – started to become stuck in ‘how’… took a deep breath and made myself go back to the book & keep reading!
> OK here is where I am getting stuck… today I am my company; how can it exist WITHOUT me, which is probably why I am where I am right now. NOT probably – it is why I am here. I’m trading my time & expertise for money… not creating something that can exist without me.
> Alright on page 34… KEY for me to keep going is “If you start drilling down into tasks at this stage, you’ll find the list is so long and complicated you can’t possibly get it done. Keep things simple at this stage of your plan. Think big building sections, not little details.”
> Short Term Focus vs. Goals – “the areas of your business that need substantive change if you are going to have different outcomes from what you have had in the past.” Interesting to me to set my goals 1st THEN back it up with focus
> The theme got me STUCK for a little while, I had to break and get away from it before I could come up with anything that felt right. This is a place where not being at a computer was critical. I pulled out some creative things I use (like Austin Kleon’s Steal Like An Artist book) to get that part of my brain working.
> Pg 49… I could have used this advice earlier “Don’t worry if you change your mind tomorrow and create a new annual theme. That is very common.”
What did I end up with after all that?
Well my theme hasn’t changed… I still love it Create!
Plus I have a list of Core Values/Beliefs that will help me make sure the clients I choose to work with align with what my business believes in.
I have a Vision for the company. Goals to reach by December 2013, and the areas of focus that will help me get there.
Targets to hit by December 2013 and how to Create! what is necessary to hit them.

Plus a BIG Dream (here we go.. . gulp). My big dream for the company is to have a Sales Ski Camp 3x every year where people come and ski in the morning, do a quick change out of their ski cloths (not getting all pretty or anything… just comfortable). At lunch we talk about the cool parts of our morning skiing THEN take the afternoon to translate those experiences into Sales Success Factors.

The best part of the big dream is I don’t have to have ANY IDEA how to make it happen (and I don’t) – but with it out there REALLY out there now I can let things happen in my business that will help me achieve the big dream; by working on my short term goals and longer term targets. What a crazy thing!

If you’re interested in creating a Simple Strategic Plan for yourself, I’ve convinced Laura Posey (Chief Instigator of Dancing Elephants) to let me offer a $50 discount off the price which brings the price down to $147! Out of curiosity, how much more would you have to sell to earn $147 income? Based on my personal experience it will help increase your sales way beyond that.