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5 Keys to Making Your Goals a Reality by @SandraDawes

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by Sandra Dawes | Featured Contributor

Goal Setting – it’s something we hear so much about, especially at this time of year. I know that I do a lot around goal setting at this time of year because I believe that Walt Disney Dream Quoteit’s the best time to start thinking about what you want to accomplish next year, as you review your accomplishments for the current year. Here are my 5 keys to making your goals a reality.

  1. Gaining clarity on your goalsIf you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know if you’re ever getting close to arriving? We have to be able to really get specific about what it is we want to achieve. Instead of saying that you want to increase revenues or get more clients, start talking about how much of an increase you want and what kinds of clients you want to attract. When you’re clear on where you want to go, you gain more clarity on what it’s going to take to get you there.
  2. Silencing the “peanut gallery”The peanut gallery comes in many forms. Whether it’s well-meaning friends and family who quote discouraging statistics on the state of the economy or the media itself talking about failure rates of small business, we have to be able to allow these things to discourage us. We need to surround ourselves with positive people that support and encourage us in the pursuit of our goals. We also need to create the mindset within that reminds us when we hear the negative news that just because it’s true for some, doesn’t mean it’s true for me. This is why the third key is so important.
  3. Having faithI’ve written about the importance of having faith as an entrepreneur before, but it’s worth repeating.  When I talk about faith, I mean the ability to believe in yourself, your abilities and your dream. If you don’t believe it’s possible, then anything you do towards your goal is a waste of time. You must believe in yourself if you want others to believe in you. You also have to be willing to accept that everything happens for a reason, even if it doesn’t happen the way that we’d like it to. Being able to surrender control of the things we have no power over is a vital lesson that will reduce heartache and stress along the way.
  4. Creating a planI’m sure we’ve all heard it said that a goal without a plan is just a dream. While the goal may not be reached exactly according to plan, you do need a guide, a map if you will, that will be your reference point as you pursue your goals. What benchmarks will let you know that you are getting close to achieving your goals? What will the indicators that you’re heading off track be? It can be a challenge not to become so attached to the plan that we lose sight of the goal. When experiencing obstacles, focus on the what and not the how of achieving your goals.
  5. The willingness and ability to put the plan into actionThis is the part where fear usually pops up. Putting the plan into action can be scary because we open ourselves up to the possibility of failure. We need to remind ourselves that we aren’t going to get any closer to reaching our goals by doing nothing. Even if you have the first four keys covered, you’re not going to achieve any kind of success if you aren’t willing to actually put the plan into action and see what unfolds. If putting the plan into action scares you, then remind yourself of why this goal is important to you in the first place. What will achieving the goal mean for your business, for you personally and who else will benefit are the things to keep in mind and use as motivation when you feel like fear is holding you back.

These 5 keys have been vital to achieving all that I have in the past year since leaving full-time employment to join the ranks of entrepreneur. There have been lots of re-calibrations of the plan and many times where my faith was tested. Thanks to the amazing support system I have and the strategies and lessons I’ve learned from experts along the way, I have been able to not only achieve my own personal and professional goals, but also helped my clients do the same. That desire to help others achieve their goals and live the life they want is what keeps me motivated and driven no matter what’s going on, what’s motivating you?

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Sandra Dawes, Founder, Life Coach, Embrace Your DestinySandra Dawes is a recovering control freak and excuse maker, as well as founder of Embrace Your Destiny, her life coaching practice. Her work involves teaching women how to stop making arguing for their limitations so that they can create the life that they want. Sandra’s inspiration to help others in this area comes from her own journey and experiences in dealing with the heartbreak of losing her father. She published her first book Embrace Your Destiny: 12 Steps to Living the Life You Deserve, a story that outlines her personal journey, in November 2013.

In her down time, Sandra loves to read, do yoga and spend time with her partner Satnam and their dog Lulu. For more information on what she does, visit www.embraceyourdestiny.ca.

What to Do Next When Your 5-Year Business Plan Comes to a Close by @DeborahSweeney

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by Deborah Sweeney, CEO of MyCorporation.com

Writing a 5-year plan is usually the very first step in the occasionally stressful but always rewarding road of business ownership. One of the biggest problems with most 5-year plans is that you are sort of flying by the seat of your pants when you write it out. Until you actually run a business, you have no idea what type of obstacles you’ll face, or even what you can achieve. A 5-year plan is often based on cursory research, some hope, and a bit of guesswork. At the end of your first five years, you should look back on your original plan to see how far you’ve come, then figure out what you need to work on for the next 5 years to come by doing the following five things:

1. Identify new goals.

After the first five years, the rate of failure for small businesses decreases dramatically. If you’ve made it past the five year mark, your business has shown that it can be profitable, which was likely one of your main goals. But what were your other ones? Did you set out to increase your market by a certain percent? Did you want to pay back a good chunk of your business loan? Check off whatever goals you met, and focus on the goals you didn’t meet, or want to build on. Doing this may seem a bit obvious, but actually looking at a hard copy of your goals is an excellent way to help focus your company and define your growth strategy.

2. Reevaluate what’s working and what isn’t.

When you run a successful business you can sometimes get stuck in a ‘if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it’ mindset. It can be a bit unnerving to fiddle around with the inner workings of the company if, thus far, all of the elements seem to be aligning and working well enough together. But if you refuse to fix or ignore a problem in the business, that problem will rear its head and could be a lot more destructive. If you feel like something isn’t working, be it marketing, accounting, employee relations, or stocking methods, now would be a good time to fix that problem.

3. Take a look at your competition.

Your market and industry has probably changed quite a bit over the past five years. Competing businesses have fallen, and new ones have popped up to take their place. Take a look at the industry and your competitors to see what everyone is up to. Doing so will help you to continue to stand out from the crowd, and could also reveal new ways to remain competitive within the industry.

4. Make sure your finances and paperwork are in order.

After five years, you’ll probably have an excellent accounting system in place, but it never hurts to perform a sort of self-audit and see exactly where you stand financially. The five-year mark is also a good time to make sure any state paperwork that needs to be renewed has been – some states, for example, require businesses to renew their trade name (DBA) every five years. If you’re still chugging along with the default sole-proprietorship structure, think about forming a separate entity for your business so you can protect your personal assets and allow your business to carry its own debt.

5. Grow!

Stagnation is your business’s enemy, so never stop fighting it and always try to grow in some way. Growth goals can be as simple as making more money or finding more customers, but they can also be a bit more abstract, like introducing a new marketing strategy or learning more about entrepreneurship. As long as you are always aiming for bigger and better, neither you nor your company will stagnate.

Making it past the five year mark is a real accomplishment, but it is too easy to start resting on your laurels and assuming your success will continue without any further effort. You are always going to face challenges as a business owner, though those challenges may change from the ones you dealt with when you first started. Use that old five year plan to figure out what you’ve done well and what needs work, and then try to improve on both. And don’t forget to enjoy your success – you’ve earned it!

Photo Credit: ‘SeraphimC via Compfight cc

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About the Author:

Deborah SweeneyDeborah Sweeney is the CEO of MyCorporation.com. MyCorporation is a leader in online legal filing services for entrepreneurs and businesses, providing start-up bundles that include corporation and LLC formation, registered agent, DBA, and trademark & copyright filing services. MyCorporation does all the work, making the business formation and maintenance quick and painless, so business owners can focus on what they do best. Follow her on Google+ and on Twitter @deborahsweeney and @mycorporation.

How to Get the Important Stuff Done Each and Every Week by @AlyciaEdgar

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busy woman

by Alicia Edgar | Featured Contributor

Never feel like you get time to work on the really important stuff? We you just lost each week in the busy-ness of what you do, but never feel like you’re making progress towards your big goals? The important stuff will only happen if you make it a priority. So, how can you achieve that and still accomplish your everyday stuff?

Make your week more productive. Here’s how:

  1. Purchase a 12 month wall calendar. Mark out your holidays, conferences, school holidays (if you have kids) and any other important dates when you won’t be working.
  2. Create a focus for certain days. Break up your week into roles you need to fulfil. For example, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday are client contact days. Tuesday is business development day. Friday is marketing/admin day. It’s hard wearing too many hats at once; one hat allows for true focus. Ensure your electronic calendar follows these new rules too.
  3. See how much time you really have. That important stuff mentioned earlier will no doubt fall under a Business Development task. How many of those days do you actually have available on your wall calendar? Count them up. Remember you can’t bank time, so make sure your deadlines are realistic for your big goals and are developed around the time you actually have available.
  4. Schedule in your tasks for the appropriate focus day. Schedule tasks into your electronic calendar. For example, schedule the first tasks towards your big goal on your first available business development day. If it’s not scheduled it probably won’t get done!
  5. Schedule in some thinking time. Yes, thinking time. Think while you walk, drink coffee, sit in the sun or whatever works for you, but schedule it in. Technology free is best to clear your mind for the best thoughts, so resist the temptation. You’ll be amazed what new things “pop” and how many problems you’ll solve just by doing this. Have paper and pen handy though!
  6. Work at your best time each day. If you’ve found your concentration is better first thing in the morning, make sure your more intense tasks are scheduled for then. Or perhaps that’s when you’re most creative, so schedule your tasks around that as well.

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Sounds easy right? Practically, yes it is. Habitually it’s a different story. Maintaining a certain focus on each day will take practice. It’s a new habit, so make sure you stick at it. The rewards will be great! You may feel uncomfortable limiting your client days. I promise you that back-to-back appointments over fewer days gives you just as much contact time as random times over the entire week. And your clients won’t mind, really. You’re just not available on those days.

Photo Credit: epSos.de via Compfight cc

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Alycia Edgar – Leading expert in creating systems for profitable business from Business Performance HQ, Torquay, VIC, Australia

Screen Shot 2013-07-16 at 10.54.45 AMForget about your mental picture of an accountant sitting behind a desk crunching numbers all day, stopping only to peer at you over the top of his or her wire-rimmed glasses.

A trained accountant, yes, but also much more. Alycia Edgar does not fit the picture painted above; instead she is a latte-sipping, beach-loving business owner who happens to be great at numbers and systems.

Alycia is a leading expert in creating systems for profitable business growth for her clients.  Nothing makes her happier than looking at your business numbers and helping you to understand what the numbers are saying, implementing systems to make your business more productive, or processes to make everything happen quicker and smoother.

Alycia is passionate about the idea that the right systems are the key to driving business growth.

She can share clear strategies that can help business owners become more productive and profitable immediately.

Alycia works with business owners to achieve this result through one-on-one mentoring and consulting on how to roll out innovative systems, procedures and processes. And will be launching her revamped Bizfficiency course later in the year.

A lover of social media, you can follow Alycia on twitter @alyciaedgar, Facebook – Alycia Edgar, instagram, Alycia Edgar.

To find out more visit www.businessperformancehq.com.