Crafting a plan

Knowing what to do and when to do it is vital to using your resources in the most effective way possible. Often business templates are geared towards larger, more established companies that are making decisions on a much larger scale.

What does a real-world, actionable plan look like for a small business with limited people, time and technology resources?

Identify your most important must-dos—the things that if you don’t accomplish them, you will no longer be in business. Identify the top three.

Develop a laser-like focus on those three things.

Use technology to your advantage. Ask ChatGPT or Co-pilot to develop a plan for you to accomplish each of those three things.

For example, if you know that one of the key things you need to accomplish is to establish a consistent marketing plan and execute on it. Don’t reinvent the wheel.

Try this prompt-”Develop a six-month marketing plan for my [industry] business for under [$X] that increases my revenue by {X%] with metrics that I can use to measure its success.”

You will have to do some more refining, but you will have a plan with some clearly actionable steps within a budget that works for where you are in your business.

Ask for help. No one builds a business alone, and you shouldn’t try to be the first. Ask for help. Take a look at your network. You may be surprised how many people you know that you can reach out to who are willing to help you and support you on this business journey. Some support may be free or low-cost, but be prepared to pay for people’s time. Utilize as many free online resources and access local non-profit business development centers. They often have low-cost resources that may be useful depending on your focus areas.

Guard your time. When you are clear on what matters most, you can eliminate a lot of the distractions that are reality for many small business owners. You don’t have to attend every workshop, conference, meeting, meetup, or networking event. You do have to attend the events and meetings that support your most important priorities.

Here’s to more business birthdays!