The Pros of End of Year Planning
There’s just about 90 days left to the end of the year. And, yes, we all feel that it’s come round far too quickly! But this is the perfect moment to pick up your pen and work out The Plan for those last 90 days, and to start sketching out what your goals are going to be next year.
Why bother?
It’s interesting how the human brain works. We are instinctive short-termers, our brains still relate to those ancient times when long term survival depended almost entirely on how you got through the next ninety days: did you set up your defences against migrating predators that would come your way? Did you sow enough seeds in spring to grow crops in summer? Did you gather enough food during the autumn to see you through the harshness of winter? Did you study enough last term to pass this term’s exams? Is pregnancy care based on trimesters of foetal development?
So, while it is important to have a long-term vision so you can work out your business goals, and it is great to have a bucket list and a savings and investment plan, or career plans, all of these can be broken down into short term 90-day action plans. And that means you bring your goals into much tighter focus and focus of mind results in focus of action and energy, and that leads to success.
Let’s break down those positive points:
Looking ahead 90 days means that you can much more easily visualise the direction in which your business or project is heading and brings you a better understanding of what you need to do to either stay on track, or adjust your progress to make sure you hit those goals.
If you have carried out an autumn reset, you will have a really good idea of where your business is at right now, and that will help your 90-day plan fall into perfect place. If you haven’t, it’s not too late, do it now as a precursor to working out what the best course of action is for these last 90 days of the year. Are all the parts of the business moving in the direction you need them to? If not, what adjustments can you make now and for the next 90 days? Are you hitting your financial goals and if not what can you do right now and for the next 90 days to increase your revenue? Or is there a new revenue stream, a short term, seasonal product or service you can create, launch and offer to build up a new revenue stream? Often, 90 days is all it takes.
Looking ahead just 90 days means that you can be more agile, move quickly to adjust your position, without compromising your overall long-term strategy Agility is one of the beauties of small business. When there is just one of you, or a few of you, you can take on board changes much more easily, set up a new system, take on a new client, launch a new service, revamp your website, refresh your social media, follow up leads...and much more. Agility helps you to react to rapidly changing circumstances, adjust your path and take on new opportunities.
Planning ahead the next 90 days means that you are going to focus on very precise goals and break down into a simple list all those actions that you need to take to achieve these.
Consider some of these suggestions:
i) Redesign and refresh your website – focusing on achieving this in just 90 days means that you will have a highly specific to-do list and you will adjust your calendar to take on board the activities you have to carry out. Or you can out- source this to Athena; we love working on client websites!
ii) Launch a social media campaign – you know you’re coming up to the holiday season and you have products to shift or you want to use this time to enhance your following. With people beginning to shop around for ideas for gifts or for making their own life changes in the new year, this is a great time to lift your social media profile, and that can be achieved in 90 days
iii) Start a podcast – why not share your expertise with the world? Planning and setting up a podcast is not quite a piece of cake, but it’s not impossible and it can really enhance your business and your professional image. A podcast can lead to a higher public profile and head new business in your direction. With a clear, focuses plan, this is achievable in 90 days and if you start now, you’ll be ready to launch slap bang at the start of 2025!
The team at Athena loves those 90-day plans and we have quarterly sessions to do just that. These often involve tea and cake, which may be another reason why we are so enthusiastic about those quarterly planning meetings!
But one of the most important reasons we meet up quarterly is to celebrate those staged achievements. When you have your long-term goal and even your yearly goal, achievement may take time. A 90-day plan will give you staged goals that are time-bound, focused and achievable and celebrating these will keep you enthused, energised and on track.
Have a go, today, at planning ahead 90 days. Focus on just one aspect of your business, or on setting up a new project, or making a change to bring your business back on track. Share your intentions with us and then we can celebrate your achievement with you at the end of the year!
And if you need a helping hand along the way, pop into the contact page and drop us a note. We’ll be right back in touch to say hi and see how we can help you out, because if there’s one thing that earns us our tea and cake, is celebrating the success of our clients with you.
