An old military maxim is that “no plan survives contact with the enemy”. However, it is also true that “if you fail to plan you are planning to fail”.
Planning is one of the most fundamental aspects of running a business and, as we start the year, there can be no better time to spend a few hours planning.
Start by looking back at 2018; did you make any plans for the year? If things have not gone as you hoped, are there any specific reasons and what could you have done about them?
It is essential to spend time thinking seriously about what you want from the coming year in terms of personal and business development. Will you be satisfied if this time next year you have stood still?
Personally I always want to grow – both personally and from a business perspective.
Act on your plan and I guarantee that you will make 2019 a year you can look back on with great pride.Standing still for me is simply not an option, which is why every single day I like to feel I have learnt something new or had a new experience; preferably, though not always, a positive one.
In your personal development, what will you need to do to be a better you at the end of the year? Then, turning to your business goals, are you going to be content to drift through the year hoping that things turn out all right?
Or do want to challenge yourself to improve and deliver more? What would it do for you and your family if your net income was to increase by 25 per cent over the next 12 months?
I say this quite specifically as I have yet to meet a financial adviser who does not have the ability to grow their business and profitability by less than 25 per cent over the next year. All that is required is to plan to achieve it.
Visualise in detail how you want to look and feel at the end of the year. What do you want to have achieved? The more detailed the vision, the more real it will become.
Then from your first day back in January make certain you do something about it, and every day that follows. Act on your plan and I guarantee that you will make 2019 a year you can look back on with great pride.
Hopefully this time next year, I will not have decamped to New Zealand. Instead I will be looking back on 2019 and saying what a surprisingly good year it turned out to be. Fingers crossed.
Ken Davy is chairman of SimplyBiz Group
