Goal Setting Exercise – Make This Your Best Year Ever!

I have discovered that goal setting does not come easily for many people. Perhaps they have never created goals that worked for them or perhaps they have created goals that were not measurable. When you can't measure something, it's difficult to achieve success. That's why as a companion to my post about Personal Goal Planning, I have written a goal setting exercise to help you make this year the best year ever. Remember, shoot for the moon. Even if you fail you will land among the stars!

Goals

Please think about goals you would like to set for yourself for this calendar year. Examples could be: business income; new clients; new AUM; new skills; development of new strategies; new marketing tactics; # of referrals received; networking events to attend; new business relationships created; COI coffees or meetings; personal wellbeing; stress reduction; elimination of frustrating circumstances; vacations; work/life balance. 

Please create goals using the SMART GOALS process: 

Specific – Make your goals specific.

EXAMPLE:  A general goal would be, “Get in shape.” But a specific goal would say, “Join a health club and workout 3 days a week.”

Measurable – Create goals that you can measure. If your goal is to attend five networking events per week and you attend two, then you can measure where you need to step up activity.

Achievable – Make your goal something that you can reasonably achieve. If your goal is to work out three hours seven days a week, is that achievable? Probably not.

Realistic - To be realistic, a goal should be something you are both willing and able to work on. Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. If your goal is $500K in revenue but last year you brought in $100K, then it's not realistic based on past results.  

Timely - Establish an achievable time frame that allows you to carry out the actions to achieve your goal. If you were to focus on your goals over six months to one year, that is an achievable time frame.

How many goals should you have? I like to have business goals and personal goals. Here's a good format:

Business Goals: what are the three business goals you would like to achieve in the next 6 to 12 months? Be as specific as possible.

1.

2.

3.

Personal Goals: what are the three personal goals you would like to achieve in the next 6 to 12 months? Be as specific as possible.

1.

2.

3.

Consistency

It takes twenty one days to build a habit. If you have exercise goals then realize that you'll need to build your habits so that it becomes natural for you to go to the gym or go for a run on a regular basis.  You'll need to do the activities that will help you achieve your goals. So check in with yourself from time to time to ensure you are taking action.

Here's to your success!!!

Suzanne Muusers

Business Coach to Successful Entrepreneurs

Happy New Year 2012!

Happy New Year 2012!

The New Year brings with it hope for the future, better economic times ahead, opportunity, and prosperity.  Life is what you make it. What does your ideal life look like? What do you want more of in your life in 2012? What are the opportunities for you?

Use this time to think deeply about what needs to happen for you to enjoy your life…

I wish you peace and prosperity in 2012!

Suzanne Muusers

Entrepreneur and Business Coach

2012 Personal Goal Planning

I am excited about what 2012 will bring! For me, 2011 had a theme and it was PERSISTENCE! Any successful person will tell you that as long as you stay on track, focus on your goals, and keep taking action you will succeed. (please also read this companion post Goal Setting Exercise)

Review and accomplishments

What have you accomplished this year?

• Review your 2011 Business Plan - make note of what you accomplished this year. Look at your goals and review just how many of them you attained. Do you see any patterns?  
• Create a Return on Investment spreadsheet - track where your income came from in 2011. What are the surprises? Make note of marketing tactics that take a lot of time and those that seem effortless. For 2012, get rid of non performing tactics and focus on those that work.
• Personal development – how have you grown as a person? How has that made you better at what you do? How can you improve in 2012?

What are your personal goals for 2012?

We should all have goals that motivate us and keep us moving in a beneficial direction. What kind of goals should you have? Health Goals, Money Goals, Creative Goals, Home Environment Goals, Vacation Goals, Spiritual Goals, Lifestyle Goals, and Family Goals. Including goals in these areas help us to be more well-rounded and healthy individuals.

What's your theme for 2012?

My 2012 theme is CREATE A CAREFREE LIFE

I have laid out my goals/actions to create a carefree life here in my 2012 Goals.

2012 Personal Goals: #1 goal: debt free by September 2012; buy a 4 door truck and investigate the back roads of Arizona; vacation the entire month of August on the southern Oregon coast; complete a master bedroom and bathroom home renovation; hire a housekeeper and virtual assistant; save six months of expenses in my Vanguard Prime Money Market account; yoga, tai chi, and hypnotherapy once or twice monthly ; cardio and weights three times per week

So what are your 2012 personal goals?

Suzanne Muusers

Business Coach to Motivated Entrepreneurs 

Are You Writing Your 2012 Business Plan?

If you only look at what is, you might never attain what could be. (Anonymous)

At this time of year, how can a business owner ensure that they are moving forward attaining their goals while striving to be in the best financial shape possible? By staying ahead of the curve and writing their 2012 Business Plan before 2011 is over!

Writing a Business Plan each year has many benefits to the business owner. The main reason to write a Business Plan annually is that a business is not rigid. A business changes from year to year. By reviewing and re-writing your Business Plan you can discover what worked last year, what didn't work, and where you want to go next year.

By writing your Business Plan before the year's end you can also LEARN ABOUT YOURSELF and your willingness to do specific tasks. For example, you may have procrastinated implementing certain marketing tactics because you really didn't want to do them. If so, you may need to examine why and make appropriate changes for the next year.

You may also discover that you are NOT TAKING THE ACTIONS NEEDED to achieve your goals. For example, if you had a goal of asking for five referrals per week and you did not achieve that goal, you may need to examine ways to ask for referrals that are more natural and in tune with your personality.

You may also learn that you THINK BIG.  This is a lesson I learned by examining several of my previous years' Business Plans. I discovered that I tend to create TONS OF GOALS, far too many for one person to work on and achieve.  For example, my personal goals listed several international trips, several professional development goals, and far too many new information products to develop. There's only so much time in a year. The key is to decide what is most important to you and make a reasonable yet motivating goal to achieve that one thing.

Aside from learning about yourself, learning what actions you are not taking, and reviewing your goals, writing a Business Plan before the New Year can help you get ready for success. Here are a few benefits to writing your 2012 Business Plan:

Direction: Imagine getting in your car and driving to an unfamiliar location without use of a GPS or mapquest? There is not much likelihood that you would get to your destination. The same analogy applies to revenue goals. When I talk to prospects and they say they want to do "X" in production next year and I ask how they will do it, very often they don't have an answer. Writing your Business Plan before the end of the year will help you sort out how you are going to get new clients and how many you'll need.

Motivation: In writing your Business Plan you will create a 5 year vision of where you want to be as you attain more and more success. This is both motivating and comforting. A vision is motivating if you are a big believer in what you think about you bring about. Creating this vision will lead your subconscious mind in the right direction – a path to financial success. In your vision you will create your income in 5 years, your work schedule as if you were leading a balanced life, your team members.  A vision is comforting because you can convince yourself that life won't always be the way it is now. If you're too busy, with too many conflicting roles and responsibilities, you can have comfort knowing that as long as you work ON your business you can attain the life you want.

Results: A written Business Plan helps the business owner stay focused on results. Meandering from here to there with no focus or direction is NOT what you want in your life. Having a living document that you can pull out and review quarterly helps the business owner remember what they want and the actions they need to take to get it. Don't say your Business Plan is in your head because it's not. Put thoughts to paper, review your goals and actions, and you will see results.

Aside from the obvious, writing a Business Plan keeps you on your toes and keeps you honest. When you say I am going to increase my revenue 30% and this is how I'm going to do it, you will be more likely to DO IT. So write your 2012 Business Plan before the end of the year and see your business boom!

Suzanne Muusers

Business Coach to Successful Financial Advisors

Creator of The Two Page Mini Business Plan™

What are your 3 Critical Business Functions?

It's easy to forget.

Easy to forget what you need to be doing with the majority of your time. Yesterday I got caught up in processing an online order for my city newspaper. Believe it or not it took me an hour to purchase my newspaper subscription online. I could have called the 800 number and have processed the order in far less time. But I wanted to use the online system. I found out at the end of the process that I would be billed for the entire twelve months at one time. So then I really had to call the 800 number to straighten out the mess.

I wasted my time with this task. But when I looked back on my day, I realized that I had spent the majority of my time doing what I needed to do.

• Do you make it a habit to review your day?
• Do you use your time productively?
• Did you spend time on critical business functions?

What are critical business functions? These are the business activities that only you can accomplish with great success.  These are not tasks that can be delegated to your assistant. These are tasks where you shine.  These are tasks that help you grow your business and make your clients happy.  

Here are my three critical business functions.

1. Writing content for one of my four websites. Content positions me as an expert in my field. Creating content for my blog and my websites brings me traffic which also brings me qualified prospects.
2. Consulting with serious prospects. The qualified prospects that end up in my sales funnel go on a journey learning more about me and how I can help them focus on their business and create success. I don't have time to consult with everyone, so I put prospects through a process to determine if I should utilize my time consulting with them.
3. Coaching my clients. Once a prospect becomes a client, I meet with them via phone weekly helping them focus on their goals and strategize various business and marketing tactics. The time I spend working with my clients is the most enjoyable to me.

What are your three critical business functions?  What should you spend your time doing? What are you wasting your time on right now?

Suzanne Muusers

Could coaching be what you need?

Find out here: Are We are a Good Fit for Coaching?

Increase your Income by Rebranding

This month, my focus is on branding as one of my clients is ready to launch a new business concept using a visual marketing campaign that uses branding extensively.  This post is about how you can increase your income by rebranding your business.

Take a long hard look at your brand. What are you communicating to prospects and clients with your brand?  Could it be that an investment in your brand could allow you to take your business to the next level?

Here's a story about how rebranding can lead to new business revenue. I pass a pizza restaurant almost daily not far from my home.  The restaurant has been in the same location for many years and I had never set foot in it. To me the restaurant was nondescript with a rather bland exterior that did not catch my attention hence the reason why I drove past it and never ventured in.

Recently however, the owners have started a new branding campaign. They invested in a vibrant color palette and new logo which they painted around the restaurant windows and duplicated in the overhead signage.  Suddenly they stand out. Suddenly I can't drive past without seeing them a mile away. So I stopped in the other day to buy a pizza. The restaurant was crowded with eat in diners and folks like me looking to take home a pizza. I asked the young kid behind the counter why they were so busy and he said "Gee I don’t know, but lately it seems like more people are coming in saying that they didn't realize we were here."

So, the owners may not be sure that the reason their business revenue has increased because of their brand, but it seems pretty obvious to me that the restaurant was invisible before the rebranding.

Is your business brand too bland? Do you need to consider how to stand out from the crowd? I hope you'll consider rebranding one of your goals in 2012. You might find yourself with lots of new clients and a new look on life.

Suzanne Muusers

Business Coach to Branded Business Owners