Your Profit Plan for 2012

If you really want 2012 to be your breakthrough year, it’s essential to put your purpose and your message into a plan that you can go back to and look at (at least once a week) so you can stay focused, inspired and on track throughout the year.

With a strong plan, focused on how many people you want to help, how much money you want to make and the steps to build the vision you want to create, you can accomplish more while staying in integrity with your passion.

Here are the six steps of your very simple Business Plan (a condensed version of a section in our Authentic PROFITS System):

Your Vision

This is your “Why Behind the What”. Why do you do what you do? What is the vision that you want to create? This is YOUR reason for doing what you do. It can be a mix of the transformation you want to support in the world and material things and experiences you want to have. You want to write it in the present, as if it has already happened.

Here’s an example: I have a multi-million dollar company that is helping women around the globe recognize the choices they are making so they can start consciously choosing what they truly desire, be an example of choice and freedom for their children and create powerful change in the world.

Your Mission or Message

Your Mission/Message is how you bring this vision out into the world. This is how you talk about what you do, how you help people and the transformation you want your clients to have.

The components are:

Who do you help?
What do you help them do? (as tangible as possible)
The “so that”…what is the transformation for your client? The benefits and results that people get from working with you.

Here’s an example: I help service-based women business owners build a passionate local practice as well as a powerful online presence, so they can create a consistent flow of clients and make more money without compromising their integrity.

Your Goals/Intentions

(If you don’t like the word “goal”, just use “intention”.)

Your goals/intentions are what you want to accomplish over the next year. Be specific and as tangible as you possibly can. You want to be able to measure whether you have reached your intention or not. For example, be at a certain income level, create a website, have a certain number of clients, speak at a certain number of events, etc.

Here’s an example:

Goal #1) Have 5 new clients by ##date.

Goal #2) Increase my income to $5,000 per month by the end of this year

Goal #3) Have one speaking gig a month starting next month.

Your Strategies

Your strategies are the ways you will create opportunity to reach your goals/intentions over the next year. What kind of specific networking and marketing will you do. How will you be reaching out to others, what kind of support will you need, etc. Now you are beginning your plan to accomplish what you desire in the next year.

Here’s an example:

Goal #1) Have 5 new clients by ##date.

Strategy #1 – Begin doing local networking,

Strategy #2 – Follow up with previous contacts each day,

Strategy #3 – Create a special offer campaign for my online community

Your Steps

Your steps are the action you will take for each of your strategies. After all, there’s no point in having a strategy if you aren’t going to do what it takes to have them support your goals.

Be sure to break each step down into doable, specific tasks. For each thing you list, make sure you don’t need to break it down into many more actionable steps. You want them to be simple and straightforward so you can follow-through on them.

Here’s an example:

Strategy #1 – Begin doing local networking

Step #1: Google women’s business and networking organizations and groups in my town or within 1 hour away

Step #2: Reach out to Joanne and find out what businesswomen networking groups she attends

Step #3: Go to Meetup.com and see what businesswomen meetups are happening in my area

Step #4: Make list of top 10 possibilities from research

Step #5: Commit to at least 1 networking event this week

Your Accountability

Your accountability is really the “get it done” part of your plan. It’s making sure you are actually doing your steps toward your strategy that you have laid out.

If you don’t have a business coach to help you stay accountable (make that a goal for next year), think of someone you can partner with now, who can help you stay on track and who you can help stay on track too – an “Accountability Partner”.

Set up a regular schedule so you can continually check with each other regarding your progress. Make sure you choose someone who will call you out on any procrastination and can help you work through anything you seem resistant to.

Call to Action

Carve out some time to sit down and get clear about your vision, mission, goals, strategies and steps for the New Year.

Keep it simple, doable and a bit of a stretch for you. Don’t forget the accountability piece. That can be the difference between a mediocre year and a fabulous breakthrough year!