Are Your Priorities Where They Should Be?

Since my last post, I have been talking to quite a few business people. The one common thread from all of those discussions is that everybody wants to grow. The big question is – are you willing to adjust your priorities to achieve that growth? Most people will quickly answer yes but here is what I see:

• Most are consumed by the tactical issues of their business. Making, shipping and getting paid for the widgets they make.
• Developing new products, services or markets gets great lip service but little time allocated to make it happen. At the end of the day, it is one of the items that has not gotten done and gets put off until tomorrow and the next day.
• As a result, the business continues the way it has for years. Slow or no growth or worse yet shrinking.

Here are a few simple steps that could turn this cycle around:

1. Start with small steps – set aside one hour per day to work on your business strategy.
2. Here is the tough part – stay disciplined and spend that hour everyday.
3. During that hour – develop the following -

• Define what your business will look like in several years time – your unique brand, top and bottom line numbers, products, markets, people. Where do you want to go?
• Next itemize the factors that will help and hinder your progress.
• Develop innovative ideas for taking advantage of those factors that will help and eliminating or minimizing those factors that hold you back. Remember the definition of innovation – creativity that works. Make sure you filter your new ideas to identify those that will work.
• Budget based on outcomes – in other words, look at each initiative as an investment. What will you have to invest to achieve the results you desire and arrive at your vision several years down the road?
• Prioritize – you can’t attack everything so choose those initiatives that will most effectively and efficiently move you toward you vision.
• Develop an action plan and timeline to implement the concepts you have budgeted for.
• Assess and manage your business culture (how you get things done) to make sure that it supports your new direction.

After you have completed this, continue to budget your one hour per day. During that hour – monitor progress on your current plan and start developing updates to the plan based on what you are experiencing.

Simple? It can be if you have your priorities straight and are able to discipline yourself and your business to stay on track.