The Plan

Here are 10 tips to help you plan a successful business strategy.

1. Stay on Task
Don’t get side-tracked. Plan!  Focus on your venture rather than flipping from one idea to the next. Look for synergy i,e. where you can reduce time and effort to produce more productivity. Do one thing perfectly, not 10 things poorly. If you feel the need to jump onto another project, that might mean something about your original concept.  Learn how to create synergy in the digital space
2. Recognize Your Why!
Businesses built around your strengths and talents will have a greater chance of success. It’s not only important to create a profitable business, it’s also important that you’re happy managing and growing it day in and day out. If your heart isn’t in it, you will not be successful.
3. Practice Your Elevator Speech
I have learned that new people you meet have seconds to decide about you. Your communication both written and verbal has to be spot on and show your passion for your business and give the contact I good pitch on “what’s in it for me”. Develop your mission and vision, what you provide and do it passionately with belief. Do some homework and find out who your contact is,  fit the pitch to the contact. State your mission, service, and goals in a clear and concise manner. You only have 30 seconds at the most! Develop effective verbal communication
4. Recognize your limitations
Humility is a great thing.  If you don’t know something or have a weakness recognize it and do something about it!.  Surround yourself with a board of advisors and mentors who will nurture you to become a better leader and businessman. Seek out role models with whom you share common interests and mutual business goals that see value in working with you for the long-term. If you can’t do something find out whether you can outsource it!
5. Act like a startup.
Cash is king! When you start up cut out the expenses to those that will really pay off! Cars and flashy apparel might make you feel good but are they required!  Practice and perfect the art of being frugal. Watch every dollar and triple-check every expense. Maintain a low overhead and manage your cash flow effectively. Use tools with an accounting package to track cash.
6. Learn to Work Under Pressure.
No business book or business plan can predict the future or fully prepare you to become a successful entrepreneur. There is no such thing as the perfect plan. The minute your plan is finished it changes, I learned that if you look at your plan you have to develop risk strategies ie Plan B thru to Z. There is no perfect road or one less traveled. Never jump right into a new business without any thought or planning, but don’t spend months or years waiting to execute. You will become a well-rounded entrepreneur when tested under fire. The most important thing you can do is learn from your mistakes–and never make the same mistake twice.
7. No one will give you money.
There, I said it. No one will invest in you. If you need large sums of capital to launch your venture, go back to the drawing board. Find a starting point instead of an end point. Scale down pricey plans and grandiose expenditures. Simplify the idea until it’s manageable as an early stage venture. Find ways to prove your business model on a shoestring budget. Demonstrate your worth before seeking investment. If your concept is successful, your chances of raising capital from investors will dramatically improve.
8. Body Heart and Soul.
Be mindful of what you are trying to achieve and the effect on your mind body, and soul, Structure my time for exercise, of the mind, body, and soul. Whatever your personal beliefs are, be true to then, If you have family make the time for them. Recognize what is important to you! Take time out for meditation, exercise and family time. Working to the point of exhaustion will burn you out and make you less productive. Don’t make excuses. Eat right, exercise and find time for yourself. Have balance!
9. Walk the Talk
Impress with actions not words. Endorse your business enthusiastically, yet tastefully. Avoid exaggerating truths and unrealistic goals as certainties. Use a  S M A R T strategy  .
10. Have an Exit Strategy
The importance of a plan must be emphasized. The risk assessment that you at that stage will give you alternatives…. The milestones  or key performance indicators of your plan will give you how well you are doing. Learn to see if you have a dead duck, recognize that lifelessness and do something about it before others are hurt. Learn when to call it quits.  If your idea doesn’t pan out, reflect on what went wrong and the mistakes that were made. Assess what you would have done differently. Determine how you will utilize these hard-learned lessons to better yourself and your future entrepreneurial endeavors. Failure is inevitable, but a true entrepreneur will prevail over adversity. We can help determine your needs

Andrew

Anywhere Business Network
Want more helpful tips sign up to our newsletter by emailing us at info@anywherebusinessnetwork.co.nz and put “Subscribe to Elevate newsletter” in the subject.