As a leader of your business, you need to spend time planning. You might think, who wants to spend valuable time planning and preparing when you can just jump in, right? Let’s just dive in, get to work, and see what happens.
So, you can do that. You can jump all in without a plan, but it’s likely going to be a waste of your time since when it doesn’t work, you will just have to start over again.
I’m sure you’ve heard the quote “Failing to plan is planning to fail?” That really means if you don’t put a plan in place, you can expect to fail each and every time.
In other words, if you want success, you better start planning.
So how does planning help you succeed? I will share these 3 key reasons.
1-Creates Focus
If you don’t have a plan, you won’t have a focus. You’ll find yourself going in many different directions, trying to figure out what to do next. You will get caught up in the distractions from team members, clients, and the day-to-day activities of running your business, and you won’t know what to do or what action to take.
But I’m here to tell you that changes when you have a {strategic} plan in place, though. Your strategic plan will outline exactly what you need to do at all times. It’s going to align with your goals and objectives and you won’t need to question what’s next or get distracted because it’s going to be all be mapped out for you.
2-Reduces Risk
It’s impossible to completely eliminate risks in the business world. But, you don’t want to be in a situation where one risk after the next keeps coming up. As a leader, it’s your job to minimize risks and again strategic planning is going to help accomplish this.
As part of the strategic planning process, you look at your strengths and weaknesses, and it also looks at opportunities and threats in the environment around you. By taking time to understand what you’re potentially up against, you can be prepared when and if they do arise. This will help you work through the obstacles and be able to successfully come out on the other side.
3-Improves Day-to-Day Decision Making
Your plan will likely have long-term goals in mind, but when you create a strategic plan, you are also improving day-to-day decision making. Everyone on your team will be able to analyze and make decisions based on the long-term plan that will help you reach your long-term goal.
Of course, to make this work – you need good team communication. You need to let everyone in on the plan, so everyone knows their part and can help achieve it. Otherwise, everyone will be on different pages, and that will make it that much harder to achieve your goals.
But, why do plans fail?
So, is doing the planning and having a plan enough? Is it going to ensure your success?
My answer is a “No”.
Plans fail when:
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- the right people aren’t involved or not everyone is on the same page
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- people aren’t able to adapt and change
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- there isn’t a full commitment to the plan
- unrealistic goals are set
BUT – the biggest reason plans fail is really due to accountability. If you don’t have accountability in place, you will probably fail.
I just read a statistic that said: “If you have an idea or a goal without accountability, you have only a 10% chance of completing it.”
That’s not very good, is it?
On the other hand, if you are able to put accountability in place, you increase the chances of success to 95%. That means success is almost guaranteed!
With that in mind, you have to include accountability into your plan. Make sure your plan for accountability is strong – that you can’t avoid getting the stuff done.
The key takeaway for today: Planning is the key to your success.
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail, so come up with a plan and follow through. Reminder: it’s hard to follow through and achieve goals if you don’t have accountability in place. Find a way to hold yourself accountable so you can reach your business goals.
If you don’t have a way to do planning, if you don’t have a way to hold yourself or your team accountable, I’m here to help. This is what I love to do every day.
I work with high-performing, overwhelmed female business owners to create the plans to accomplish what they want with accountability. You don’t have to do it alone.
If you do this properly, it’s going to be so much harder for you to fail. You’ll be SO successful in everything you do if you start with a plan. I can’t say that enough. You already have the vision, let’s get it out of your head, let’s write it down, share it with your team, and get ready for you to succeed.
Don’t forget that you can also follow me on Instagram and Pinterest. I would love to be able to help you create the plans to accomplish what you want and help keep you accountable.
