With 31 March now behind us, the new financial year provides the perfect opportunity for business owners to sit down and start planning for the business year that lays ahead.
A good place to start is by listing your top business objectives for 2019, outlining what your business hopes to accomplish throughout the rest of the year and beyond.
Be sure to give some thought to the strategies you will put in place detailing how you are going to accomplish the business objectives you have set and when you plan to do it by.
Ask yourself what small changes you could make in your business in 2019 that will achieve significant results?
Remember don’t try to do everything all at once, set yourself reasonable time frames to complete your objectives.
As you start to plan for the rest of 2019 there is a lot to take into consideration and often the thought of taking the journey on your own can be daunting.
In order to help you gain traction in your business you may consider the benefit of having a business coach or a mentor take the journey with you.
The importance of a business coach is often overlooked by small- to-medium businesses due to a lack of understanding of the role and the misconception of the true value a business coach could add to a businesses success.
What many business owners fail to recognise is that one-on-one coaching provides an excellent springboard for business owners who want to take their business to the next level in terms of operating efficiency and personal/financial success.
A coach quite often helps provide some work/life balance so often missing from a business owners life.
Unlike a consultant, a business coach takes the time to understand where you are currently at in your business and initiates thinking around problem solving and strategic planning.
They give you the tools and techniques to set targets and understand how to put processes in place to ensure you achieve your goals.
A good coach will provoke thought rather than handing out directions, holding the person accountable for their own goals and helping them to learn in such a way that will let them continue to grow.
Having an independent person to report to, means that the jobs set down to be done are achieved, providing for success in the relatively short term.
A business coach holds you accountable and while results are being measured and monitored they will inevitably improve.
With 31 March behind you, learn from the challenges you had personally and professionally throughout the financial year and continue to grow – look forwards as 2019 still has eight months to see your plans come to fruition.
Commit to setting time aside to work “on” rather than “in” your business.
Remember having a smart, well-prepared plan in place for 2019 and 2020 will ensure that you keep focused and stay on track when it comes to business growth and success.
