In this 3-part workshop series, we go beyond goal-setting to take a more strategic approach to business planning

Whether you’re a devoted planner or more of a go with the flow type, you’ve undoubtedly spent some time thinking about what you’d like to achieve in your business over the coming year.

It’s not uncommon to get caught up in a goal-setting frenzy as we approach the end of the year but how often have your goal-setting efforts resulted in disappointment and frustration further down the line?

If you are anything like me, then you’ve tried it all, huge ambitious, stretch goals, SMART goals, bite-size goals and everything in-between.

The problem is not the size or type of goal.

The problem is what lies beneath the goals you set.

When there is no strategic or big picture thinking behind the goals you set, they inevitably fail to get the results you desire.  

The problem with goal-setting

When planning for the year ahead, many business owners will simply sit down and set a ton of goals. I totally get it, because that’s exactly what I did for years before I realised just how problematic that can be.

The problem with just setting goals without any strategy behind them is that these goals are often the result of what we think we should be doing in our business, rather than what makes sound, strategic sense given what we want our business to achieve over the coming year.

It’s only natural to look at what other business owners are doing or listen to what the online marketers are telling us we should do and set goals from there.

But here’s the thing, every business is unique and at any given time, is at its own particular stage of development. When we design our business plan without taking these things into account, we risk setting goals that simply won’t work for us. 

Introducing the Conscious Business Planning Approach

If you regularly set goals and then promptly forget about them, fail to achieve them or do achieve them but they don’t result in the kind of life or business you dream of, then the Conscious Business Planning Program could be for you.  

In this program, I will share with you, the strategic approach I have been using in my own business for years and then meet with you throughout the year to review your progress and refine your plan.

It’s an approach that invites you to set goals only after, taking a wider view of what you’ve experienced in business over the past year and where you want your business to go in the coming year.

It’s an approach which supports you to first identify which priorities make strategic sense and only then create goals that can support you to get there, as well as the systems that will ensure those goals get actively worked on. 

The Outcome:

When we take the time to review our past year in business and think strategically about where we are headed, we can create a business plan that really supports the work we do on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. 

Rather than a set of goals, we have no idea how we’ll even achieve, we can have a robust and comprehensive plan that guides our work as we move through the year. 

If you’re worried that you’ll feel restricted by your plan, you needn’t be.

The beauty of doing the strategic thinking as part of the business planning process, means you are better informed to make changes or pivots throughout the year should you need to.