With a million things going on at once, it’s easy to get sucked in to the day-to-day running of your business. Admin, finance, social media marketing… and that’s before you get started with the actual client work.
But as overwhelming as it might be, you can’t forget your long-term strategy – or else how are you going to grow your empire?
Long-term planning can sometimes feel like a luxury, something that should take a backseat in favour of your waaay more important daily tasks. But that’s a trap – you need a long-term strategy to grow and scale. So how do you go about balancing your pressing tasks with creating your long-term business strategy?
Set aside time weekly for strategic planning
Depending on how much time you have available, set aside a couple of hours weekly for your strategic long-term planning. Just like with self care, you have to treat it as a necessity, not a luxury – let’s be real, it just won’t get done otherwise.
Block your strategic planning time slot in your agenda and treat it with the same importance you give your other daily tasks.
A Sunday is often a nice time to do this – you’ll get yourself fired up to smash the week ahead, and start your Monday off on an energised note.
Make your 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month plan
‘Long-term’ can seem far away. Maybe you want to build a business empire spanning Europe, but that’s something you’d see happening in 10 years. To make your long-term business strategy feel closer, break it down into smaller chunks: 3 months to a year, up to 5 or 10 years.
That way, you’ll have an overview of what you need to do on a monthly or weekly basis to bring you closer to your higher-level goals. Those tasks will feel more worthwhile, and you’ll be constantly motivated by the vision of your future business.
Hire a business coach for clarity and oversight
I get it – sometimes it’s just all too overwhelming, and you need to bring someone else in to help. A business coach can help you distinguish between important daily tasks, and tasks that will help you get closer to your ultimate business goals.
They’ll also be able to help you gain clarity on the direction you want your business to take, and point you in the right direction if you’re focusing too much on one thing, and forgetting other areas. Remember: there’s no excuse to neglect your long-term strategic planning!
Let us know how you balance your day-to-day tasks with planning your long-term business model in the comments below.
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