home business success strategies

HAVE A PLAN.

Even if you have no intentions of ever borrowing money, a business plan will guide you in your decision-making.

I was never religious about updating my business plan but of all the home business success strategies I’ve employed, it really helped me clarify what my business would be about – especially in the beginning.

It encouraged me to consider what the competition was up to, decide how I was going to market myself, estimate how much money I planned to make my first year, and what actions were needed to become successful and realize my goals. Check out what small business success guru, Kris Bovay, has to say about creating a simple business plan.

A marketing plan is also a good idea but many small business people wait until there's no budget left and then proclaim they can't afford to promote themselves. Don't fall into this trip. Learn more about marketing plans.

I also like the approach taken by Timothy Ferris, author of The 4-Hour work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich. Every day he asks himself: What are the top two income-producing things I can do today?

The long, cluttered to-do list suddenly looks like a time-waster full of excuses. All focus shifts to what’s really important about building a business.

You can bet that checking email 14 times a day doesn’t make the cut!

When it comes to daily planning, here’s what makes it real for me: Phone calls and appointment setting.

If I’m not connecting with new prospects and maintaining relationships with the old, then I’m not taking good care of my business. Without new customers, my business loses momentum.

Without the old ones, I lose what I’ve worked hard to establish. (And as they say, it’s easier and less expensive to keep an old customer than to go out and get a new one.)

Right now my Outlook is open and I’ve got 19 unread emails and a slew of others sitting in my inbox. Tempting as it is to go in and start reading and responding, I know that would kill the next hour of my day – and then I’ll be back to feeling like I’ve been spinning my wheels and accomplishing nothing. (I just learned some nifty Outlook tricks you may be able to use. Check out Itzy Sabo's blog about streamlining emails and also see if SpeedFiler is for you.)

That said, excuse me, I have to go make a phone call that might actually produce some income!

You get the idea. Plan big and plan small. A big picture plan that will guide you in your decisions and help you hold fast to your vision for your business. Then a daily, weekly and monthly plan that will ensure you take the actions needed to achieve that vision.

It doesn’t have to be fancy. It doesn’t have to be formal. You don’t have to be a slave to any of it. Just have it and adhere to it in a way that moves you forward.

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