Welcome to The Rachel Kurzyp Show

You’re listening to episode 15.

I always get asked how I get so much done in my business each day, month, and year.

So today, I wanted to walk you through the 5 simple steps I go through to create my strategic plan for the year. The plan lays out everything I want to achieve and how I plan on making it happen.

I know people traditionally make plans in the new year, but I prefer to make my game plan in December. This gives me plenty of time to dream big, reflect and recharge. That means come Jan 1st I can put my plan into action and don’t spend the first few weeks of the year getting myself sorted.

If you’re a Jan planner, that’s totally fine. What I’m about to share with you, can be applied whenever you sit down to do this work.

So, let’s dive into my 5 steps for creating a strategic business plan.

Step #1 Review and reflect on the year that was

I look at things that went well, didn’t go well, any unforeseen obstacles I faced and how long it took me to complete tasks and reach my goals. I think it’s important to track how long it takes you to complete activities and tasks because humans tend to either under or overestimate and this can lead to tasks never getting completed or waking up and not knowing what you should be doing that day – both of which you don’t want to happen on a regular basis. I then bring these learnings into my plan for the new year.

Step #2 Revise your business values and mission

The reason why I review all my values, mission and big goals and dreams is because I’m intentional about creating a business that supports my multi-passionate lifestyle. Most years, these stay the same with a few tweaks. However, in the last year I have changed business models and began scaling my business. Which means these documents have changed quite significantly. Even if your business hasn’t changed a lot this year, you probably have. So, take the time to update your foundational documents. If you haven’t got these documents in place, you can go back and listen to episode 9 for some inspiration.

Step #3 Write your 3-5 business goals and do financial projections

I try and set 3-5 goals for the year. In most cases, I am working towards them all year but sometimes I focus on one or two goals more than the rest for a period of time. For example, over the next few months I’m focusing on improving my backend systems and processes and creating all my standard operating procedures now I have hired an Online Business manager. I know I need this sorted to support my other goals around visibility and income in 2021. I also use this time to do financial projections, prioritize creative pursuits, and note any personal goals around my health, travel, and family. I make sure all my goals are supporting each other and aren’t in competition.

Step #4 Block out holidays, travel, and personal responsibilities in your calendar

I note public holidays, birthday’s, travel plans or any other personal responsibilities so that I can see how many days + weeks in the calendar year I have to work with. For example, I usually travel 2-3 months of the year and don’t work at full capacity during this time. And I like to take 2-3 weeks of leave off a year on top of this. So, I know I have between 8-9 working months of the year.

This makes it easy to allocate subtasks + focus areas into my calendar around these events. These of course support the goals I’m working towards and allow me to hone into 1-2 things a month that will move my business forward.

Step #5 Create daily to-do lists and group similar tasks together

Sub tasks are made up of many different smaller activities so this is when I break down everything I need to do into bite-sized chunks. I then schedule these action items into my daily calendar on Asana.

For example, one of my main subtasks and focus areas in January and February is the creation of my new 6-month mastermind which supports my visibility and financial goals for the year.

I write out everything I have to do for strategy, creation, implementation and then group common tasks together and then add them to my calendar.

I’ll schedule 1-2 activities each week and I’ll block out 3-4 hours at a time to get them done. This means each day, week, and month I can see all the action items that I have allocated to myself for each day. Doing this allows me to stay focused but also not burn out for writing copy for 3 days straight. Working this way also allows me to embrace my ideal workday, follow mood-task match and reduce the juggle between personal life and work.

I never get to the end of the day or month and feel like I’m not achieving my goals and this process has also helped me eliminate those 12-hour days because work is piling up.

If you take anything from this podcast episode, please be this: You need to make strategic decisions in your business and stick to them.

You need to trust that you’ve got this and that you know what you’re doing.

Having an action plan will keep you focused but having faith in yourself and your abilities is what is going to allow you to reach your business goals in 2021 and beyond.

So, whether you approach your strategic plan the same way I have, or use your own system, I’d encourage you to set aside time to do this work.

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