Hope you had a great day last Sunday! I love Easter. That day was basically a day for resting and contemplating on a lot of stuff, including my businesses. The celebration of Christ’s resurrection has made me think of resetting and making adjustments in certain portions of my life. Whether Catholic or not, there will come a point in your life when you want to make these adjustments. My article yesterday was about resetting portions and certain aspects of my life and it focused on the “physical changes” that I want for myself. Today, I will focus on making adjustments in business.
Whether still on the planning stage or already in the stage of expansion, there is always that need to step back and view the business from afar. By stepping back, you get to see the bigger picture.
The problem with sole proprietorship, start up businesses and businesses that are ran from home, oftentimes, it’s just one person working on different tasks. Or if it’s being worked on by a group, each one focuses on the task that is given to him or to her. No one really looks at the bigger picture and decides or tells the others if they are going toward the right direction. With this, there should be a time when everyone should take a step back and see if the business is really going towards the direction that they set for it.
This is exactly also why business plans are needed.
A business plan is a documentation that guides everyone so that they can make certain decisions on their own. Believe me, I have had a lot of experiences with different entities (being a part of some or just observing from a distance) and I have learned from a lot of these. Failures arise if the plan is not clear in your mind or if members make decisions that are not aligned with the organization’s plans and direction.
For those who want to learn how to create a business plan, please do sign up for the Mastermind Session for this coming weekend. It will be held on April 26 from 11:00 am to 2:30pm at Mothercare Active Fun. I will be the facilitator for this mastermind class, so I really hope that you could join me. We will discuss how to create a business plan for your business. You can also ask me about business strategies and I will share you tips on how to analyze and make sound business decisions.
Okay, so looking at the businesses that I am involved in, I think I personally need to clean up my act or suggest new process improvements. A new tip for others in looking for that perfect business or for the perfect mix of the businesses that you want to be involved in is that you need to be sure that it is in line with your long terms goals or your personal brand. For me, I thought of cleaning up and letting go of certain businesses since these aren’t aligned anymore with the direction that I want for my personal brand. It may be hard to let go of something that you love, but sometimes, you need to let go or focus on things that will help you achieve your long term goals.
Or sometimes, the vision that you set for your business doesn’t suddenly seem right anymore. This then requires a change in strategy. It’s not wrong to suddenly change your mind. We’re human beings so we have the freedom to change and make our own decisions. Just know that there are certain “effects” to these changes. Obviously for every cause there will have to be an effect. The effect may be something positive or negative. You just need to weigh all of these things and see what you’ll be happy with and what is more in line with what you want.
There are a lot of things that we need to talk about when it comes to business. If you have some topics in mind that you want me to discuss, please feel to comment below 🙂 I’d love to share my thoughts on these things (because honestly, right now, I have a gazillion things that I want to talk to you about). Just ask away!
For the other tips and realizations in creating a business, look for people who have the skills but also the same compassion (pagmamalasakit) that you have for the business idea or concept. Question the commitment of people who have the “can’t do” attitude rather than the “can do” attitude. I’ve worked with people like these before and these are people who are afraid of changes & improvements and are very close-minded. In a fast paced world like this, you need people who look for solutions rather than those who bring up “concerns” when faced with challenges. You need people who think outside of the box!
Are you stuck with a team who’s keeping the business from achieving its fullest potential? Share your thoughts below. What did you do? I’ve love to hear about it.