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Business Planning and Preparation: Proven Strategies to Set Your Business Up for Success
In this episode, Dani shares her experiences of juggling family life and business, emphasizing the importance of planning and preparation for success. She discusses strategies for effective business organization, the need for adaptability in the face of life's chaos, and how transferable skills can enhance business operations. Dani also highlights the significance of regular reflection and assessment in business planning, ultimately advocating for a structured approach to achieving business goals.
Referenced in this episode:
Business Fundamentals Book:
www.queenofbusinessorganisation.co.uk/books
Queens Connection Club:
www.queenofbusinessorganisation.co.uk/connectionclub
Riverside
captivate.fm
*some links featured in this episode are affiliate links and I may be paid when you make a purchase via my link.
Mentioned in this episode:
Joint the Queens Connection Club
If you’re ready to create more sales, more clarity, and more ease in your business, click the link and join us inside The Queens Connection Club today! www.queenofbusinessorganisation.co.uk/connectionclub
Transcript
Oh, hello.
Speaker A:You will not believe the amount of effort it took for me to get in here and to record this episode.
Speaker A:Like, I'm laughing now, but it's not funny, really.
Speaker A:I have just had to juggle with, like, my daughter screaming the house down like she's being murdered, but she's actually only just getting her hair washed.
Speaker A:I'm sure you parents out there can relate.
Speaker A:And then just as I'm about to leave and, like, my husband's like, you go to the office.
Speaker A:You.
Speaker A:You do like your podcast.
Speaker A:I know you really want to do those, so you go and do those, and I will deal with her.
Speaker A:And he was going to go to the gym, but he's going to go this afternoon instead because we're off to soft place.
Speaker A:He's going to go after then insane, if you ask me, but I'm like, yeah, okay, let's do that.
Speaker A:And just as I'm about to leave for the office, my oldest son comes to me and says that he's got headache.
Speaker A:And just as I'm doing the cal pole for him and feeling his head and making sure he's okay, he starts skipping.
Speaker A:And lo and behold, he is sort of sick on the kitchen, in the hallway, and then on the kitchen floor.
Speaker A:So clean that up.
Speaker A:Dealt with that.
Speaker A:She's still screaming in the background, having her hair washed.
Speaker A:And I'm like, right now I can go and do my podcast.
Speaker A:And I come in, I get set up, literally ready to hit record.
Speaker A:And what happens?
Speaker A:I realized I've left my phone in the kitchen, which I actually need to charge.
Speaker A:And this is like a ritual.
Speaker A:It's like a daily ritual, which is unintentional for me, is that every time I get inside my office, I sit down, I'm like, yeah, let's go.
Speaker A:And I realize I've forgotten something.
Speaker A:Whether that's my water, my coffee, my phone, a wire.
Speaker A:Like, the other day, it was the wire to actually plug in my mic.
Speaker A:There's always something that I forget, and it drives me insane.
Speaker A:It really does.
Speaker A:But I know it's just one of those things of dealing with potential head ADHD and forgetfulness.
Speaker A:But this is constant.
Speaker A:It's every day.
Speaker A:It's constant.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But it is what it is.
Speaker A:So today's episode, I am actually going to be talking to you about business planning and preparation, proven strategies to set your business up for success.
Speaker A:And it's.
Speaker A:It's interesting, like, because if I weren't prepared in my business, my adhd, ADHD brain would forget everything.
Speaker A:And I've Just had a conversation in my own membership this morning, the Queen's Connection Club, about the idea of doing a six month launch plan.
Speaker A:And that in itself is huge for preparation because it's, it's quite a big task.
Speaker A:But I'm doing research at the moment and looking into how other people launch and what's successful.
Speaker A:I've had successful launches in the past, but I've never done something quite as big as this.
Speaker A:And so right now I want to actually take people on the journey with me.
Speaker A:So I'm going to do something like, called Launch Live with Danny, which I did intend to do last year, but the, the time comes when it's right and it's.
Speaker A:And now is that time.
Speaker A:I feel, as I discovered this morning while I was chopping vegetables like that brainwave came.
Speaker A:Now is the time to do Launch Live with Danny.
Speaker A:And part of that will involve like planning, preparation, getting everything ready, starting six months before the actual launch, which I know to some people sounds insane.
Speaker A:And usually I recommend like a launch process is six to eight weeks of the actual launch.
Speaker A:But it does need to be much bigger than you think it is.
Speaker A:You need to think of everything.
Speaker A:And this is, this is the case with business planning and preparation.
Speaker A:And I truly believe that when it comes to business organization in particular, planning and being prepared serves you well.
Speaker A:And there's a quote that I came across a couple of years ago when I discovered the Organized Mum method by Gemma Bray.
Speaker A:Love that method.
Speaker A:Not that I stick to it, but I have tried it in the past, it served me very well.
Speaker A:And she says that you want to be your future friend and what that means is that you do something now that serves your future self better.
Speaker A:And I totally resonate with that and I totally agree with that and I think we all should be doing that because if you can just imagine what is going to help your future self out, then what would you do now to help her out?
Speaker A:And I like to keep that in mind when I'm doing my business tasks in life as well.
Speaker A:Because actually the things I do in my life will help me in my business.
Speaker A:One of those things was, like I mentioned, I was chopping the vegetables this morning.
Speaker A:So once a week I stand in the kitchen, I prepare salads, I chop the vegetables.
Speaker A:I did loads this morning, make sure they're all in tubs, store them in the fridge, get them all set for the week ahead.
Speaker A:And I do this because I want to.
Speaker A:I'm working on my health right now.
Speaker A:I'm intending to lose weight, I'm intending To lower my blood pressure and feel better as well earlier.
Speaker A:I'm feeling better, but I'm just taking it the next step further.
Speaker A:And for me, this is that preparation with my health, as I do in my business.
Speaker A:So I need to adapt those skills I've got with organization to my life with health.
Speaker A:And so one of the things I've been doing is chopping the vegetables.
Speaker A:But it actually serves my business because throughout the week, I have like an hour for a break, and on some occasions it'll be half an hour, depending on what I've got on.
Speaker A:I know that I've booked some sessions like networking or within my membership that do run over like 12.
Speaker A:So I'll have to set my dinner at half 12, which is less than I usually have.
Speaker A:So on those occasions, I've got less time to cook and prepare a meal.
Speaker A:And I don't want to then jump to snacks because I'm hungry.
Speaker A:And I want to make sure that I'm feeling, feeling content and feeling full and filling my body with what it needs.
Speaker A:And so that does have a time element to it.
Speaker A:So in.
Speaker A:In this, preparing this stuff, you see where I'm going with this?
Speaker A:I also have a meal plan.
Speaker A:So I prepare this stuff so that then it just means I can leave the office.
Speaker A:My kitchen is like a few steps away.
Speaker A:I can go grab everything I need, whack it on a plate, eat it, and then get back to have a little break and get back to the office.
Speaker A:So it serves me really well because it's nourishing my body to be able to do the work that I need to do and to be productive.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But I'm not building stress within my body because I'm like, in the past, I've been rushing around.
Speaker A:So in planning that, like meal planning and preparing what I need to serve my future self well throughout the week, it gives me back so much time and just makes my life easier.
Speaker A:And that is exactly what we want to be doing in business.
Speaker A:So I want to talk you through some of the areas that are proven strategies that I've done to set your business up for success and how you can implement them in your business, what you can do.
Speaker A:So one of the first things that I do is I have a project management system.
Speaker A:And this just keeps me organized.
Speaker A:It means that it eliminates a lot of the planning time.
Speaker A:So planning for me, I do want a weekly basis.
Speaker A:I do.
Speaker A:On a monthly basis.
Speaker A:I do want a quarterly basis, and I do it on a yearly basis.
Speaker A:I do.
Speaker A:And then obviously, when projects come up, I will set and plan those out as well.
Speaker A:So for example, right now the project that has come up was the podcast.
Speaker A:And so I took some time to sit and plan that out and I've come back to it and refined it, reflected it, made it better and looked at that.
Speaker A:But what I.
Speaker A:So that's the initial first thing I do with anything I plan.
Speaker A:So whether it's the start of the week, the start of the month, the start of the quarter, the start of the year, I sit and do my plan for whatever that particular thing is.
Speaker A:So it might be my yearly business plan, my monthly, my weekly plan, or, or it might be a project plan like the podcast or this launch live with Danny that I'm about to do.
Speaker A:Or when I was doing my membership, I sat and did a plan for that.
Speaker A:Oh, and I was planning my innovation celebration business event.
Speaker A:I sat and I did a plan for just that.
Speaker A:So I spent that time and I'd like to do this on paper.
Speaker A:I like to get pen to paper, get everything out of my brain.
Speaker A:The reason I like to do that is because I can process it faster.
Speaker A:If I'm typing, I mess it up.
Speaker A:I balls that right up and so I have to go back, edit and it interrupts the process.
Speaker A:And I have heard this somewhere recently that actually the process of pen to paper is more effective because it, it floats something about that flows out of you.
Speaker A:So I do love the art of getting pen to paper.
Speaker A:I do love writing.
Speaker A:Anyway, it's very therapeutic for me, even if it's planning your business things.
Speaker A:So that's the first step in ensuring that I plan ahead for my business.
Speaker A:It's actually getting pens and paper, you know, whether it's the month, the week, whatever, all the project and doing the plan on paper.
Speaker A:The next part of the process for me is I take this, this plan, this thing that I've written down, like this will be the goal.
Speaker A:I might put that on like a spreadsheet or track it or something.
Speaker A:I don't always do that, but I do.
Speaker A:I sometimes just keep it in my notebook, but it's handy to have.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I'm about to do that with this launch life thing though.
Speaker A:I'm about to do a massive spreadsheet with like all the tasks on, however, just so I can see them in one place.
Speaker A:However I do this, it doesn't have to be a spreadsheet.
Speaker A:I do it on my project management system.
Speaker A:So all that stuff that I've got on paper, I then take it to my project management system.
Speaker A:I put it into a project of its own.
Speaker A:I list them all, everything as tasks that I need to action, and then I assign dates to them.
Speaker A:Some things, some tasks I need, might need a bit more information on those.
Speaker A:So, for example, if it's right, sales page, then I will direct the link in the copy for the sales page.
Speaker A:Obviously before that task, it'll be right sales page, copy.
Speaker A:So I do this.
Speaker A:I take every action, I put it in, I order it if I need to, and I add the dates and I add anything, any resources or anything that will be useful to those actions, and I put them in.
Speaker A:So that's my strategy for planning for my business and being super efficient and super organized.
Speaker A:And so it works for me.
Speaker A:It keeps me on track.
Speaker A:Because then I don't have to then every week sit at my laptop and go, what do I need to do today?
Speaker A:Because actually, it's already in front of me.
Speaker A:It's already telling me what I need to do.
Speaker A:And a lot of the time when I share this with my clients, I get.
Speaker A:But, Danny, what if, like, you got to do something and there's like five things on your list and you've got child hormone and you've got this going on, that going on.
Speaker A:You just adapt.
Speaker A:Literally the amount of times that I move a task from today till tomorrow is insane.
Speaker A:I move stuff around all of the time because I give myself that freedom and flexibility which is so important.
Speaker A:And I know that life is going to happen.
Speaker A:Life, lifes.
Speaker A:It happened before recording this podcast.
Speaker A:Like, I didn't expect to.
Speaker A:I expected to be able to leave the house, come into the office and just record my podcast.
Speaker A:That did not happen.
Speaker A:I had one child screaming little murder and another child pretty much flowing, throwing up.
Speaker A:The other child was fine then.
Speaker A:I've actually got fourth child in my house today.
Speaker A:We call her our adopted daughter.
Speaker A:She's really good friends with our children and she's slept over twice and she's always here and she has tea with us a lot.
Speaker A:And anytime she can, she's here.
Speaker A:And she loves it.
Speaker A:And I love that too.
Speaker A:And she's like the daughter that I never.
Speaker A:I've got a daughter, but she's like my other daughter that I never had.
Speaker A:And I say to my daughter all the time, if you, if you ever want a sister, there she is.
Speaker A:You've got one now.
Speaker A:And so we've taken on an extra child.
Speaker A:And I did not expect all of this chaos to be happening this morning because before the moment I decided that I was going to go and Record this podcast.
Speaker A:It was quiet.
Speaker A:Everyone was chilling in the PJs, watching TV.
Speaker A:And I was like, you guys know, right, that you've got to get ready soon because we're off to soft play this afternoon.
Speaker A:Before soft play, we're gonna have dinner.
Speaker A:So it's better if you're ready because we need to get there, we need to travel, planned out, all of it.
Speaker A:And that's how I work and told everybody to plan.
Speaker A:But the minute I get up and leave, chaos, chaos erupts.
Speaker A:So even there, planning and preparation has served me well because I've communicated to everybody when they need to be ready, what we need to be doing, and told them what I'm going to be doing so that they've got the responsibility to be ready when I'm finished and then we can.
Speaker A:And I've told them what time the bus is due, but I've told them what time we're leaving, actually, because we never get out the door on time.
Speaker A:So I always say earlier than we actually need to be ready so that then we will be there on time and we won't be late because we are meeting some friends there, there's gonna be more kids, more chaos.
Speaker A:So that happened like life happens.
Speaker A:And in being prepared, it serves as well.
Speaker A:But you can prepare in other ways as well.
Speaker A:So when I'm having hormonal headaches, which actually I had last week, and it was horrendous, I.
Speaker A:I didn't really work at all last week.
Speaker A:I recorded one podcast and I did a photo shoot and I had one client session, I had to rearrange another session, and that was all I did because I felt that poorly.
Speaker A:The week before that, I was quite poorly as well.
Speaker A:And so when those things happen, we need to be able to adapt.
Speaker A:So if you're not currently able to adapt, I want you to look at your calendar and I want you to plan in, like, what would that dream schedule look like for you?
Speaker A:How can you give it more time?
Speaker A:How can you give it more space so that you've got time for yourself in there, so that you've got time to prepare?
Speaker A:If you get.
Speaker A:If, like me, you're working on your health and you might want to fit in those gym trips to the gym to exercise.
Speaker A:You might want to fit in the trips to the pool to go swimming or the spa.
Speaker A:Like, that's what I do every single week.
Speaker A:I plan them in on a Sunday or a Monday.
Speaker A:I sit down, I'm planning, like, what's my week gonna look like?
Speaker A:And then I can actually get it done.
Speaker A:And obviously things happen that mean we have to change it.
Speaker A:It happened this morning.
Speaker A:My husband's meant to leave and go to the gym, but he's had a, a call from the doctor saying something about they need to speak to him about his medication.
Speaker A:So he's now waited on a call back.
Speaker A:And I've said to him, you do know when they say they'll ring you anytime this morning.
Speaker A: It can be any time up until: Speaker A: he's like, oh, I can't go at: Speaker A:We, we average about two to three hours when we go to the gym.
Speaker A:Because we go to the gym, we exercise, then we go for a swim and we're in the spa, so we go to like the hot tub and the saa and then we'll get showered, get dressed and leave.
Speaker A:So the whole process as, as well as travel takes about three hours.
Speaker A:And so he knows that he can't leave at 12 if we're due to go soft play this afternoon.
Speaker A:So we've had to change that routine today.
Speaker A:But you've got to be adaptable.
Speaker A:Thinking about, okay, I can't do this now, so when can I do it, how can I do it?
Speaker A:He's already come to me and said, look, can I.
Speaker A:Do you mind if I go after soft play tonight?
Speaker A:I'm like, yeah, mate, if you, if you want to do that, hats off to you, but I'm coming home and I'm chilling.
Speaker A:After dealing with four kids all day, I'm chilling.
Speaker A:But if that's what he wants to do, then he can go do it.
Speaker A:So we've already adapted to that situation.
Speaker A:So think about this in terms of your business.
Speaker A:Like you might be bossing it in life with something that you're really organized with.
Speaker A:You plan really well with that.
Speaker A:And I want you to look at that area.
Speaker A:I want to think, how do you manage that and how can you use those skills and transfer them into your business?
Speaker A:And this can be with anything.
Speaker A:Like it doesn't have to be just planning and preparation and organization.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It can be anything because you might actually have a different skill.
Speaker A:Some people are really great at leading others.
Speaker A:So if you're that person, I'd say bring those transferable skills into your business.
Speaker A:Some people are amazing at communication.
Speaker A:And again, I'd say bring those transferable skills into your business because you want to play with your strengths.
Speaker A:And that's what I did and that's what I do.
Speaker A:And that's why I became the queen of business organization.
Speaker A:Because with the chaos that is my life, I had to be organized.
Speaker A:And then I realized actually this serves me really well in my business and I want to help other people with that as well.
Speaker A:And so that happened.
Speaker A:That was a thing.
Speaker A:So, yeah, that's, that's what I do anyway, going back to what I do, proven strategies to set my business up for success, that is one of them.
Speaker A:And you know, taking you behind the scenes a little bit.
Speaker A:This process I'm about to do is a six month journey with launching my signature program, Foundations.
Speaker A:And the thought of that is scary a little bit.
Speaker A:But actually I'm thinking, you know what, I love the sound of that because it feels like I've got loads of time and if I've got loads of time, I could put more energy into the things that I want to do with it.
Speaker A:So I know that when I do this, I want to put together a freebie that, a really, really valuable freebie that people can download and read like a little mini ebook.
Speaker A:And so in putting that together, I can use that to get people to sign up to my email list and that'll be a strategy.
Speaker A:So I can plan that in way ahead of time before the launch, starting to really build things up.
Speaker A:So it's thinking about this like there's different things I can do on this journey with this launch to make it as big as possible and make it the best launch as possible.
Speaker A:I would love to exceed my previous sales goals.
Speaker A:Now that would be amazing.
Speaker A:So strategies with that means that I have to plan, I have to be prepared.
Speaker A:So I will use that method of actually sitting with my pen and paper, mapping it all out.
Speaker A:What's it going to look like, brainstorming it and then get it over to my project management system and checking in on that every single week.
Speaker A:What else do I do to plan and prepare myself?
Speaker A:So I do sit down with my notebook and pen every week, like I say, every month, every quarter.
Speaker A:And I just asked myself the simple question, like how, how is business going right now?
Speaker A:What's working really well?
Speaker A:What isn't working well?
Speaker A:What can I do better?
Speaker A:Like this week or this month, I'll remind myself of my business goals as well.
Speaker A:Like what am I working towards this month?
Speaker A:What actions am I planning on taking?
Speaker A:And if those actions don't align with the plan, my, my goals, then I'll scrap that.
Speaker A:Like I question myself, like, why am I doing this?
Speaker A:Is it something that I really need to be or Wanting to be doing right now so that I can kind of journal my way out of or to the right place to be fair, to set my business up for success.
Speaker A:And sometimes this might look like a deeper audit where I will order my whole process, my whole systems, so I might actually look at my sister.
Speaker A:And I've done this recently with, like, the whole business.
Speaker A:I've looked at how I'm doing my email marketing and how I can improve that.
Speaker A:I've looked at my podcast because as you know, like, if you listen to this and you listen to the first episode after the rebrand, I've rebranded the whole podcast.
Speaker A:New name, got a domain, started using new tech, new new software for it.
Speaker A:I've used Riverside and Captivate, which I love.
Speaker A:And it's.
Speaker A:It's been new, but, like, I've put a lot into that to make it as best as I can.
Speaker A:I did it with my.
Speaker A: k group just before Christmas: Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I got rid of it.
Speaker A:I was like, no, it's not.
Speaker A:It's not.
Speaker A:It's not engaged at all.
Speaker A:And I wanted to focus on where the engagement was, which currently right now is.
Speaker A:Is getting more on my Instagram and is on my Facebook profile.
Speaker A:I get more leads from a Facebook profile than anything else.
Speaker A:Shows the power of putting yourself out there and being public and not afraid to do that.
Speaker A:I'm networking as well, so I looked at those things and I sat with the pen and paper and I assess, like, where am I at?
Speaker A:What do I want from this?
Speaker A:What's going to serve my business well?
Speaker A:Well, and I did that and I, I spent the time on that and it's.
Speaker A:It served me well so far because my stats are up.
Speaker A:I'm loving the process with the podcast and we'll see how it goes.
Speaker A:I'll let you go, guys know how it goes.
Speaker A:I'll keep you updated on that.
Speaker A:I definitely will.
Speaker A:So planning and preparation is definitely key for the success of your business.
Speaker A:I'd love to hear after this podcast episode, like, what you implement.
Speaker A:And if you do start doing what I talked about and you sit down and pen to paper, do me a favor, take a snapshot of that screenshot.
Speaker A:It.
Speaker A:Take a photo, tag me on Instagram stories or Facebook posts, whatever you want to share.
Speaker A:I don't care.
Speaker A:I just, I'd love to see it.
Speaker A:I would love to see your plans that you've done, that you've taken inspiration from this podcast, that you've got something out of it.
Speaker A:And if you do share I will give that a share and I will tag you and people can see your business.
Speaker A:So let me know what you do as well.
Speaker A:If you do that, pop me a message, let me know what you do and I will share that because I want to give back.
Speaker A:If you share that you've listened to me and implemented something from me, share the podcast, rate it, like, subscribe all of those things, I'll be massively, massively grateful.
Speaker A:But I will share you as well in return because I do believe in collaboration.
Speaker A:Final thoughts.
Speaker A:Let's go to some final thoughts then.
Speaker A:So final thoughts for strategy, sales and system.
Speaker A:So planning and preparation for strategy.
Speaker A:I literally brainstorm the strategic actions that I'm going to take in each area.
Speaker A:So strategy for me is about looking at what I'm gonna like, what my goals are for the year, like in terms of financial and what I want to be selling, how much of each thing I want to sell, what capacity I have, map that out and then I take that and then I plan out exactly how am I going to get visible to do this, how am I going to nurture my audience and how am I going to sell?
Speaker A:So I will look at the mediums that I'm using, such as social media, podcast, am I blogging, I'm improving the website, I'm improving my funnels, my email marketing, am I going out and guest speaking, going to networking events.
Speaker A:I'll plan all of those strategic actions to get myself visible.
Speaker A:I'll then plan out the strategic actions to nurture my audience.
Speaker A:Like, what am I giving to my audience?
Speaker A:This is where I started thinking about, like, I'm gonna go live every week, I'm gonna share tips every week, reels, carousel, static posts.
Speaker A:I'm gonna do these things.
Speaker A:I'm going to share reminders of my new membership because I want people to be funneling into there and coming back into there, seeing what we're working on in there together so they can come and be part of that.
Speaker A:So that's what I do for, for both nurturing and sales.
Speaker A:But also so yeah, that's the, that's the planning and preparation for sales as well as strategy.
Speaker A:They kind of come hand in hand.
Speaker A:And then specifically with systems planning and preparing, it always comes back to a list for me.
Speaker A:So I'll like, this is the system that I'm gonna do and I'll literally write a list, break it down as much as possible.
Speaker A:Stuff like I need to do this, what needs to happen for me to do this thing.
Speaker A:So for example, like writing a sales page Often that task, like building a sales page on a website, it comes with so much more.
Speaker A:I will also have to write the copy for it.
Speaker A:I'll have to decide what images I want to have on there before I've even done that.
Speaker A:I'll need to do my marketing brief, which is something I do when I'm selling something.
Speaker A:I do a marketing brief that I go through so I make sure I've nailed everything.
Speaker A:The price, how many people I want to sell it to, the message, the ideal client, all of that stuff.
Speaker A:I will also have to do have to create the the cart on Cartra and the checkout so that people can actually buy it from this sales page.
Speaker A:So I'll have to get that ready as well.
Speaker A:So there there's always more than one thing that needs to happen in order for me to action this.
Speaker A:So if I know I need a sales page and then think okay, what do I need to make this sales page happen?
Speaker A:And then I have a band of tasks around that one thing that needs to happen as well.
Speaker A:And that's the system I use.
Speaker A:And I love a little tick checklist when I've completed them.
Speaker A:So those are my final thoughts with planning and preparation in terms of strategy, sales and systems.
Speaker A:Hope you've got lots of value out of this episode and definitely follow rate and subscribe and I'd love to see you in the next episode and sharing, sharing feedback and let me know how you're finding these episodes.
Speaker A:I'd love to know the value you're getting and thanks for joining me.
Speaker A:I'll see you again next time.
