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2016 Business Plan Ideas - Part 2

Here it is the first Monday of 2016. This morning at my networking group, we discussed what is your greatest need this year: Help me, Help you! We weren't talking about referrals or new clients - because the bottom line is that's something we all need. However, the overall consensus was that just about everyone wanted to get more organized and wanted advice on how to do that. Of course, this brought me back to my business plans for 2016.

Time Block scheduling. I've tried unsuccessfully to set my calendar this way. I'll pick dates that I'm going to do a certain task and somehow they don't get done at that time. They'll usually get done that day - but the time varies based on what's going on in my day. I'm not quite sure how people stick to the time they say they're going to do something. If I walk into my office and have clients needing me, they're going to come before anything else. However, in thinking about this. I do like the idea of giving myself time limits on my to do list of tasks. For example. If  I have to make x number of calls today; set an hour of time, where that is all I do and once I'm done, I can move on. Instead of scheduling the exact time I will get something done, I can prioritize my to do list for the day in order of importance and set time limits. Once I've taken care of customers that need me immediately, I can move on to task #1, giving myself the allotted time to get it done. Once it's done, I can check for voice mails or emails that again need my attention and then start on task #2. And so on. I'll give this a try and evaluate how it's working after a month.

Networking, business cards, and keeping in touch. I've downloaded an app called CamCard. I will get all of my business cards scanned in and organized once and for all. I will add to my to do lists everyone that I need to contact whether by phone, email, or mail and make sure I set a blocked amount of time to get this done.

Keeping all of my notes in one place. I think what will work best for me is to keep a spiral notebook on me at all times. I write notes constantly at meetings or at home or when I'm in my office and I find myself carrying around folders of random notes on different pieces of paper. Then, it's hard to get it all organized into one place. I know there are apps for this, but I am still a little old fashioned in liking paper and handwriting my notes. I also feel a little rude in meetings, using my phone, it feels like I'm texting or checking emails and not paying attention, when really I'm taking notes. This will especially help me because I'm not in once place all day or everyday. I spend about a third of my time networking, a third of my time working from home, and a third of my time in my office, it's hard to keep everything together, so I'm hoping this will be a better solution.

This last one might be a little strange to some and normal to others. I've bought a little calendar to keep at home where I'll keep track of what I wear each day. The reason being, I attend a lot of meetings and see a lot of the same people. Some meetings are once a week, others are once or twice a month. It's a little thing and most people probably wouldn't even notice, but it's something that bugs me and I spend a lot of time trying to figure out what I wore to each meeting the last time I went.

Overall, most of my business goals are organization based. I think the more organized you are, the more you can get accomplished. Of course, I also have goals that are based on the number of sales, number of quotes, etc - but those are individual based on you and what your specific job may be.

Let me know if you think of anything I missed.

MW
Copyright 2016

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