Both having a clear picture of where you want the business to go and what it will look like when it is there is the primary pre-requisite. The second is having a plan or a strategy – in fact a strategy for each key area – marketing, sales, operations, financial, staffing, and so on – all of which operate within the context of your bigger picture. We call this strategic work. It is the work you do on the business as opposed to the work you do in the business.
Not doing this work, not dedicating at least one hour a day to it, is negligent and delinquent. Saying you don’t have time to do it is like saying you don’t have time to stop and fill your car with petrol. Like your car, the business will stay in one spot with a lot of people in it who only look like they are going somewhere.
The third step is action. Determine what has to be done and do it.
Start planning the actions you need to take and spend time each day fuelling your business to get where you want it to go. It often helps to create a set of timelines to show when you will tackle and complete each action within the strategy areas.