You need a plan
One of the most important things you can do for your business is have a plan. It isn’t a nice to do but a must do. Some VA’s don’t use a plan, they have a dream, they know what they want but no idea how to get there. So, they plug away, taking everything that comes along because that’s what they think they have to do. Being a VA is not a hobby, it takes time and effort to begin, grow and maintain an ongoing business and you can’t do that taking it one day at a time.
What happens when you don’t?
A lot of the problems that arise with VA businesses that struggle to get off the ground, are that the VA doesn’t know what he / she wants. They have no idea where to begin. All they know is someone said, “Be a VA, you get to stay at home, work in your PJ’s and drink all the coffee you want.” Apart from drinking coffee, the rest is a myth. I’d love to know one truly successful VA and I mean I’m talking in excess of 80k a year and growing who works in their PJ’s and stays home all the time.
Part of your business plan should be, how do you continue to grow? What is it you need to do to continue to drive business?
Rohan Dredge says, “Develop the discipline to stay on course and accept the humility of taking a few steps at a time. The tortoise beats the hare remember!”
One step at a time
Growing a successful business is not a race, it takes planning and ‘steps’. Baby steps, trying to take giant steps won’t work. You will find you take one step forward and two backwards. Don’t set yourself up for failure, too many steps backwards will result in defeat.
Take your time as you go through your business plan checklist. Each of the points is designed to promote more thought and help you create a plan that will move with you and your business as your goals change.
Create it
Make an event out of starting on or updating your business plan. Block some time out in the diary, start with an hour (I’d go for two) You need to have your head in the zone for this, you can’t be distracted.
Have your check list close by and ample blank paper to map it all out, if you are a visual person. You may like to include a vision board or if you are great with drawing, create your own diagrams and models. Sometimes, mixing up how you create your business plan can only serve you to keep going with it. (It can be one of those jobs which is very lack luster and boring.)
Go through each point one-by-one and write, draw, sketch, paste what ever it is you need to put down to help you develop a plan that is both functional and accurate. Use your favourite pens, pencils, textas. Or if you want to simply create your plan on your computer, as a document,do that. It is what ever works for you. It’s your business plan, you need to create it, refer to it, update it. No point in putting in drawings if you are not going to have any idea what they mean.
