#147 My Exact Process To Set My Business Up For Success
As a firm believer in the power of preparation, I have always lived by the mantra, "There's no substitute for preparation." This belief isn’t just for my business; it extends to all facets of my life. Preparation and planning are the keys to success and protecting what we build. So let's explore my exact process for planning and setting ourselves up for success.
Success is not a static concept. It evolves and changes over time as our business and personal lives evolve. So the first step in setting my business up for success is getting clear on what success looks like for me in the upcoming year. I share my vision of success for this year, my process for figuring that out, and why it’s so crucial to understand what truly matters to you.
Part of my process for success is getting clear on what I say no to. Not every opportunity is right for us, and it's essential to assess what aligns with our values and goals. I've learned that saying no to opportunities that aren't aligned allows me to focus on what truly matters.
While success is not solely dependent on finances, it's important to periodically assess your pricing, and consider the unique value you provide. I also ensure my financial metrics are up-to-date and clear. Understanding revenue, fixed expenses, and variable expenses helps create a solid financial foundation and supports decision-making throughout the year.
To maintain a balanced life, I schedule time away from work throughout the year. This gives me a high-level view of my year and can plan workload and financial metrics accordingly. It also ensures I don't fall into the trap of being constantly available and sacrificing personal time. Planning holidays in advance helps me achieve both business and personal goals.
Finally, reassessing my risk mitigation strategy is an integral part of setting my business up for success. I review and update my engagement letters, ensuring they reflect my current practices and any necessary tweaks. Having this strategy in place relieves any unnecessary worry and allows me to concentrate on providing the best service possible.
Setting ourselves up for success requires a deliberate and thoughtful approach. It can be daunting, but I hope this episode will inspire you in your own planning process. Remember, success is not a one-size-fits-all concept. It evolves and changes as we grow and our businesses evolve.
As always, thank you for listening, and I wish you all the success in the year ahead!
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[00:00:00] Tracey:
[00:00:20] Hello everyone. And welcome to the very first episode of the rise up in business podcast for 2024. If you're a long time listener, welcome back. Thank you for having me in your ears again. And if you're a new listener, I'd like to say welcome. Welcome to the podcast. Welcome to all things business. And legal support in the very first episode for the new year, I want to spend this episode talking to you about planning, and I'm going to step you through my exact process that I go through in my business to set myself up for success for the year ahead.
[00:00:53] If you've been here for a while, you know that I very much live by the mantra, there's no substitute for preparation. And whilst that was something that became ingrained in me. In the earlier part of my career in litigation and dispute resolution, because let's be honest, you've got to be prepared when you're heading to court always, but it's also followed through both in my life and in this business.
[00:01:16] And it lends itself to the support that I provide for business owners, setting themselves up for success and protecting what they're building. So there really is no substitute for preparation and no shortcuts when it comes to planning. It's not cliche for me though. It's not one of those. Sayings that we hear about, if you don't plan your plan to fail, whilst that might be true, that is very cliche.
[00:01:41] That's not what it means to me. What it means to me is giving myself crystal clear clarity on where I'm headed. I start with the end in mind And the peace of mind that comes from knowing that everything is where it needs to be, and everything's in order, it lends itself to a calm nervous system for me, and I'm sure that many of you are the same.
[00:02:00] My planning for 2024 was well underway before 2024 arrived. No surprises there. But if you're listening to this when it drops in the beginning of January, you may well be on your break, or you may well be Taking some slow time to plan out your year ahead. And this podcast episode may well be just what you need to draw some inspiration or to take some tips from somebody who loves planning as much as I do.
[00:02:26] And from somebody who supports business owners. The way that I do, so let's dive in typically I plan in quarters. I like to re evaluate or reassess my yearly plan at the beginning and the end of each quarter. But what I do at the beginning of the year, though, it's big picture thinking and it's taking the time to get crystal clear on what I want to achieve this year and what that's going to look like.
[00:02:56] So the very first thing I do to set my business up for success is I get clear on what success looks like for me this year. It changes over time. What success means to us at the beginning of our business journey. It will change and evolve. As our business change and evolves, and that's okay.
[00:03:15] I'd really like to pause here and say that that's okay. Because I do speak to business owners who doubt themselves or second guess. And they think, gosh, when I started out, I really wanted to do this, but now that's fallen away and it's less important to now I want to focus on that. Oh, does that mean I'm not sturdy?
[00:03:31] Does that mean my foundations aren't solid? No, it doesn't mean that we evolve and grow as people, our businesses evolve and grow. So it's only natural that what success looks like for us will change over time. So at the beginning of each year, I like to assess what does success look like for me now?
[00:03:54] At the end of this year, what will I regard as a success? And as I say, it changes for me this year, success very much looks like slow mornings, spaciousness, aligned clients to serve, and has a very much a nurturing feel to it. So nurturing myself as the business owner and as the person nurturing my relationships and nurturing my clients.
[00:04:18] And for me. The spaciousness allows for that to occur. So there is no hustle culture here for me this year, for me, success looks like the slower pace and the spaciousness and the serving my clients and a beautifully aligned. Calm way that I know I'm destined to do in this business.
[00:04:39] So that's the first thing. What I will say here is that I do have financial metrics in place. Absolutely. And I think everybody should, it's a no brainer. And for me, it goes without saying that we're crystal clear on our revenue and our fixed expenses, and that we're all over our variable expenses. I don't even feel like I need to mention it.
[00:05:00] Because that's how ingrained it is for me, but I wanted to pause to say, the flavor here for me is not driven by the finances and the financial metrics. The finances and the money is a beautiful by product of what I do in my business. And it serves me well, and it allows me to serve my clients to the highest standard that I possibly can.
[00:05:24] So it's important, the money, it's important, the finances, it's important, but it's not what drives or dictates my measures of success. So I just wanted to share that. that's aligned for now. It hasn't always been like that, and certainly I've had some blocks around focusing on the money and growing the numbers.
[00:05:46] And I'll dive into that a little later in this episode, I've worked through those. And so now I'm at a season in my business where the hustle culture is gone and the spaciousness and the slowness and the aligned clients is what's really driving me. And that's really how I am measuring success in my business this year.
[00:06:06] The second thing I do when I'm setting my business up for success for the year ahead is I get really clear on what I'm saying no to. That too evolves and changes over time. So for me, I like to assess what does a good opportunity look like for me? For example, being invited to speak on someone's podcast or being invited to speak to somebody's audience.
[00:06:27] That's lovely. And I'm always grateful. That people resonate with my content and that they want me to come and share my thoughts or my expertise on a particular topic. But so that I don't lose time agonizing over how to say no or whether it's right, or what should I do? It just doesn't feel aligned. I get crystal clear at the outset on what does an opportunity look like for me?
[00:06:50] What will I say yes to? And what will I say no to? What's
[00:06:53] underpinning what I'm saying no to this year is things that aren't aligned and opportunities that aren't aligned. So for me, that means anything that resembles ending up in overwhelm or being super reactive or compromising my time and my ability to create that spaciousness and speaking to audiences that aren't aligned for me.
[00:07:13] I know I'm not the lawyer for everybody. I'm very high touch. I'm very collaborative. There is a lot of collaboration with me. If we work together, I'm not the lawyer you go to when you want a tick and flick. Give me a quick document. She'll be right. Thanks so much. I'm too busy to talk to you. That's not me.
[00:07:30] And I'm okay with that. I'm a very high touch service. I really take the time to get to know my clients, to get to know their business so that I can create solutions that will work. And so I can design documents and agreements and contracts that will actually work and that will withstand the challenge if ever my clients are challenged,
[00:07:48] What that means is if I'm invited to speak to an audience who aren't aligned with my approach or my way of thinking, then I would not be doing myself or the audience a service to say yes to that opportunity. So I can gracefully and graciously say no, thank you. But getting clear at the outset on what it is that I'm saying no to.
[00:08:08] Really helps set me up for success because I don't need to spend time and energy agonizing or contemplating over an opportunity that's presented that's not aligned. The third thing I do is I check my prices. this doesn't mean I increase my prices every year or at the beginning every year.
[00:08:25] That's not what this means and I don't do that. But what it does mean is that I like to check in with my pricing, my revenue metrics, my fixed costs, and I like to take some time to update my market research. So I've been in this game long enough now to know what value I bring and to know that the level of high touch point service Is not the norm.
[00:08:47] You don't find it everywhere. So I know where my pricing sits to be really aligned with me and the quality of the service that I provide. So I like to check in as part of my yearly planning that that still feels right for me. And it's still sitting where. I'm comfortable for it to sit.
[00:09:05] And what this does is it sets me up to not get caught up in imposter syndrome or self doubt later. If my value or my pricing is challenged because like any business, sometimes people will question my pricing and I don't like to end up in a spin. Like I did earlier in my business questioning myself. Oh my gosh, am I charging too much?
[00:09:25] Am I not charging enough? Holy moly. I don't find that being in that space serves me or serves my business. So I check in on it at the beginning of the year. Then I can deal with whatever comes without going into a spin and without spending time and energy in that space, which doesn't serve.
[00:09:44] I've got two more things to share. Fourth, holidays. Yes, holidays. I actually sit down with my annual planner. As part of my setting my business up for success process and block out the holidays and the time that I don't want to be at my desk. And usually that is very much guided by the school holidays.
[00:10:06] So my two children have a lot of holidays. They're in one of those schools that have a lot of holidays. And so I like to make sure that I have time to spend with them and be present in the holiday periods. So I sit down and block out. In my calendar, the time I want to be away from my desk, and from there, I'm able to plan our adventures and our experiences.
[00:10:27] And then I know what I'm working towards in terms of financial metrics, because I know how many weeks of the year I've got to work with. So these really all have a synergy. All of my planning processes have a synergy, as you can see, and they're tried and tested, and I know they work for me. Certainly earlier in my business journey, I was not generous with time away from my desk in the school holidays, because I was in the mindset of.
[00:10:52] Holy moly, I need to be available to everybody all the time. Otherwise I may not get any more clients. That was me in my first year of business. That is not 2024 Tracy. That hasn't been 2022 or 2023 Tracy either. So now though, I like to plan for it and then I can work backwards from there in terms of planning, diarising, financial metrics, allocating work and workflow because I know what periods I'm going to be away from the desk.
[00:11:19] This also includes travel interstate for work. I do a lot of that, and I like to map out to the extent that I can, which is usually fairly extensive at this time of year when I'm planning to be away and for how long, and that also helps with my workflow planning and again, my financial metrics, because I know how much time on the tools I've got to work with.
[00:11:39] So that's really helpful as well. And then I've got A really high level view of my year. And to be honest, I find that really exciting because there's a lot of variety there. There's a lot of connection there with clients. There's a lot of nurturing relationships and meeting new people. And there's a lot of time to be present with my children.
[00:11:56] And that's one of the main reasons I started this business was to be able to be present with my children. Can't say that presence has been something that I have mastered yet, but it is certainly something I'm prioritizing and I'm getting better at it.
[00:12:11] And the very last thing, the fifth point to my setting myself up for success for the new year process. This one is not sexy. I have to be honest, it's risk mitigation strategy. I reassess my risk mitigation strategy as part of my planning. What is that? Yes. I know it sounds dry. I know it's not sexy, but to me, peace of mind and a calm nervous system are sexy as hell.
[00:12:35] So my risk mitigation strategy is reviewing and updating my engagement letters for my clients, making sure they're exactly where they need to be. They're reflective of how I do things. Now, any tweaks, no matter how minor I make them at the beginning of the year or in time for the beginning of the year, then I check in on my insurances.
[00:12:54] And I know this one doesn't sound particularly enlightening, but it actually really is because I like to make sure I've got the level of cover. That's reflective of where my business is at now that I've marked in my calendar, my planner, all of the due dates so that I know nothing's going to fall through the cracks.
[00:13:11] And I just have that peace of mind knowing I'm covered, I'm protected, I've got this, I've got the dates there, and then I don't have to worry about it again. And I don't revisit this for another year. That to me is gold because peace of mind for me is vital and it's what underpins my entire Business ethos.
[00:13:32] So my business is underpinned by an empower ethos, and that goes to delivering confidence and peace of mind and your risk mitigation is part of what's going to deliver you peace of mind. So I do, I revisit it once a year in time for the new year to kick off. So I don't have to worry about it again. So there you have it friends.
[00:13:52] That is the process I go through when I'm setting my business up for success for a new year. It's been refined over time. It's evolved over time as my business has evolved and grown, but it's tried and tested and I know it worked. So to recap the five things I do to set my business up for success is I get clear on what success looks like for me.
[00:14:11] I get clear on what I'm saying no to this year, I check in with my pricing, I book in my holidays and block out my calendar, and I revisit my risk mitigation strategy. I hope you find this helpful and valuable wherever you may be listening at the moment. I hope that you are able to take what resonates with you, leave the rest, but I hope there's inspiration there for you.
[00:14:33] If in your planning process, you are wanting to focus a little more on your business and on the legal side of things, please jump over to the website and download your copy of the checklist for small businesses that I've created. This is a checklist that I've designed for you to be able to cast your eye over and know where the gaps are, what you need to focus on.
[00:14:53] So it's an asset, either keep it digitally or print it off and keep it in the top drawer, cast your eye over it every now and then, because if you do that, you will know you've left no stone unturned and nothing will fall through the cracks. As always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time.
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