Have you done an annual (p)review of your business this year yet? Holidays give us a breathing space where we can take a step out of our business and really see it clearly from the outside. I’ve been running (p)reviews with coaching clients over the last few weeks as well as playing with my own businesses. If you haven’t had a moment to spare it’s not too late to create heaps of profitable possibilities for your business! The annual (p)review looks both backwards and into the future. Ideally you do it with your key team members and one or two outsiders who will contribute fresh perspectives. The traditional way is to ask a few questions along these lines: Looking back:
- What were the key achievements?
- What were the highlights?
- What were the low points?
- What opportunities were missed?
- What most needs to change?
- What was so successful that it bears repeating?
- What did you learn that will contribute to the coming year?
Looking forward:
- What ideas need to be initiated?
- What projects and ideas need to be dropped?
- What are your targets and priorities for the year?
- What talents and capacities do you have that can contribute to greater results?
- What resources, collaborators and expertise do you need?
- What would stop you from making this happen?
- What other knowledge and skills do you need?
Being the non-traditionalist that I am, I also like to add another step. Have a creative, collaborative catchup with a couple of people who inspire you and who also run a business. Talk about the possibilities for all of your businesses and let the conversation and ideas flow in all sorts of directions. Record the conversation and pick out the gems later on. I did this with a colleague recently and we came away with a plan for a joint venture and a number of new products to create, as well as some projects that will feed into our existing plans! Sometimes it is the creative meandering conversations about what you are most interested in and intrigued by that deliver the best results!! And that’s when work becomes play!
