On this the last day of January, I reach the first anniversary of starting my business in the UK! Happy Birthday Suzanne Wigmore Massage Therapist! One of my New Year’s resolutions was to write a business plan, so as I reach this milestone, it feels like a good time to do it, whilst also reflecting on the past year.
My husband is the planner in our house. I am more ‘fly by the seat of my pants, just in time and (mostly) get away with it’. This is reflected in the main reasons I have managed to go a whole year without a plan…I’m not really sure what one should look like or that they apply to me and, probably most significantly, if I write one, do I have to stick to it, will I even stick to it and who will care (including me) if I do?!
When I worked for a ‘proper organisation’ there was always a plan. Someone else wrote the plan. It was then translated down the many levels to me so I could create what was called a Balanced Scorecard. I’m not sure I ever truly understood what this meant, but apparently it was what I was personally responsible for. It covered a wide variety of areas, including something and something else, with a bit of personal development thrown in, to make you feel like you were getting something out of it too. Each area then had SMART objectives (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time based – get me for remembering!). These then defined whether you had balanced your scorecard at the end of the year and, ultimately, your bank balance in the form of a bonus.
When you are self-employed, and part time, it’s not quite as straight forward. I am responsible for my own objectives, my performance and the measurement thereof. There isn’t anyone there to have a performance review with, give me 360°feedback or a new stretch target. Oh how I miss the jargon! I suppose the fact that I am still up and running a year on is my main success, and I am pretty surprised and pleased with how it has gone. However, I am starting to think I need to have a bit of an idea of where I want to go from here. As the saying goes ‘if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got’. Even just sitting down and having a think about a plan is better than nothing I guess.
Now I just need to come up with the plan…any ideas anyone…anyone?!
#1yearon
#timeforaplan
#balancingthescorecard
#SMART
#oricouldjustwingit
SUZANNE WIGMORE MASSAGE THERAPIST 