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This article is from your MYB Consultancy for small business owners, in fact any business owner

Lack of planning is disastrous. Your secret weapon to achieving your goals is planning. Goals are the starting point of your planning process. It is all very well to know what you want to achieve, but knowing how to get there is what you must work out, before you begin. Use these 6 Steps to guide you through the planning process, successful planners do.

Planning will result in achieved goals:

1. Write down your goal. This needs to be quite clear. It needs to state exactly what the goal is and then determine * the date it will be achieved, how you will know it has been achieved and, that it is actually achievable.

2. Identify the people who will work on achieving the goal. It's important to identify people with the appropriate skills to include in the plan. If you don*t have the right people it can be very difficult to get your plan completed successfully.

3. Determine the steps you need to take. Write down a sequential series of steps that you will take, from the first one through to the last one. Allow a little flexibility in case you have to make modifications along the way.

4. Highlight any problems. Assess each step and look to see if any of them have any problems that you can predict. Allow some flexibility in your time frames for problems that you can*t predict. Capture your ideas about how you will find solutions to these problems.

5. Establish a timetable for each step. Assess the amount of work there is in each step and how much time this work will take. This will give you the information you need to set timeframes for completing each step.

6. Monitor your progress. Once you begin working on the steps of your plan you need to keep track of your progress. Check that you are making the desired progress in the time that you have set and if necessary speed up the work if you are slowing down. If you are making progress more quickly than anticipated you may wish to change your completion date.

If you want to achieve your goals, create a carefully thought out plan. Keep these Top 6 planning tips in mind always.

Business and personal growth is the linchpin for great business owners.

Have Great Plans
Elaine Masters
Business Consultant & Coach
Master Your Business