It's an old saying "too busy running the farm to run the business"... and I can see how it is such a relevant and timeless reminder to all small business owners to review and plan ahead.
Its not always easy to step away from the hands on, everyday activity of any business to look ahead (or even sideways sometimes) at what you could be doing better. I've worked in both small and large organisations and the key difference between the good and not so good comes down to a decision making leader who presents a really clear focus for the entire business. They will clarify the direction in a simple way, point staff in that direction, and continually remind them of the the end goal in a positive manner.
Even if you are a sole trader who wears many, many hats - it's the same challenge. If you have a clear and simple plan for the next 1-3 years it will help to keep all of your different 'hat wearing personalities' working together. I sometimes find myself half-way through a task and stop to question is this the right thing to be doing with my time right now?.... and often the last thing you feel like doing is the more important task.
We have an annual planning day. Its pretty informal but important to us. We start thinking about it a few weeks ahead and scribble down ideas or questions to address. Its our time to stop, review and ultimately reset our plans for the short to medium term. We analyse how we performed as honestly as we can. We review our sales trends per product and how we tracked to last year's plan. We also look at competitors, the market changes and kick around a few crazy ideas too. All of this eventually forms a new or varied plan for our future business and some clear actions for the years ahead.
Yes - of course it takes time away from the day-to-day business activity, but it is critical to keep your business heading forward. One of the outcomes of this years planning session was the launch of a new website focused on the sale of a range of Orchids specifically for our home ordering customers. We discovered this is a growing part of our business and wanted to put some real focus towards developing it.
www.orchidflowers.com.au is our new little baby and something that eventuated because we stopped and thought about the business and not the farm.
In saying all of that.... I'd better get back on the farm ;-) !