As trainers we all know that having a plan is pretty key to success when it comes to health and fitness goals. Unfortunately, there is a tendency to forget that this transfers over to all areas of life, including your business!
The following will help set your business goals and create a plan to set yourself up for success:
Decide on your goals
Before you can create your plan, you need to know what your goals are. If you already know what your priorities are for the year then skip ahead to the next section. If you’re scratching your head then brainstorm all the things you fancy doing or areas where you are having issues. Here are a few areas to consider:
- Financial goals: Do you have a sustainable business that pays all the bills and brings you an income that supports your life? If not, then this might be a good area to focus on.
- Retention goals: What are your retention numbers like? If you are constantly looking for more clients to replace leavers then it might be worth having a look at improving your retention.
- Service / process goals: Does your customer experience run like a well-oiled machine? Do you feel in control of your admin? Do you do what you say you are going to do? If things regularly slip through the cracks then you might want to look at your processes.
- Personal development goals: Are there areas you feel like your knowledge could be taken up a notch or 2? If so then creating a plan to improve that may be the answer.
Prioritise
If you have too many large goals it is unlikely that they will all happen so if you’ve ended up with a bit of a list, now is the time to prioritise. The obvious ones to start with are any areas you are spending a disproportionate amount of time on or any areas which are negatively impacting your business as they are. If there are any items on the list that you’re excited to get going with then that might be another reason to give something precedence. Choose the top 1-5 to proceed with for the year ahead.
Make your goals SMART
Making sure your goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timed (SMART) means you are more likely to get them done and able to judge whether your plans have been effective. With this in mind go through the goals you have identified and make sure you know exactly how you will know if you’ve been successful and when you are aiming for completion. What measurements are you going to use? Do you need to gather any baseline data?
Bear in mind that it is unlikely you will get everything done in month 1, no matter how impatient you are, so spread them out across the year. If it’s a big goal then you might want to consider breaking it down into smaller goals with different completion dates.
Make sure that the whole thing is achievable too, don’t choose 5 massive goals that require loads of time and energy if those resources are in short supply.
Plan
Having goals is great but without a plan you are unlikely to get there. Take your first goal. What do you need to do in order to get it done? E.g. if you have a goal to increase your income by 20% how are you going to do that? Will you increase your prices? Will you add in a new service or a different package option? Will you create an offline or online marketing strategy? Will you be reactivating old leads or creating a referral plan? Of course, it might be a combination of these things but you can see how the approach makes a difference to the details.
Go through each of the goals you have set yourself and break them down into the steps required in order to achieve them. Identify the actions required, organise them into a logical order and identify whether you need any additional support, knowledge, equipment or guidance in order to make them happen.
Diarise
A lack of time management often gets in the way of achieving a goal. Work out when you are going to work on your goals. Book the time in your diary and consider any potential issues that might prevent you from working towards your goal. Create a back up plan if necessary.
Make sure you know what you are going to be doing in each time slot, if you are prone to procrastination then put whatever measures you need in place to keep yourself focused.
Finally, TAKE ACTION! All the goal setting and planning in the world won’t help if you don’t do anything. Accountability can help here so set your review dates with yourself or involve someone else to make sure you stay on track.
Keep a note of everything you achieve, regardless of if it was one of your original goals or not, and in 12 months time you’ll be looking at a nice positive list of things you got done in 2019. Now that’s something to look forward to!
LTB members can check out the strategy download on the member site (download page, business section, number 13) where you will find links to tell us your goals and get quarterly accountability. Essential level members can book in a call to brainstorm and create goals or to have accountability calls on a more frequent basis.
Click here to find out more about LTB membership and sign up for a 2 week free trial