ALL THE IDEAS BUILDING A STRATEGIC ROADMAP AMBER MCCUE
EVER FEEL LIKE THIS? I NEED MONEY NOW! I WANT TO HOST AN IN-PERSON AN EVENT. I COULD START A COMMUNITY! EVERYONE IS STARTING MEMBERSHIP SITES - I BETTER GET ON MINE! I VE GOT THIS GREAT IDEA FOR A ONE WEEK CHALLENGE TO BUILD ME LIST. ONE-ON-ONE S WILL GET ME THERE FASTER. It s a little something I like to call idea mania! If you are like the other entrepreneurs I know, you have no shortage of ideas. They are probably pretty fantastic ideas too! Just one problem - Ideas are useless unless you are able to buckle down, focus, and implement. In All The Ideas, we ll take all of your ideas and map out a roadmap for what you will implement when in the short, mid, and long term. It s a way of thinking and strategic mindset that you ll take forward and leverage again and again as your business grows. The strategic roadmap process results in scenarios and plans you will execute on in the future. The strategic roadmap development process will empower you to make thoughtful decisions in the business and allocate your resources, energy, and time accordingly. By taking all of the ideas you have and organizing them into a strategic plan you can clear space to focus on current priorities, knowing that all of the other ideas will be tended to at the right time in the future. Are you ready to clear mental space and make way for your future success too? Let s do it! ALL THE IDEAS Page 2
FOCUS Entrepreneur and business owners have many competing priorities. It s not a problem that is unique to small businesses, however. Big and small. All companies have limited resources. Laying out the roadmap for what to focus on over time or based on various if then scenarios will help set the stage for what s to come. That leaves you free to focus and rock out the here and now wowing customer after customer. NOW & LATER The strategic roadmap process ensures your success for your now and your later. ADDED BONUS You are kick starting the manifesting process by laying out and focus on both the now and later with the appropriate amounts of energy. WHAT YOU FOCUS ON EXPANDS. SO FOCUS ON WHAT YOU WANT, NOT WHAT YOU DO NOT WANT. SHORT VERSUS LONG As nimble, agile small businesses I do not recommend building a deatiled project plan for the future. Life changes, priorities change, the marketing shifts. One of your advantages is to adapt and adjust to meet the needs that arise as they come up. Using the 90 Day Plan approach enables you to go deep in a specific area for a specific amount of time without having invested tremendous effort creating longer-term plans that may change. That doesn t mean you shouldn t do any long term planning. Long term planning is key to bringing a vision to life. We ll layout a plan that helps you know what to do with all the ideas without getting too far ahead of yourself! ESTHER JNO-CHARLES ALL THE IDEAS Page 3
POWER HOUR WORKBOOK STRUCTURE All The Ideas takes you from the now into the future considering what you now know. Don t worry for a second if you get stumped or if you come back to this in a week or a month or three months and feel compelled to change your future. CHANGE HAPPENS. Your life, the market, your clients, or changes in the competitive landscape may demand it. After we look at where you are now and where you are going, we ll layout how you will get there. How you will get there is where we will build your strategic roadmap. We offer up 3 templates for you to use to build your strategic roadmap based on how you think best and what stage of business you are in. You can t pick a wrong template. Some people may even want to do the exercise using different templates until you find the right plan and the right model for your vision. THERE IS NO WRONG CHOICE AND NOTHING IS SET IN STONE. BEFORE WE DIG IN FRESH CHECK! WHAT ONE WORD DESCRIBES: Your current mood? The current state of your business Your most significant challenge this week? IF YOU THINK CREATING The effectiveness of your ABOUT WHEN TO PLAY AND communication? HOW TO WIN WITHOUT CONSIDERATION OF ASPIRATIONS AND GOALS, Your future? YOU MAY END UP WITH A STRATEGY THAT IS EFFECTIVE FOR IT S INTENDED GOAL How you feel right now? BUT ISN T SOMETHING YOU ACTUALLY WANT. How do you think the words you WHAT THIS MEANS IS THAT noted above are impacting your TO CREATE A STRATEGY, business (positively or favorably?) YOU HAVE TO ITERATE. ROGER MARTIN, HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW ALL THE IDEAS Page 4
WORKSHEET WHERE ARE YOU NOW? We start here, in the present moment. What do you value? What do you want? What s the marketing climate? You may have answered some of these questions before. If so, you are ahead of the crowd. Bring these answers to the front of your mind as we prepare for the future. If not, now s your time to do some serious thinking about what makes you unique. FRESH IN ACTION Reverse Brainstorm MROTSNIARB What are your goals? Business goals What are your core values? What gaps are there in the market? What do you do better than anyone? What are your goals? Personal goal What do your customers want from you most? What are your key differentiators? What s most important now? Having trouble thinking of ideas for your future? Do some reverse brainstorming!! For example, if you have a challenge to improve your client experience in the year ahead you might ask: How do we improve my client experiences? To reverse brainstorm, instead of directly answering that question instead answer this: How do we make our clients incredibly unhappy? Seeing what negative answers pop up just might make you think of something truly extraordinary. ALL THE IDEAS Page 5
WORKSHEET WHERE ARE YOU GOING? Now that we ve reflected on where we are, let s talk about where you are headed. What is your vision statement? Where will you play? What do you want to do and how do you want to stand out to grow your business? Where will you not play? Are there any areas of business, service models, or people you do not want to engage with? Why will you win? What do you need to do to make it happen? E.g., will you need to focus on list building, paid advertising, get investors, add team members, etc.? What s most important for my future? YOU CAN T WIN WITHOUT A PLAN. ALL THE IDEAS Page 6
WORKSHEET ALL THE IDEAS! All those ideas that have been cooking around up in your head? Now s the time to get them all out. Lay them all out in the space below. ALL THE IDEAS Page 7
DO ANY OF THESE IDEAS HAVE A FIRM TIME FRAME TIED TO THEM? YES? If yes - What is the timing? Make a note of your non-negotiable dates. What s the most important idea above? EVERY REALLY NEW IDEA LOOKS CRAZY AT FIRST. ABRAHAM MASLOW ALL THE IDEAS Page 8
FRESH TIPS On the next four pages, you ll find four different templates that you can leverage to layout your strategy. As you go forward and build your plan in the pages ahead, keep these tips in mind: OUR GOAL: WINNING Take care of your most important ideas first. Build a smart plan, where one item relates to the next. If you want to host a live event, but have a very small list, how will you attract people to attend. Will you draw people in through paid marketing or will you spend time in the months prior building your list. Pick a filter question to make sure everything you build aligns. ALL THE IDEAS Page 9
WORKSHEET WHERE ARE YOU GOING? Roadmap - Build Over Time This basic template takes you through time giving you a space to document over time your Focus (e.g., marketing, team building, development or sales of a program) and the Activity (e.g., event, challenge, hiring, etc.). SAMPLE: 2015 ROADMAP ALL THE IDEAS Page 10
WORKSHEET 2015 ROADMAP JAN FEB MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC ALL THE IDEAS Page 11
WORKSHEET 2016 ROADMAP Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 ALL THE IDEAS Page 12
WORKSHEET 2017 ROADMAP 1ST HALF 2ND HALF ALL THE IDEAS Page 13
WORKSHEET 2018 ROADMAP 2018 ALL THE IDEAS Page 14
WORKSHEET WHERE ARE YOU GOING? Roadmap - Build by Time & Area of Focus Using the orbit below, put the key areas of focus involved in running your business on each axis and make a note in the relevant circle of what you plan to achieve in that year. The big advantage of it is you can easily compare your goals and see if they relate. For example if you plan to double your sales in one year, will you be doubling your marketing too? If not how do you plan on reaching that goal? Year 3 Marketing Year 2 Year 1 3 events Break even 1 new collecion made Profits of $5,000 after saleries 2 new collecions made Profits of $10,000 2 new collecions made Finance 5 events 7 events Collections Selling events ALL THE IDEAS Page 15
WORKSHEET WHERE ARE YOU GOING? Roadmap - Build by Difficulty Level Using this template put your keys areas of focus on the ladder from the bottom up with bottom being the simplest. As you move up the ladder the activities are intended to get increasingly harder. The concept with this is that once you master one area, you move to the next. In addition to mapping activity, along the side you can include an estimate as to when you anticipate you may master each activity. Easy Difficult Activity Time to Master ALL THE IDEAS Page 16
FRESH CHECK! How d you make out? As you built your roadmap did you clear some space for you to focus and succeed now and later? OUR GOAL: WINNING Before we call it quits on this roadmap, let s check it to make sure it s working for you. Does your roadmap align your strengths in a way that provides continually increasing value to your clients? Does your roadmap leave space for you to execute and provide a first class experience for your clients? Do your marketing and growth plans align with your business efforts? Does your roadmap support you living the lifestyle you want? If you answer this questions in the affirmative, keep on growing! If not, consider any tweaks that may need to be made before you move to the next step. ALL THE IDEAS Page 17
FRESH CHECK! NEXT UP! Power Hour Workbook often wrap up with a call to action. Not this time!! THE MAGIC HAPPENS AT THE TIME OF IMPLEMENTATION We are going to set this strategic plan aside for now and let it marinate. Like a fine wine or a growing 401k account, this roadmap and your vision will be enhanced over time. Not specific action is required in terms of the roadmap. You may want to mark your calendar so you remember to periodically revisit your roadmap throughout the year to check in and make updates as you grow. I recommend a quarterly review that can be completed when you update your next 90 Day Plan. In the meantime, stay focused and in action on your current 90 Day Plan. Because the magic happens at the time of implementation!! ALL THE IDEAS Page 18
I LOVE TALKING BUSINESS! I love talking business! If you find you need more assistance getting your fresh ideas out there, do not hesitate to reach out! You can find me at:: NiceOps.com amber@ambermccue.com https://www.facebook.com/niceops https://www.twitter.com/ambermccue ALL THE IDEAS Page 19