Planning for a Great 2022
I have done no outreach since early May. Wow! Time flies. I have been blessed to have an active client roster all year, but I am finally coming up for air. Plus, we moved one daughter to Philadelphia for work and the other to England for graduate school. Guess where I am looking for new clients?
It is vital to begin each year with a focused annual plan. This practice centers thinking and brings better clarity for companies that invariably have more high priorities than they can address. I love leading planning retreats. Without fail, higher energy and a surge in revenue follow these events. Four essential items I like to include:
Develop overall goals by quarter, with a heavy emphasis on revenue, partnerships, and advancing your product/service. Key takeaway: Often, companies chase too many A priorities, and we have a lively discussion ranking them.
Assess infrastructure to identify roadblocks that may hinder meeting the goals. Key takeaways: organizations often do not work from chartered action plans. Also, inefficiency in conducting meetings comes up a lot.
Review cash planning. Key takeaway: Fundraising and exit plans get matched to current and planned realities of revenue size/growth, customer/partner concentration, and product maturity. Frequently, there is a disconnect between upcoming cash needs and the company’s current framework.
Evaluate personnel. Key takeaways: This identifies priority hires and forces conversations around struggling performers.
It would be best to do this work from the lens of when you wish to raise money or sell the organization. Taking a longer-term view to set the following year’s goals represents an excellent exercise for everyone.
These four items form the acronym DARE. Dare to take time now to plan for a better 2022.
I have room for up to five planning retreats in my calendar in the fourth quarter. I typically do these in two phases – a session creating draft findings and identifying additional research/discussion, followed by a session several weeks later to finalize everything and plan the roll-out. These are great, high-energy exercises, and I would love to do them for your company or one of your portfolio organizations. Let me know where I can help.
P.S. Congratulations to Brad Stulberg for the highly successful launch of his new book, The Practice of Groundedness. Check it out and check out The Growth Equation podcast.