One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned as a business owner is the importance of planning and goal setting. Putting aside dedicated time to set goals and plan out the next year of my business has helped me stay motivated and intentional about how I grow my business.
Over the years, I’ve developed a helpful yearly business planning strategy that has made planning and goal setting easier and more effective. I’m excited to share my process with you!
Follow the steps below to plan for your most successful year of business yet.
Schedule a Reflection and Planning Session Into Your Calendar
You can’t start a new chapter before you finish the current one. Before you start planning for the upcoming year, take a few moments to look back on 2024.
I like to set aside plenty of time to reflect and plan–I call it my CEO Day. You can even take a whole CEO Weekend to dig in deeper!
I’m a big proponent of changing up your environment during this time so that you’re free from distractions. Book a nice hotel or spend an afternoon in a coffee shop. If you don’t have a full day or weekend to dedicate to planning, divide it into shorter sessions and block those times off on your calendar.
Collect Everything You Need to Review Your Current Year in Business
Part of reflecting on your last year of business is looking at your numbers. Take time to collect everything you need to review how successful your business was this year. I like to start by looking at the goals I set last year and seeing how many I accomplished and where I can still make progress.
You should also gather your profits and losses statement, marketing metrics, annual survey results, and any other data that will help you evaluate the past year.
Make sure all of your data points are easy to access for your review time. You’ll use them to create measurable goals for the upcoming year.
Create Your CEO Day Agenda
Before you get started, set an agenda for your day so that you stay on track. It’s easy to get lost in goal setting and dreaming about the upcoming year. That isn’t a bad thing, but you want your planning session to be as productive as possible.
I like to break my planning day into three parts: review and reflection, celebration, and looking ahead.
After your reflection time, it’s important to celebrate all of your big and small wins from the past year. Don’t skip over this time and move straight into planning the next year – take time to celebrate your accomplishments!
The looking ahead portion of your agenda should include goal setting, vision casting, and planning out your calendar.
Set Your Business Goals For the Year, and Follow Them Up With Action Steps
Now that you have your CEO Day agenda, it’s finally time to start setting goals for the new year. Trust me, I know that goal-setting can feel overwhelming. There’s a ton of advice out there about how to set goals the right way, but I like to keep it simple.
My advice is to set less goals. Your goals should excite you, not overwhelm you. Choose a few goals that you want to really go after in the new year, and then back them up with doable action steps.
Your action steps should be things that you can control. For example, if your goal is to set aside more uninterrupted time to work on your business, you can control blocking off that time on your calendar.
Goals don’t accomplish themselves, so pairing them with action steps is crucial. I also recommend pairing your goals with your overall vision for your life. If you envision earning passive income so you can spend more time with your family, what do you need to accomplish this year to make that happen?
Once you set your goals, keep them somewhere that you can easily access so you can review them throughout the year.
Add Your Goals to Your Calendar
Now that you’ve set your goals, you can move into the planning portion of your CEO Day. Give all of your goals a timeline and put them on your calendar. As you do this, your upcoming year in business will begin to take shape. Pro tip: use sticky notes so you can move your goals around until you’re happy with your timelines.
For more on yearly planning, check out these videos I’ve created:
- VIDEO: How you can plan and set goals in your photography business
- VIDEO: How to Plan Your Year
- VIDEO: How I Plan My Content
How to Wrap Up Your CEO Day
Close out your CEO Day by sharing your goals and plans with your team to get them on board. Add them to your project management program so they’re visible to everyone. You should also set a date for your next CEO Day and block off that time on your calendar now. I like to do mini-planning sessions every quarter!
Lastly, find ways to add accountability to your goals. Share them with a few friends and ask them to check in on them with you from time to time.
Bonus Goal Setting Resources
I’ve learned a ton about goal setting from Michael Hyatt. I recommend these resources from him:
- Michael Hyatt’s Goal Setting Blog
- Michael Hyatt’s Goal Setting Download Sheet
- Michael Hyatt’s Book: Your Best Year Ever
