Strategies: Your 2008 plan for success

— -- It's a new year, and 2008 can be the best year ever for you and your business. How? Develop an annual business plan. If you're like me, you've got big hopes for your business in 2008. If you want to make those happen, you've got to have a plan.

Yes, I know- that's not sexy. It's not as exciting as going to a motivational seminar with some wanna-be business guru and purchasing a set of their incredibly expensive motivational CDs.

But while business planning isn't seemingly exciting, it is very effective. You can substantially increase your sales this year with just some simple planning. And making more money is sexy.

It's worked for me. Last year, 2007, was my company's best ever, even though we had incredible challenges. We thrived because of decisions we'd made at previous annual business plan sessions.

Developing an annual plan saves you money as well as makes you money. It helps you decide on how to focus your marketing and development efforts, so you don't waste your precious cash.

Your annual business planning process can be fairly formal, like the one we do in my business, where we set aside a couple of days for planning meetings. But hey, I wrote the book on business plans, so I've got to do the whole shebang.

You can keep it much simpler. Just set aside a few hours or a day for planning. Include your key personnel. Get away from the office or store, and especially the phones.

Here's how to develop your 2008 annual plan:

• Look at the past. Before going in new directions, evaluate what worked and what hasn't. In particular, identify which activities have been the most successful in terms of profit not just income.

• List your goals. Begin by listing all your goals — how much money you want to make, products or services you want to add, changes in work patterns or operations.

• Get specific. Now put details with each goal, especially numbers. Let's say one of your goals is to increase sales. Don't just say you'd like to double your income. Instead, list each product or service you offer, and set a goal of a specific number of customers and income for each.