Forget December! Simple, Stress-Free Annual Planning

You know what’s better than planning your next epic year in December? Doing your yearly planning any other time of year!

Your business may operate on a calendar year, but that doesn’t mean your planning has to adhere to the typical January 1 – December 31 model. We’re giving your full permission to make next year’s initial plans so you can focus on wrapping up projects and celebrating your current year in December. You’re welcome!

At Any Old Task, this isn’t the only thing we do differently when it comes to annual planning.

Some experts recommend planning out your entire year, from promotions or launches to marketing tactics, so all you have to do is implement. While that definitely works for many businesses, it can also make it hard to pivot when something comes up, like a global pandemic 😉

Instead, we help our clients determine 2 or 3 main goals they want to hit in the next year. We recommend nailing down these numbers before anything else:

• Revenue goal
• The main driving force in your business. For instance, if your business relies on email subscribers, what’s your target subscriber count for next year?
• Optional: one other thing or project, like a rebrand, pivot or family planning

You can also pencil in dates for recurring affiliate launches, but no need to get into the nitty gritty details and timelines yet. You can wrangle those details during quarterly planning sessions.

That’s it! You’re ready to enjoy the slay the rest of your year and enjoy some extra time off.

One final note: you’ll probably get some input from your mentors, coaches and role models as you plan for your next year. It’s a great idea because they have insights that can help you get to where you want to go.

However, it behooves you to include your virtual assistant in your yearly planning session. They know your habits and preferences, which will help connect where you are to where you want to be. For example, say you want to increase your revenue by $15,000 and you figure you can do that easily by adding a couple clients a month. But your VA knows that when you add a third client call to your week, you get anxious and try to find ways to avoid doing it. That exact type of insight can save you a lot of heartache, versus trying it for 3 months and struggling mid-year to find another way to make that revenue goal.

Your VA will also have some useful ideas. They know what your clients say, like and want from you. You’ll likely have a wealth of viable services and products from this feedback alone.

Are you ready to bring on a Virtual Assistant to help you make next year your most epic year yet? Check out our mini-course How To Hire And Train Your First Virtual Assistant.

Not sure if a Virtual Assistant is who you need to add to your team right now? Get my strategic eyes on your business with a Team Planning Session.