My team gathered recently in Denver, Colorado for some training and team building. Denver prides itself on going the extra mile for meeting and event planners and they lived up to it with our meeting. It is an excellent destination that helped ensure a successful event.
During the meeting, we participated in a workshop by Chuck Blakeman on strategic planning. Chuck is a well-known speaker, author and consultant for small business owners. You can learn more about Chuck and his seminars at www.cranksetgroup.com.
Our objective was to fine tune our business skills in order to be able to maximize the time we have with our customers. Chuck’s message was a simple plan that runs your business.
“Know where you are going,
when you want to be there,
how you will get there, and
what you need to do today to get there
This is an overview of what he shared during his workshop. It is his four building blocks to achieving a successful small business:
- Why
You need a big why. Why are you doing this (it’s bigger than just making money)?
- Strategic Plan
Once you understand your big why and how much it will cost you to support your ideal lifestyle, you need a strategic plan to take control of your business and use it to get you there. It is a simple two page format with a due date.
- Process Mapping
These descriptions of your tasks and processes are the key to getting out of the ‘producer’ role and creating a business that makes money while you are away from the office.
- Outside Eyes
You will need outside eyes (an advisor, mentor, coach, peer advisory group) to help you keep on track and to help you get there more quickly than you could on your own.
For me, the top takeaway from this session was that you need to go public with your goal. You need to tell people what you are doing because when you make your intentions public…you get them done.
As an independent meeting planner and business owner in the hospitality industry, putting these building blocks in place will have all of us on the road to serving our customers better…and success will follow. Have you defined your lifetime goals? Do you have a plan for how you are going to achieve them? Let’s get started today!
If you found this article interesting, you may also like “Is Being an Independent Meeting Planner and Event Planner Right for You”?
0 Comments