What every entrepreneur should have done in July

Business Plan

Even if you have one, how are you tracking? What KPI's have you met and which one's have fallen to the way-side? Has the market changed? Has your company changed? I always use The Rockfellers Habit book as my guide to putting together a business plan for my marketing and technology businesses. It has a great chart that many smart entrepreneurs live by. Without having a business plan in place, your business is not only just going along without direction, it also lends itself to failure. Even if you are too busy, make time to put a business plan together and communicate it to your team.

Sales Plan

Without sales you do not have a business unless you are a smoke and mirrors business that has raised a shit load of cash without any product to sell. When I first started out in my marketing career, I remember not being a fan of sales people until one day my boss told me that without them, I don't have a job, so I had better get along with the sales team. It was an ah-ha moment that I will never forget and ever since I always ask the question of sales teams "What do you need to be more successful?". Basically, it's the marketing department's job to give sales teams everything they need to support their sales initiatives. A sales plan is often overlooked and replaced with sales forecasts (which is NOT a plan). Every sales team needs to include how marketing will help the team achieve their goals. If marketing does their job properly, the only issue is how many deals can your sales team close. I am a huge fan of sales enablement training and sales coaches. They teach your sales team what they need to know to be better at their job and it keeps them focused.

Marketing Strategy

Every business needs a marketing strategy; basically a blueprint that underpins business and sales objectives and gives your company the power to kick-goals and outperform your competitors. I know we bang on a lot about marketing strategies, but there is a good reason. Companies that don't have a marketing strategy in place to follow, focus on hit and miss marketing tactics without any real KPI's or results. By having a strategy in place you can adapt and change your marketing efforts according to response rates and changes in the market.

Human Resources Strategy

What people resources do you need to get your business to the next level? How are you on-boarding your new recruits? What does your internal marketing and communications program look like? Do you have daily/weekly/monthly internal newsletters? 

Performance Reviews

Make sure your team knows how they are fairing when it comes to their performance because you still have 6 months left in the year for them to shine. 

Culture Check

Is the culture of your organisation where it should be? Is everyone contributing to culture? Is anyone not a good fit for your culture? Is your company values being adhered to?

We love the half-year market because it allows us to adjust our business to ensure that it is on-track. We often make the big changes in July rather than January to make sure that we are thinking about the future of the business and how every area of the business fits in.