The Audacity of Goal Planning

During the last two weeks of December I start my goal planning sessions preparing for 2010. I really look forward to this time of year as it allows me to focus on my business for a change. I’d like to share my process with you as well as some insight into goal planning. I don’t have a perfect system nor is it as comprehensive as some other methods out there, but for me it is sufficient.

Another reason for sharing this with you is to help me organize my process and document it. It’s as much as a journal of my thoughts as it is a guide for you.

I once read the saying that went something like this: “A plan is God’s idea of a practical joke”. While I agree that you cannot predict or plan everything, no plan is planning to fail. More importantly, planning helps set my expectations for the year and becomes a great analytical tool that I can review and tweak as I go.

So let’s dive in, in no particular order:

Goal Planning 2010

1. Better Reporting: For the last couple years I wanted to move into a more thorough accounting system, one that I can access anywhere, anytime. After spending a ton of time researching different solutions, I settled on Xero, a fairly comprehensive, web-based accounting system that will allow me to view create invoices, track payments, and performs all of the functions your standard accounting package does. What I really liked about Xero was the ability to do reporting. If I wanted to see what percentage of my business was Web Design or Logo Design, I can easily run the report. Sure, I can do this in Excel, but why? For 2010, I will have better reporting. I will know how many clients I have, what projects have the longest payment milestones, which projects are most profitable, and more.
2. New Web Site: This year I’m overhauling the studio 22 design web site. My goal in the redesign is two-fold; provide a better experience for the visitor and make it easier to maintain for me. The most important area to redesign was my portfolio. I didn’t like that you couldn’t dynamically sort the portfolio by project type. This was an important feature as clients always asked me to see work relevant to their project. I wanted this to be easy for them, so I added in a JQuery script that allows dynamic filtering of the projects. It’s a slick feature that is actually quite usable. Another area I’m improving is my contact section. Currently, you have to click on contact to get phone, email, etc… The new site will have the contact info dedicated to the footer of each page including project form, newsletter signup, email, and social media links. This satisfies my goal providing better communications with my clients as well as more ways to connect.
3. Social Media: The jury is still out on how this will improve my business, but at the most basic level it will help me to interact with my clients, current and potential. And although best practices are still evolving, there is no question that it helps with branding and communications. I’m keeping an eye on this in 2010 and may do a more aggressive push in social media, but probably not until Q2.
4. New Clients: I have a very short and very specific list of potential clients I intend to convert to clients this year. Basically, my goal is to convert 3 out of 5 before 2011. These are big, bold organizations that I have a personal interest in and who, I believe, I can offer a great deal of value to. The benefit of having a short list is that it forces me to focus on making connections and building relationships rather than cold calling.

These are just a few select areas of my goal planning for 2010. Other areas include financial, new revenue sources, and scheduling goals which I’m still working on.

What’s included in your goal planning in 2010?