We spend a lot of time thinking about our futures, but strangely the subject of business planning still causes folks to groan and procrastinate… many to the point of never planning at all.

Here’s what I know… if you don’t plan for your business you’ll make less and have less fun. It’s true. I still shoot from the hip as much as the next entrepreneur, but over and over I’ve witnessed that the more I plan, the better I do – both financially and emotionally.

What if planning could be fun and inspiring? What if you could do it quickly?

I just whipped together my plan for next year and I feel great! Plus, now it will be really easy to break it down into baby steps so I never have to wonder or worry whether I’m taking actions that will payoff.

Ready to play? Keep this simple at first. Just jot some thoughts down. Then it’s simple to go back and add more structure and details.

1. What are your personal goals for the year?

Before you do anything else, decide when you’ll take vacations! Get the “me time” and “family time” in there because your well-being always comes first. For next year, I’m taking all of May and December off. Woohoo!

Then, consider how you want your days to flow. I’m planning office hours for Monday – Wednesday, no more than three calls a day.

Consider the theme or overarching inner game for your year. For me, this coming year is about JOY, REST and FUN. I’m going to do more celebrating and less sweating the small stuff.

Then answer these questions:

Continue reading 7 Quick & Fun Steps to Biz Planning Your Whole Year

This is a guest post by my friend and colleague, Erika Kalmar, the Coaching Biz Start-Up Strategist …

One of the often seen mistakes of coaches is that they start setting up their business on the wrong end. Sometimes it is due to overwhelm, at other times due to lack of planning, but conclusion is – many coaches do not start where they should be, the #1 step they would need to take and this is preparing a business plan.

So what, you may ask? Everyone is free to choose their first steps, right? Some might feel starting up with their website, others with their Facebook Fan Page and again others might jump straight into creating their products.

The thing is – if you also belong to this group of people, then you are not following a long-term plan but acting on a short term strategy basis, working on a to-do item on your list.

Do you see where I am getting at?

How will you know that this strategy or to-do item will really fit the big picture, the vision of your business – and most importantly, that this is the best way to fulfill your business vision?

Because this is exactly what is happening if you tackle individual steps instead of the “big picture” first – you are working on short-term goals, hoping that it will ever contribute to your long-term one (that you might not even be aware of at the time).

Continue reading Business Plan, A Neglected Factor – 14 Reasons Why You Absolutely Must Have One – by Erika Kalmar

Have you ever felt that you need more knowledge, training or credentials to be highly valuable to your coaching clients? While every coach has some areas to develop, don’t make the mistake of discounting the many skills you already bring to the table. That goes for business skills as well. No matter how new you are to coaching, you’re no novice in life, work and communication skills.

It’s time to recognize and leverage your strengths, and consciously build a few core skills to help you thrive in your coaching business.

Below is a (non-exhaustive) list of core business skills. Take a few minutes to rank your current level of skill for each one. Be generous! And prepare to be surprised. Rank your skills on this scale (or come up with your own):

Continue reading 5 Core Skill Sets for Coaching Business Success