Caramels jelly-o candy canes danish sweet. Dragée pudding cake bear claw cheesecake danish macaroon chocolate bar. Sesame snaps sugar plum muffin jelly-o jelly-o icing dragée powder ice cream. Liquorice danish jelly-o biscuit donut. Jelly-o liquorice chocolate cake carrot cake macaroon cookie. Lollipop tart sesame snaps pastry lemon drops. Chocolate cake sweet roll chupa chups croissant croissant. Jujubes soufflé biscuit fruitcake chocolate tart biscuit sugar plum apple pie. Donut wafer sweet chupa chups sweet candy canes. Dragée apple pie tart cake caramels cheesecake. Lemon drops icing lollipop biscuit soufflé biscuit tiramisu. Ice cream lollipop gingerbread dragée toffee cupcake soufflé gummies biscuit. Gummies biscuit icing marzipan biscuit.
Everything You Need to Know About Quarterly Planning For Your Small Business
Have you heard the buzz about quarterly planning but you’re not even sure where to start? Or maybe you’ve been feeling disorganized and scatterbrained the past few months so you’re looking to get back on track with a plan? If so, you’re in the right place.
As a marketing and operations assistant, planning and organizing is my specialty and each year I help my clients go through this process (even if they don’t always realize that’s what’s happening) in order to help them get closer to their goals.
The purpose of quarterly planning is to reverse engineer your income goals for the year to make them more manageable. By getting clear on the action steps it takes to achieve your goals, setting deadlines, and assigning those steps to the appropriate person on the team, and tracking progress, your goals go from hypothetical to executable.
What to do before you begin planning
In order to begin quarterly planning there are two things you must do first:
- Revisit your annual goals. The purpose of quarterly planning is to break down your goals into achievable steps, so first you must have clarity on what goals you’re working towards. To set your annual goals, consider the following areas and answer the following questions:
- Personal (what role does my health, relationships, spirituality, and hobbies play in my business?)
- Financial (how much do I want to make, revenue & profit?)
- Marketing (how do my leads find me? How am I generating traffic?)
- Sales (how do my leads become customers/clients?)
- Delivery (how do I deliver my products/services? What products/services am I delivering?)
- Review any data from past quarters, years, etc. if you have them and reflect on what worked, what didn’t, what you can do differently in the quarter ahead. Data that is worth considering is budgets, revenue statements, social media statistics, email analytics, calendar/time management reports.
5 most common quarterly planning mistakes
- Planning too far in advance
- Planning but never executing (didn’t set due dates/assign tasks)
- Not beginning with reflection
- Not specifically defining what success/achievement of a goal means
- Piling too many things in one quarter (due to a lack of prioritization)
How to plan your next quarter
To create an effective quarterly plan there are a few steps to follow:
Review & Break Down Your Annual Goals into Action Steps
To begin quarterly planning, first you need to revisit your annual goals and evaluate which goals are still relevant and important. Take a look at your goals and ask yourself, which of these is most important to me over the next 90 days, and which of these could wait until a future quarter? Remember that one of the biggest mistakes of quarterly planning is dividing your focus among too many goals, so once you’ve determined 2-3 goals you’d like to work toward, then define specifically what success will look like for that goal. Get specific.
Instead of “grow my email list” it should be “get 50 new subscribers per month by marketing on Pinterest”
Instead of “take Fridays off” it’s “reduce client load and replace revenue by marketing a passive product.”
Instead of “make $100k in revenue” it’s “sell 50 of my $2,000 VIP Packages”
Instead of “increase visibility” it’s “expand onto 2 additional platforms (email marketing and podcast) to increase visibility”
Do you see how the first goal leaves a lot of unanswered questions and can create overwhelm when it comes time to execute. The goal might be to take Fridays off, but without specificity we have no idea how to do that or what it will take to reach that goal. By getting more specific we’re able to break down that goal into actionable steps. Determine what can be accomplished in the next 90 days to move closer to the goal.
For example:
If you want to get 50 new subscribers per month by marketing on Pinterest.
In order to reach this goal, at a minimum you’ll need an opt in form, a lead magnet, and consistent content (both long form content and pins). So the first steps toward reaching your goal would be to create the opt in form, create the lead magnet, and create the content you need.
Create deadlines
Set a specific date when you will have each of your action steps completed by, in order to stay on track. Realistically, how much time will it take you to accomplish each task? Calculating this is much easier if you already practice CEO Days, because you already know exactly how many hours of your week you have reserved to work towards each of these action steps.
When you’re setting these deadlines, be sure to take into consideration other ongoing projects, and personal commitments. I find this step is so much easier when you have your calendar (shoutout to Google Calendar for keeping my entire life in order) right beside you.
Assign each action step to the appropriate person
Next, evaluate the skill set needed for each task and decide who on your team is the best fit to accomplish it. After the deadline of each action step, note down which person will be responsible for executing it.
If you’re a solopreneur, you’re probably thinking “well my options are me, myself, and I, so that’s easy” but not so fast, I still want you to take the time to evaluate this. If you’re taking the time to do your quarterly planning, that means you’re on the cusp of growth and expansion and perhaps it’s time to bring in support. Are the tasks that are required for this next quarter things that fall within your area of expertise? If not, consider bringing on a contractor or team member to execute that step for you. Part of being a CEO and effectively managing your time is being able to determine what requires your attention and what should be delegated.
p.s. shameless plug that if anything on your quarterly planning task list is organic marketing or operations related – I can help!
Track progress inside of a project management system
Planning is great and it helps us feel productive, but it’s only truly productive if it’s followed by action. And the reason quarterly planning isn’t effective for a lot of businesses is we sit down at the beginning of the quarter, write all of this out and never look at it again.
So to avoid that, after you’ve determined each of the action steps, their deadline, and who they are assigned to, take the time to enter each of the action steps as a task inside your project management tool. I highly recommend Clickup if you don’t already have a project management tool that you love. Inside of the Momentum Click Up workspace, I have a folder titled “Growth Plan” that contains three lists: “Quarterly Tasks” which is where I enter all of the tasks outlined during quarterly planning, “Recurring Tasks” where I track tasks that happen on a recurring basis, and “Ideas” where I log potential projects/goals that are brought up during quarterly planning but ultimately I decided it wasn’t a top priority for this quarter.
By tracking everything in Click Up I’m able to quickly and easily determine at the start of a new quarter, what was accomplished last quarter and what is most important for the quarter ahead.
A few reminders for your quarterly planning session
- Set boundaries to keep yourself accountable, but stay flexible. Protect your time and attention by setting personal and client boundaries, but remember that part of business is being able to ebb and flow with unexpected changes. Don’t get down on yourself if next quarter things didn’t pan out exactly the way you envisioned.
- Set up systems to save you time. Part of effective planning is determining where you are wasting time, by leveraging SOPs, templates, automations, and sleek systems you’ll have more time to work towards the goals you set during quarterly planning. If you don’t already have systems in place, make them a part of your plan for the next quarter.
- Don’t wait to apply what you learned! You can implement these strategies even if it’s not a new quarter. Whether you did your quarterly planning but got off track or you’re just finding this blog and it’s the middle of a quarter, don’t wait until the next quarter to get back on track – start today!
In case we haven’t met yet, I’m Michaela – content writer, behind the scenes expert, and chaos coordinator (aka the virgo energy to your creative spirit).
And I’m completely obsessed with helping you turn your journal full of ideas into profit driving offers with research backed strategy, magnetic content, and streamlined systems. It’s about time you got the all-inclusive support you deserve – and I’m here to make it happen.
If you liked this post and are craving more, here’s how I can help:
Need help executing all the action steps on your quarterly planning list? Book a VIP Day and let me help.
Sick of spending hours on content creation? Download Overwhelmed to Omnipresent to learn the exact strategy I use to create enough content for 5 platforms in 2 hours a week.
Subscribe to my newsletter. Every Wednesday, I share tips to help you magnetize your dream clients, eliminate distractions, and propel your business forward that you can read in 5 minutes or less.
Download The Blogging Essentials Playbook to get access to the exact tools and templates you need to create top shelf blogs in half the time.
Have you heard the buzz about quarterly planning but you’re not even sure where to start? Or maybe you’ve been feeling disorganized and scatterbrained the past few months so you’re looking to get back on track with a plan? If so, you’re in the right place.
As a marketing and operations assistant, planning and organizing is my specialty and each year I help my clients go through this process (even if they don’t always realize that’s what’s happening) in order to help them get closer to their goals.
The purpose of quarterly planning is to reverse engineer your income goals for the year to make them more manageable. By getting clear on the action steps it takes to achieve your goals, setting deadlines, and assigning those steps to the appropriate person on the team, and tracking progress, your goals go from hypothetical to executable.
What to do before you begin planning
In order to begin quarterly planning there are two things you must do first:
- Revisit your annual goals. The purpose of quarterly planning is to break down your goals into achievable steps, so first you must have clarity on what goals you’re working towards. To set your annual goals, consider the following areas and answer the following questions:
- Personal (what role does my health, relationships, spirituality, and hobbies play in my business?)
- Financial (how much do I want to make, revenue & profit?)
- Marketing (how do my leads find me? How am I generating traffic?)
- Sales (how do my leads become customers/clients?)
- Delivery (how do I deliver my products/services? What products/services am I delivering?)
- Review any data from past quarters, years, etc. if you have them and reflect on what worked, what didn’t, what you can do differently in the quarter ahead. Data that is worth considering is budgets, revenue statements, social media statistics, email analytics, calendar/time management reports.
5 most common quarterly planning mistakes
- Planning too far in advance
- Planning but never executing (didn’t set due dates/assign tasks)
- Not beginning with reflection
- Not specifically defining what success/achievement of a goal means
- Piling too many things in one quarter (due to a lack of prioritization)
How to plan your next quarter
To create an effective quarterly plan there are a few steps to follow:
Review & Break Down Your Annual Goals into Action Steps
To begin quarterly planning, first you need to revisit your annual goals and evaluate which goals are still relevant and important. Take a look at your goals and ask yourself, which of these is most important to me over the next 90 days, and which of these could wait until a future quarter? Remember that one of the biggest mistakes of quarterly planning is dividing your focus among too many goals, so once you’ve determined 2-3 goals you’d like to work toward, then define specifically what success will look like for that goal. Get specific.
Instead of “grow my email list” it should be “get 50 new subscribers per month by marketing on Pinterest”
Instead of “take Fridays off” it’s “reduce client load and replace revenue by marketing a passive product.”
Instead of “make $100k in revenue” it’s “sell 50 of my $2,000 VIP Packages”
Instead of “increase visibility” it’s “expand onto 2 additional platforms (email marketing and podcast) to increase visibility”
Do you see how the first goal leaves a lot of unanswered questions and can create overwhelm when it comes time to execute. The goal might be to take Fridays off, but without specificity we have no idea how to do that or what it will take to reach that goal. By getting more specific we’re able to break down that goal into actionable steps. Determine what can be accomplished in the next 90 days to move closer to the goal.
For example:
If you want to get 50 new subscribers per month by marketing on Pinterest.
In order to reach this goal, at a minimum you’ll need an opt in form, a lead magnet, and consistent content (both long form content and pins). So the first steps toward reaching your goal would be to create the opt in form, create the lead magnet, and create the content you need.
Create deadlines
Set a specific date when you will have each of your action steps completed by, in order to stay on track. Realistically, how much time will it take you to accomplish each task? Calculating this is much easier if you already practice CEO Days, because you already know exactly how many hours of your week you have reserved to work towards each of these action steps.
When you’re setting these deadlines, be sure to take into consideration other ongoing projects, and personal commitments. I find this step is so much easier when you have your calendar (shoutout to Google Calendar for keeping my entire life in order) right beside you.
Assign each action step to the appropriate person
Next, evaluate the skill set needed for each task and decide who on your team is the best fit to accomplish it. After the deadline of each action step, note down which person will be responsible for executing it.
If you’re a solopreneur, you’re probably thinking “well my options are me, myself, and I, so that’s easy” but not so fast, I still want you to take the time to evaluate this. If you’re taking the time to do your quarterly planning, that means you’re on the cusp of growth and expansion and perhaps it’s time to bring in support. Are the tasks that are required for this next quarter things that fall within your area of expertise? If not, consider bringing on a contractor or team member to execute that step for you. Part of being a CEO and effectively managing your time is being able to determine what requires your attention and what should be delegated.
p.s. shameless plug that if anything on your quarterly planning task list is organic marketing or operations related – I can help!
Track progress inside of a project management system
Planning is great and it helps us feel productive, but it’s only truly productive if it’s followed by action. And the reason quarterly planning isn’t effective for a lot of businesses is we sit down at the beginning of the quarter, write all of this out and never look at it again.
So to avoid that, after you’ve determined each of the action steps, their deadline, and who they are assigned to, take the time to enter each of the action steps as a task inside your project management tool. I highly recommend Clickup if you don’t already have a project management tool that you love. Inside of the Momentum Click Up workspace, I have a folder titled “Growth Plan” that contains three lists: “Quarterly Tasks” which is where I enter all of the tasks outlined during quarterly planning, “Recurring Tasks” where I track tasks that happen on a recurring basis, and “Ideas” where I log potential projects/goals that are brought up during quarterly planning but ultimately I decided it wasn’t a top priority for this quarter.
By tracking everything in Click Up I’m able to quickly and easily determine at the start of a new quarter, what was accomplished last quarter and what is most important for the quarter ahead.
A few reminders for your quarterly planning session
- Set boundaries to keep yourself accountable, but stay flexible. Protect your time and attention by setting personal and client boundaries, but remember that part of business is being able to ebb and flow with unexpected changes. Don’t get down on yourself if next quarter things didn’t pan out exactly the way you envisioned.
- Set up systems to save you time. Part of effective planning is determining where you are wasting time, by leveraging SOPs, templates, automations, and sleek systems you’ll have more time to work towards the goals you set during quarterly planning. If you don’t already have systems in place, make them a part of your plan for the next quarter.
- Don’t wait to apply what you learned! You can implement these strategies even if it’s not a new quarter. Whether you did your quarterly planning but got off track or you’re just finding this blog and it’s the middle of a quarter, don’t wait until the next quarter to get back on track – start today!
In case we haven’t met yet, I’m Michaela – content writer, behind the scenes expert, and chaos coordinator (aka the virgo energy to your creative spirit).
And I’m completely obsessed with helping you turn your journal full of ideas into profit driving offers with research backed strategy, magnetic content, and streamlined systems. It’s about time you got the all-inclusive support you deserve – and I’m here to make it happen.
If you liked this post and are craving more, here’s how I can help:
Need help executing all the action steps on your quarterly planning list? Book a VIP Day and let me help.
Sick of spending hours on content creation? Download Overwhelmed to Omnipresent to learn the exact strategy I use to create enough content for 5 platforms in 2 hours a week.
Subscribe to my newsletter. Every Wednesday, I share tips to help you magnetize your dream clients, eliminate distractions, and propel your business forward that you can read in 5 minutes or less.
Download The Blogging Essentials Playbook to get access to the exact tools and templates you need to create top shelf blogs in half the time.
Leave a Reply
content marketing
Case studies
Organization/ productivity
HOW TO
RESERVE list
consider this the
Don't see what you're CRAVING?
© 2021-2024 MOMENTUM VIRTUAL SERVICES | TERMS | PRIVACY POLICY | photos BY FLOURISHING TREE PHOTOGRAPHY x Melissa Douglas photography
© 2021-2023 MOMENTUM VIRTUAL SERVICES
TERMS, PRIVACY POLICY
PHOTOS BY FLOURISHING TREE PHOTOGRAPHY X Melissa Douglas Photography
+ show comments
0
+ add a comment