As a Divorce With Dignity Provider, there are many different steps you can take to secure your success within the divorce market. For example, you could focus on building a strong relationship with your clients, which will enhance the likelihood of you receiving positive feedback and future referrals. However, you should also ensure that you have a strong business plan in place from the word go.
To put it simply, a business plan is the backbone of your business. It provides you with a framework to base your daily operations around while pinpointing the steps you need to take to grow your brand and increase your earnings. Ideally, this plan should include:
- A Mission Statement.
- Business goals/objectives.
- Market research.
- Financial plans.
- Marketing strategies.
- Risk assessments.
However, one of the biggest mistakes that business owners make is believing that their business plan is set in stone – when this isn’t the case. As your business grows and develops, your plan must develop alongside it to facilitate further growth and expansion. For example, if your initial goal is to support 20 clients through the divorce process – you’ll need to update this once this milestone has been achieved.
As a result, we’d recommend that you review (and renew) your business plan annually. This gives you ample opportunity to adapt to any recent changes in the market and ensure that you stay ahead of all trends. September is the perfect time to complete this task, as studies suggest we are at our most productive during the autumn period.
With that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about Annual Business Plans!
Why are business plans important?
As mentioned previously, business plans are essential as they help you to organize and structure your daily operations. This means that they can help ensure you stay on track and continue working towards your goals, even during quieter periods. They also provide you with the tools and insights you need to grow your business. Furthermore, when things go wrong, you can consult your business plan to figure out how to resolve the issue quickly instead of letting it spiral out of control.
How do I get started with a business plan?
If you’ve never used a business plan before, it can be hard to know exactly where to start. However, as a Divorce With Dignity Provider, you’ll receive access to a range of training opportunities and programs that talk you through the process, ensuring that you put the best foot forward when launching your own business.
How do I actually update my business plan?
When updating (or curating) your business plan, you should begin by assessing how successful your previous plan has been. For example, take a look at the goals you set yourself last year. How likely are you to achieve these goals before the year-end? If the goals are in sight, it’s clear that the business plan has served its purpose. This means you will only need to carry out minor changes.
However, if the goals still feel out of reach, you may need to do reshuffling. You can update your business plan by:
- Figuring out why you have not achieved your goals. For example, if you are struggling to build up a client base, do you need to work on your online presence so that it’s easier for clients to find you? or, do you need to allocate more funds to advertising your services?
- Putting together a short paragraph that details precisely what you want to achieve in the next year. This can relate to company growth, earnings, or brand development. This will help you figure out exactly what you need to include in your plan moving forward and can also be a useful document to share with employees or potential investors.
- Being realistic when it comes to setting yourself new goals, especially those that relate to finances. For example, while you may wish for your earnings to increase significantly – you need to ensure that the goals you set yourself are within the realm of possibility.
- Incorporating market trends into your business plan. For example, with many experts predicting that divorces will rise post-pandemic, you may want to plan for an increase in clients. By planning ahead for this eventuality, you will not be taken by surprise and will have the resources on hand to deal with a higher number of customers, meaning you won’t have to turn anyone away or sacrifice the quality of your services.
Once you have updated your business plan, it’s time to put it to the test. Begin by sharing any important changes with members of your team so that they can be implemented quickly and efficiently. However, it’s also crucial that you never forget about your business plan once you’ve finished updating it. This is not a document you should view once a year, but at least once each month. Whenever you are in doubt about your next step, refer back to your plan to get back on track.
