4 Steps for Planning a Successful 2016

As creative people, it may be daunting to sit down and put pencil to paper to make a plan but it’s crucial to your success. Personally, I LOVE this part of my business. I get fired up every year when I plan out my goals for the coming year.

Think of it this way; the captain of a ship loads up the crew and passengers and sets sail with no map or plan of where to steer the ship. Surely it will capsize if left alone with no guidance.

Notice all the bold words. These words are just as important for your career as it is for the ship.

4 Steps for Planning a Successful 2016

Start with where you are. You have to know where you are in order to know how to get where you want to go. Analyze your business. It’s very important to write everything down. Let’s say your business is art licensing for example: How many licensees do you currently work with? What did you earn in royalties in 2015? How many paintings did you create in 2015? How many markets did you attend?
Now, where do you want to go? This is where you get to dream. These are the goals you want to reach by the end of the year. For example: You want to add 10 new licensees & create 60 new paintings in 2016. You want to launch an e-course that will bring in $50,000, etc. Make these goals obtainable and be specific. Use numbers, don’t just say I want to add more licensees. How many licensees do you want to add?
How am I going to get there? Here’s where the real work comes in. You need figure out what you need to do in order to add 10 new licensees….Sending art submissions? Going to a few gift markets with appointments to show your work? Hitting social media hard in order to get eyes on your art? AND, what about creating and launching your e-course? You need to plan time for research, time for creating the course, time for promoting the course and finally time for launching the course. I recommend getting a large desk size calendar to hang in your workspace or studio and using a pencil to write in the dates you need to have certain goals accomplished. For example: Jan 30- have research done, know what your e-course will be & how you’re going to host it, etc. April 1 – have all videos and handouts created and ready to upload. May 1 – e-course is uploaded & ready to go. June 1 – have all advertising and social media ready for launch. July 1- Launch your e-course.
- Plan each goal out with obtainable, bite size and specific dates.
- Really be honest as far as what is possible here. If you have several projects going at once, you need to plan enough time for each. Be reasonable so you don’t become overwhelmed or discouraged.
Stay the Course. It’s very important that you review your goals often. Take an hour or two every Monday to sit down and look ahead to see what goals are coming up on your large calendar and make sure you are on track to meet those goals. If you start to fall behind, you may have to take a couple nights during the week to work late. If it will keep you on track, it’s better than having to erase and re-plan your goals…this could also become a bad habit, so if at all possible, try your hardest to obtain the goals you have set for yourself.
- When you look ahead at your goals and you see next week you have to meet a specific goal, that will help you to determine what you need to work on immediately. This will help you to plan your daily to-do lists.
- It’s basically reverse engineering. You plan the big goals for the year> break it down in to smaller, obtainable goals throughout the year> break those goals down in to daily actionable tasks.

By the end of 2016, you will have such an amazing sense of accomplishment when you look back over the year and see all of the goals you obtained. You will see a clear difference in the growth of your business. You will have a great jumping off point for the following year as well. The even more amazing part is that this strategic planning session will become a habit that you look forward to every year and will play a huge part in the success of your business.

The time is now to be planning & setting goals for 2016. This is true for every business. You are in control. You are the captain of your ship. Guide your business towards a dreamy destination!!