Make sure you plan for “Life!”
Plan for the trials and tribulations of the people you surround yourself with; otherwise, you and your business [plan] development will suffer for it.
This isn’t a fun [Milton Bradley] game, it’s “real-life business.” One of the most important evaluations, including your own personal life’s assessment of “what it takes” to launch a business (and co-exist with “your” life’s ability and support mechanism), is the reality of how Life intersects with the teams you have assembled. Just like the way you would outline your personal life’s assessment (regarding your personal [life’s] ability to coincide with the development of your new professional [life’s] business), you would outline your business life plan—take into consideration that each and every team member will have one or more life instances which takes them away from the work they would be developing to launch your brand.
Plan for Life in business.
Situations in life arise daily, and you need to calmly evaluate how to solve issues when life’s surprises pop up; therefore, stay calm, and plan.
Life issues with The JNP Team Members (these are real life situations which have happened with our teams):
– pass away; die
– require brain surgery; recover process
– end-of-life-care for a loved one; limited time availability
– pregnancy; schedule shortened unexpectedly
– residence relocation; unforeseen schedule delays
– illnesses; real-time call outs
– projects reassigned; skill-sets strengths refocused
Even though everyone on this project is dedicated to the Mission and contributes 100% effort, Life creeps up on all of us, and assignments shift when life’s priority takes a shift. Life’s surprises are out of my control and unplanned; yet, knowing and understanding that big bumps in the road are down the path somewhere, will engage you to think about how to plan for an apple-cart upset when the wheel breaks.
Prepare:
• widen your network to “throw out your net” for help
• have multiple people in-line for each of the core positions
• schedule out all projects allowing a “bumper” of time
• enable yourself to “step-in” to fill positions that need immediate attention
• stay calm and keep focused on the target objectives—don’t let yourself get sidetracked—get the work completed
Think this through:
In the article “What’s a Life Plan and Why Do You Need One?,” 1 Shel Horowitz writes: Creating a life plan has four parts: self assessment, values-based definition of success, key challenges to address, and applying these three criteria to any major life or career decision; and consists of a series of eight challenges:
- Credibility
- Determining your future
- Taking ownership of your life and career
- Professional development
- Managing wealth and power
- Applying social intelligence (which is related both to others’ perception of you and your own character—and which, he feels, colleges often fails to cultivate)
- Your marketability in your career
- How to get objective feedback and support (not always the same thing)
Very good advice (read the linked article for details).
Bottom line: planning around LIFE—rather than barreling through it—makes for a savvy businessperson, which in turn, delivers [your preconceived] exceptionally, planned out, business development process. Plan. Plan. Plan.
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Note: This Blog is a chronological diary of a start-up-company—The JNP Project’s Journey—reading it from the start, will broaden your understanding of the path we are on, together, and hopefully, positively influence you in some way!
FYI Tip: Make sure YOUR LIFE and it’s responsibilities, and presumed future obstacles, are stable enough for your business ‘dreams.’ Plan before you start. This article spells it out quite well:
http://www.womenpoweringbusiness.com/aspiring-entrepreneurs-make-a-life-plan-before-you-get-a-business-plan/
1 http://www.umass.edu/fambiz/articles/values_culture/whats_a_life_plan.html
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