State of Your Business

Last week, President Obama filled us in on the State of the Union.  What's going well, where we need to improve, and his plan for action in the next year were all part of that speech.   Countries, states, and even businesses can all benefit from taking an annual look at the big picture.

This week consider the state of your business, write down your thoughts, plan new action, and make a public address by sharing it with colleagues and key contacts.  You extra-effort people can put on a suit and even give the address by video.  Might be hard to get "Hail to the Chief" ratings, but you never know.  Here's a few questions to get you started:

• What did you do well in the past year?  Be specific.
• If your sales results continue on their current path, what will result for you this year? 
• What is the condition of your prospecting? presentations? transaction checklists? 
• What are three areas that could most improve your efforts? 
• What would you like to improve with education? 
• What do the past year of expenses indicate?  What's the budget focus and detail for the upcoming year?  Where do you need to invest? 
• What is your vision of success? What will take you to make significant progress this year? How will you know you are successful? 

I would love to read or see the message you create.  Most importantly, let it inspire you to achieve new heights.  My fellow Americans, let's see what we can do.