As an entrepreneur, I get a lot of questions about how to build a business but one of the most commonly asked questions is about creating an action plan for your business.

And I just love talking about this because I think it is something we all struggle with. No matter how many times I chat with other entrepreneurs about action plans and staying accountable, I always walk away with new ideas on how to be better at it myself. 

Now, I have been an entrepreneur for over 20 years now so I can promise you that I have struggled with taking action and staying accountable a time or two, but I have also learned some tricks for being pretty good at it as well, and that’s exactly what I want to share with you today. 

All you need to work through are 6 simple steps. 

6 STEPS TO CREATING AN ACTION PLAN FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Step 1: Define your end goal.

When everything is said and done and you have accomplished all that you can, what do you want your life or business to look like? It may seem silly to think about what you want to see happen in the next twenty-thirty years, but you have to keep the end in mind to help keep pushing you forward. 

Step 2: List down the steps to be followed.

What steps need to be taken in order to achieve your end goal? Let’s say your end goal for your business is to own and operate a brick and mortar store. What things need to happen before you can get to that point?

If this were my end goal, I would first want to build a local customer base that could sustain the need for a physical store. In order to do that, maybe you work to up your social media presence. Or you host events in your community. Or sell your products at local markets and events. All of these things needs to be written down and completed in order to create a presence for yourself and your business. Once those steps are achieved, what comes next?

Step 3: Prioritize tasks and add deadlines.

Decide what steps you identified in Step 2 are most important today and give them a deadline. A plan without a deadline is simply a dream. Turn it into an action by setting a date on the calendar for when you want to complete that step. 

It’s not enough to say you want to grow your social media following. That sounds like a nice way to grow your business. But it’s never going to motivate you to do the work. Instead what you need to say is, “I want to gain 1,000 followers by the end of this month.” Then you can create a plan for how you will go about doing that with the timeframe you have. This creates urgency and urgency encourages action. 

KEEP READING, YOU’RE HALFWAY THERE!

Step 4: Set milestones.

If we’re using the example of gaining 1,000 followers by the end of the month, you also want to set up milestones along the way. A month is a really long time. It’s easy to get distracted.

To make sure this doesn’t happen, you have to break that down into even smaller chunks and set milestones. Maybe you’ll try to gain 250 followers every week, or maybe you need to break down your milestones even smaller and set a goal for each day. Whatever works best for you, follow that structure! Just be sure you don’t bite off more than you can chew. Setting up milestones for yourself will make sure that doesn’t happen! 

Step 5: Identify the resources needed. 

With each line item on your list, you’ll want to identify any resources needed to help you achieve this goal. If you’re trying to grow your social media following, maybe you need to rely on partnering with other friends to offer a giveaway. Or maybe you’ll collaborate on a project with a fellow follower. That would be considered a resource. Anything you need in order to help you achieve a task or goal can be written down as a resource. 

Step 6: Monitor, evaluate and update.

You want to constantly check in with your action plan to monitor and evaluate your success and make changes as needed. Your business plan is not concrete. It will forever change due to things out of your control or simply because you’ve changed. For this reason, you have to be checking in with your plan of action often so that you can update and pivot when needed. 

I suggest checking in and taking inventory at the end of every month. This creates a large enough span of time to allow something to work. But not too much time that you’re wasting your efforts. Put it on your calendar at the end of every month to meet with yourself or your team (if you have one) to evaluate your plan and make changes as needed! 

Pro tip: Write your list in pencil. This gives you the permission you may be seeking to erase something that isn’t working to add in something different.

If you want to remain accountable and show up each and every day, you have to be creating an action plan for your business. If you follow these 6 simple steps, you’ll have a complete plan written out for the life of your business. Of course, that will change over time. But having the leg work mapped out helps you know where to show up and how to do work that is meaningful for your business.

Will you take the time to create and action plan for yourself today?