How to prepare for 2013

The final pieces are being put into place for a period of major change in Europe that will have a knock-on effect throughout the world.

Our politicians for the most part have more than enough personal wealth and dangerous amounts of self interest to make what they say and do on our behalf extremely counterproductive, and the so called experts and commentators have to keep a keen eye on their profiles and standing in the media and sell the news, rather than give us useful information.

In short – we are in a bit of a pickle.

Will there be a pot of gold at the end of rainbow in 2013?

So what am I doing and what do I recommend you do over the next few months?

I can provide all sorts of checklist and models to help you, I can point you in the direction of useful reference material, but what I’m  going to ask you to consider is what I’ve been working towards over the last month or so – and which has started to bear fruit.

It’s a change of mindset – I challenge you to the 20 20 20 plan.

That’s a 20% reduction in your operating costs, a 20% increase in the value you provide whether it be products or service, and a 20% increase in turnover. So I’m reducing my cost base by 20% – for me it’s cutting back on certain planned expenditure and reducing my interim dividends. I’m then giving clients more work for the same fee, and making a targeted effort to find new clients.

I will be able to check on my progress as I have a base point from which I’ve started this approach – and it really works, so far I have made 2 decisions that have reduced costs, found a new client, who was happy to pay my fee as he felt he was getting great value.

Yes I know this plan might not grow my business as fast as in the past – but business is going to be very very thin over the next 24 months, and I intend to have a proposition and solid structure that can exceed expectations.

What are you going to do?

You have to have an all embracing set of protocols from which your activity derives its focus. I ask myself does an activity I’m doing fit into the 20-20-20 plan- if it does great, if it doesn’t then I have a choice to stop and change or just carry on deluding myself