4 Step Plan Every Entrepreneur Must Follow

There is a lot of flexibility in being an entrepreneur. That’s part of the thrill! But, there is one fact that every entrepreneur must live by. That is that Every Entrepreneur must have a plan!

Let me share with you a very simple method that will help you design, implement and stick with your plan.

I call this method the DNA of business. I call it that because this should be the core of every business you run and venture your pursue. I use this method to execute for my overall business plan, but also for specific projects to measure their effectiveness.

There are 4 simple steps:

1. Define Why – Why are you in business? What is your dream, vision, purpose, & mission? Why are you selling your product or providing your service? Why are you attempting this project?
2. Understanding What – This is where you will better understand your performance expectations. You will need to define your behaviors & start understanding their results. What do you hope to accomplish? What does success look like?
3. How is it measured – I find that entrepreneurs generally are very poor at this step. They have tons of ideas to try, but often do not do enough measure their success. To be successful, you must be able to accurately measure something’s effectiveness. In this step, define how you will know if you are successful or unsuccessful? What specific things can you measure to ensure that you are succeed and providing your why?
4. So What? – This is simply 2 if/then statements. If I am doing well, then what? If I am not doing well, then what? In other words, how will I adjust what I am doing?

Let’s give this a trial run to better prove my point. Let’s say you find a new product you’d like to promote & sell. Here is how I’d follow these steps to prepare me in promoting this product.

Project: Quickly & Rapidly Grow Twitter Followers
Product: Twitter Traffic Machine (This is an actual product I suggest trying. Click here for more info)
Plan of action: Send the affiliate link to follow Tweeters who follow me. Add link to my website. Send mass email to email list

1. Define Why – I am doing this 1) Give value to others by teaching them a valuable tool. 2) Generate another stream of income. 3) Grow my twitter list.
2. Understanding what – I hope to double my Twitter followers in 30 days and generate $500 in affiliate money through this program.
3. How is it measured – I have 1,620 Twitter followers today. My goal is to have 3,240 by May 24, 2009. This will be measures by Twitter & Twitter Counter. Affiliate income will be tracked through my affiliate website.
4. So What? – If I meet both of these goals, then I will continue this program. If I exceed these goals by 25%, then I will increase my marketing of this. If I miss these goals by 25%, then I will discontinue this program.

It’s as easy as that! That plan took me about 5 minutes to write. But now I know why I want to attempt this new project. What I am going to do. How I will measure it. And what I will do based on those results.

Easy! Now try it! You’ll be glad you did.

As always, I welcome your comments and questions. Please try this and tell me how it works for you.