Build a 30-60-90 day plan

"Reduce your plan to writing.  The moment you complete this, you will have definitely given concrete form to the intangible desire."                                                                ~Napoleon Hill

Quite some time ago, I wrote about how to write a business plan.  This time, I want to touch on a critical part of the Business Plan:  your 30-60-90 day plan.  The basics to writing a business plan can be found in a multitude of places.  Government website, Slideshare, and Google and Slideshare provide you with oodles of samples to get this part of your Business Plan nailed.  If you are planning to launch a start up business, a leadership venture, a new job or a sales territory, you need to map out what you will get done.

Source:  Slideshare

The 30-60-90 day plan takes the time to map out what you plan to tackle first, later, and down the road.  It is a living document that is reviewed constantly, updated continuously and referred to habitually.  

This of it as your first day on the job, in a new role, taking on a project, or a division, or launching a new project of service.  It doesn't magically happen over night.  Your plan allows you to stay on track and disregard activities that can distract you from achieving more in less time.  

It isn't unusual to stumble upon something that you hadn't accounted for that will delay your schedule.  If you assign a time line, you will easily see whether you are on target, falling behind or way behind. 

 Sometimes delays are good. They tell you that your timeline was unrealistic, some tasks took a lot longer than anticipated due to holidays,labor shortages, materials not ordered, policies not factored in, purchasing requirements not met, inventory short falls, delivery channels taking longer or any other roadblocks.

Going through this exercise may mean that there is an important criteria or function that was completely left out.  It could mean you have to scratch out everything you have done/set out to do so far and begin anew.  Don't through out the original one because it may be needed later on or the tasks are more applicable now in this new one.

You're starting to see the picture.  You cannot successfully launch, start, implement, purchase anything if you haven't accounted for requirements necessary to meet your goals.

Slideshare is a great online resource.  It is a subsidy of Linked In.  Although you may pass over it because you think you are a master powerpoint creator, the nuggets there include great templates to follow as you are creating your own.

All you need to start with is a spreadsheet in .xls with three columns:

1. 30 days- what will you accomplish within the first 30 days, factoring in scheduled weekly meetings, holidays
2. 60 days - are the items you will discover while completing the first 30 days.
3. 90 days is the finish line - this may be something you start with and then work backwards.

"A goal properly set is halfway reached."
                                 ~Abraham Lincoln

I'm a fan of starting out with what I want to end up accomplishing.  So you can write your final goal under the 90-day column and then work backwards. 

As you start to find out what will be required, whether it be funds, personnel, budget, activity, training.  It becomes easier to recognize how long it should take you to finish one task.  

When you find out that some tasks are going to take longer, it is simply a matter of moving it from the 30 days to the 60 days, but not without out tracking the tasks or requirements in the first 30 days to get started.

I found this example on Slide Share to give you a head start and emphasize how easy it is to lay it out and then start getting to work.  This roadmap is designed for sales, however, it can be adapted to launch a business, product, sales coverage, distribution channels, etc.

Everyone can promise rainbows and miracles but the true professionals can outline how they are going to get the job down.

This doesn't have to be difficult.  You can start out with one or two bullets on each column.  I promise as you start to work through to the final result:  your goal; you will be adding, removing, postponing and recalculating just about everything when you dig in and work your plan.

"A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.                                                       ~George S. Patton