Professional Development Plan

February 16th, 2012 by admin No comments »

Professional development plan should be part of every person’s business or personal action plan in the quest to reach that next success step. With the current year quickly coming to an end, now is the time for reflection to answer these questions:

  • What goals did I achieve?
  • What goals do I have yet to realize?
  • Where did I expand my energy?
  • Where did I waste my energy?
  • How much further evolved am I 365 days later?

To answer the last question, I looked back at 2006 and counted the hours that I had personally invested in my own self-development. The answer was over 300 professional development hours or less than one hour per day. This well invested time has helped me to evolve from a good performance improvement consultant, executive and corporate coach to a better one who realizes that I need to continually evolve if I am truly committed to delivering the best solutions to my clients. And what is even more important, my state of evolving has resulted in my own personal growth and awareness.

As I contemplated this last year as well as previous years, I can truly say that my own self-directed professional development has been a continuum of evolving. I have been fortunate to interact with a variety of individuals who have willingly shared their experiences and allowed me to share mine. These interactions range from one on coaching sessions to tele-conferencing mastermind groups to attending formal conferences. And, one of the additional benefits is the development of new strategic alliances from coast to coast.

Currently, I am revisiting my 2007 strategic business plan and personal action plan. Professional development goals in 2007 will include over at least 365 hours or at least one hour per day. » Read more: Professional Development Plan

How You Can Make Good Business Strategy Development

February 15th, 2012 by admin No comments »

Every business should have a solid strategy in place to help them develop in the future. If a business was to move forward on a day to day basis with no firm plans for the future, it would be at the mercy of its customers and the economy, with no firm control over its own destiny. Clearly there is a need for a good business development strategy if you want to make the most of growing your business for the future. But how do you go about creating one? First, it will help to jot down some ideas for developing your business. Are there aspects of it that you have not yet fully explored?

How could you enhance the services you offer now in order to make more sales? Some typical strategies which could be used include focusing more on your existing customers. You could find ways to connect with them more often, perhaps by sending email newsletters to keep them up to date with your latest offerings A good strategy here would be to send monthly newsletters to do just that. An effective business development strategy begins by identifying a need that is present in your business. You then develop a plan to meet that need.

Another example concerns the need to find more new customers instead of simply relying on the ones your business currently has. A strategy to meet that need could be to increase the amount of advertising your business creates.
It is important not to treat this as a one off exercise however. Businesses and the markets in which they operate are constantly changing. This means that what could begin as a worthwhile strategy may need adjusting over time. Constant monitoring is another important part of ensuring the business development strategy you come up with is continually successful.

If you are not achieving the results you want, evaluate the situation and ask yourself why. Is there anything else you could or should be doing? Are you aiming at the wrong audience? Have you achieved the maximum growth you can expect in that area? How a business consultant can help… Some businesses take on the services of a consulting firm to help them in this respect. Consulting is a good idea as it enlists the help of an expert who is an outsider to your business. » Read more: How You Can Make Good Business Strategy Development