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Your 2010 plan matters, perhaps more than you think it does. Marketing, sales, product offerings, expansions of managed services-everything you do must come together in a comprehendible value proposition that sales people, and consultants, understand and can explain. While our media continues to talk about recovery, it seems evident that, small and large companies alike are not ready to spend. What constitutes a great plan?

• Your vision: A company without a vision will not flourish. A company with an esoteric statement of vision is no better. Set your sites on where you’re headed and what you want to be; then start planning. Some ideas might include becoming more consultative and less of a vendor, or becoming known as a managed service provider to build recurring revenue. Perhaps you envision your company working more closely with executives, delivering sound direction on the use of technology to improve their business. This would mean less time spent presenting product demos at the IT level where you don't deal with the decision-makers.

• Your goals: Having no goals creates an unfocused team that wanders in various directions. Targets that can’t be measured aren’t much better. Goals are objectives that require your team to work together, in order to achieve your vision. Perhaps you have a goal of adding a certain number of clients to managed service contracts, or making a certain percentage of your business recurring revenue. These are goals that let you know when you’ve reached them. Plan to have five to seven major objectives for the coming year.

• Your economic engine: Part of Jim Collins’ description of the hedgehog reveals that your company will grow much faster when you begin to understand what creates leverage. For example, Mr. Collins talks about Walgreens working to have profitable cities rather than stores. Someone figured out that taking a city was more important than a street corner or strip mall. Therefore, every store does not need to be profitable; it is the city that matters. What’s your economic engine? It may be tied to dollars of recurring revenue per client or something else you may not have discovered. Figure this out and you’ll beat the economy.

• Strategy: Strategy comes in many forms: sales strategy, marketing strategy, solution strategy, etc. Building each one with your vision in mind is a critical part of your 2010 success. Where is the market going and where will you be profitable? For instance, look at your target prospect, then look at your marketing communication and its content, delivery, etc. What do you find? If you’re expecting business owners to read your newsletter, it had better be excellent. There are too many newsletters out there and not enough good ones.

Plan for 2010 – the economy isn’t as great as some people predicted, so rather than just letting providence take its course, here are a few things to consider:

• Do you plan your day, every day, or just dive in?
• Do you reflect on what’s going well and where to improve on a regular basis?
• Brain health is greatly affected by lack of sleep, too much caffeine, unmanaged stress, and fatty foods. Are you doing all you can to stay sharp?
• Are you balancing home life and demands with work? An unhappy home life leads to failure in the work place.
• Are you using down time to rejuvenate, or falling into the "party trap"?
• Are you taking on more debt in a down economy? Debt leads to short-term happiness but also long-term stress and excess risk.
• Are you carrying around feelings of bitterness? Bitterness is a primary cause of health failure – forgive people and move on.

Why do I still use a paper planner? I get asked this all the time. While meeting with a business owner a couple of years ago, he raised this question. I opened my planner and requested he check on ten dates within a 90 second time slot. There was no keeping up – I was way ahead with my "month at a glance" paper calendar. But that’s not the only reason I utilize this seemingly antiquated method. Planners are white spaces for thinking and reflecting. Looking over your month, while waiting for a meeting, is prudent. You can see where you’ve been, where you’re going, make notes, read past notes, and reflect on the big picture. Try doing this with your iPhone. I love gadgets, but sometimes they just get in the way of productivity.

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