Before Your Business Plan, a Life Plan

• Print

You're an aspiring entrepreneur, ready to make a break from Cubicle Nation. But if you're already putting together your business plan, you've missed a vital step. As we always say, plan your life, then your business.

Some of the most satisfied and successful entrepreneurs we know created a business that's in perfect sync with what they want from life. Do what you love and you'll work harder, better and happier.

Here we'll tell you how to draw up this important document. It should contain these elements:

1. Your Current Status

Think honestly about where you are right now in your life. Include work, play, relationships, finances—everything and anything that matters to you. Now jot down some simple, succinct bullet points:

• The quality of your life, rated 1 through 100 (top of the scale).

• Your life's realities—available startup funds and expenses, all your personal financial responsibilities, your family's needs, everything.

• What makes you happy.

• What doesn't.

2. Your Ideal Life

This is a snapshot of your ideal life, in another brief bullet list. There's no limit, so don't worry about being bold or even a little grand. Include things like family time, hobbies, charity work, early retirement—anything that gets you really excited.

3. What You Love Doing

Think about the kinds things you love to do, whether at work, home or your local food bank. Put them on a brief list. And don't worry if some themes start to repeat. It means you have clear ideas about what you want in life!

4. What You Do Well

List the skills, abilities, talents and strengths you can use to reach that ideal life. Draw on both your professional and personal lives. All of them may contribute to launching the business that best fits your needs.

5. Your Track Record: What You Do Well

List your proudest achievements, both professional and personal—especially those successes that would be useful in starting and managing your business.

6. Your Ideal Work Style

Whether full- or part-time, at home or on the road, working behind the scenes or interacting with a lot of people—identify your work-style priorities so you can define the best kind of business for you.

Another way to look at it: How much risk are you willing to take? It may be a relatively low-pressure first go at entrepreneurship.

7. Your Manifesto

This is your personal mission, your values, what drives you—all in a one-page statement. Use everything you've learned about yourself in steps 1 through 6, and bring it all together into a clear written declaration of your principles and priorities.

8. An Example: Our Manifesto

Work as Freedom: We think work is about pursuing our dreams, not for some soulless, faceless company, but for ourselves. We're free to choose the kind of business we conduct, how we spend our time and with whom. We're free to set our priorities.

Work as Family: We've tried to create a workplace environment where employees feel like members of an extended family. There's a sense of shared purpose, mutual respect and trust. It's an environment that allows people to have their own part not only in the hard work, but also the benefits.

Work as Fulfillment: We've made it a priority that our work gives us a sense of satisfaction. Every morning, we can't wait to get up, get on the phone, get online and get our team in gear. Nothing turns us on more than transforming a challenge into an opportunity. Over time, we've found that our fulfillment comes as much from trying to reach our goals as actually achieving them.

9. Key Moves to Get You Where You Want to Go

Develop simple, strategic actions to put your Life Plan to work. Now that you've defined where you want to go, your skills and the type of work that suits you best, use the information to draw up an action plan for your ideal life.

Some Last Thoughts on Using Your Life Plan

It's very important to print out your Life Plan and keep it in plain view. You'll find that even if it's just in your peripheral vision, it's a constant reminder of what you want, what's important and what next to do about it.

We've put together a template to get you going—your choice of format:

• Sample Life Plan (PDF)

• Life Plan Template (Word)

Be sure to regularly revisit your Life Plan, measure your success and make adjustments and additions where necessary. Life is a fluid, dynamic, and your Life Plan should be, too!

Most importantly, your Life Plan will position you to do what you love. That always brings out the best in an entrepreneur.

By: Rich and Jeff Sloan