January is an important for every successful, growing business. As every runner knows, the start and finish of the race are critical to winning.

Ideally, the annual planning process starts in mid-October, and is complete by December 20^th, just before the holidays. That’s the best time to do it…The second best time is right now! Don’t just muddle your way through another year without a documented plan in place. As I’ve said before, failing to plan is planning to fail. Don’t start your journey with a dirty windshield and no road map!

“The reality is, that face-to-face interaction builds trust and allows everyone to better understand how each individual is wired”...Businessweek magazine

People do business with People. Technological tools like phone, email, voicemail, instant messaging, texting, conference calls, etc. are effective and, in fact, indispensable in the Digital Age.

These tips will help you place for your next meeting and help make your meeting as productive as possible.

A football coach wouldn’t dare walk onto the field at the Superbowl without a detailed gameplan. A General would never commit his troops to combat without a well thought-out battle plan.

So why do so many small business owners operate day to day without  short and long term business plans? More often than not, when I request planning documents from business owners, they smile and point to their heads…”It’s all up here”, they answer.

I have been a management consultant for over ten years. My specialty is top line Growth.

At some point, most of my engagements involve the use of cross-functional teams from within the company, firm or organization.