Wow. Time sure does fly when you’re having fun, or when you’re busy. Or both? Week 2 of the Location Independent 12 Week Challenge has come and gone and as advertised, it has kicked my butt into gear and got me doing more work toward getting my new business up off the ground.Week 1 of the Challenge was easy. It was basically coming up with some sort of idea for a business and products you could create a business around. After travelling in Australia this past summer, it became clear that I had a lot of ideas about things I could do to help improve peoples lives. My main goal to improve my life but in doing so I would help everyone that felt the same way.During my travels I wrote down everything I could about ideas for articles, businesses, websites and products. I didn’t want to waste a single idea. And while I could never implement every single one of these ideas in a timely fashion, they provide the base for most of my ideas that have grown into websites and products that are on the way. Recording all these ideas allows them to simmer and grow while you experience life. Some of them will fall behind and never be touched again. Others will grow and eventually become entire businesses. I highly recommend recording every idea that comes floating by that you like. Who knows what will happen with it.Week 2 of the Challenge has been a bit more difficult and I’m actually still working on it.
On to the OGSM!
What? Wait, what’s an OGSM?I had no idea what an OGSM was before today but now I know. It’s basically a very simple, high level business plan that will help you keep the direction of your business true to what you started with. I know well with projects, websites and I’m assuming businesses, as things get going it’s tough to not veer off in the direction of greener pastures and easy work. Yes, this may be a nice way to get things moving in the short term, it sacrifices the goals and mission of the idea that you started with. Every mission that is important enough to be worked on demands a periodic re-evaluation but to change your direction because the work is hard demands a different evaluation. Are you up for it? Do you really want to do this? Why are you doing this?Until now I’ve had pieces of an idea for what my business is going to encompass. I’ve also read a few articles and books on putting together a business plan and why you should. That said, I’ve never sat down and asked myself those tough questions. What is the mission is for my business? What are my ultimate goals? What are the strategies for completing those goals? And how will I measure things so I know when I’ve reached those goals.
The Questions
To fill out the OGSM(try and keep it high level and limit to one page), and answer the questions that will keep your business on track.Lea does a fantastic job of explaining the OGSM and the process in the Challenge Week 2 Video. Here’s a distilled version.Your Objective: What’s your ultimate goal for your project/business?Your Goals: What are the specific, detailed goals for achieving the above mission(numbers, markets, audiences, distribution methods)?Your Strategies: What exactly are you going to do to achieve these goals? (Think about how and where as well)Your Measures: You need to know when you achieve your goals. What and how are you going to measure things to know when you have reached them?Now is where you see if you have the motivation and the creativity to move to the next step in creating a business. It’s easy and fun to get caught up in the details and not think about the big picture. What are you planning to do next year with your business? I really have no idea but with the plan I’ve just created with the OGSM, I have a compass that will point me in the direction of the next product or website I’ll be creating. As Lea says in the video, once you have a plan like this every single decision you make for your business will come back to the goals and mission you’ve set out initially. You’ll never have to worry about wandering off course if you consistently follow your mission. Good luck to all the 12 Week Challenge competitors. I’m very excited for the weeks to come.