Developing a Business Growth Plan for Writers

by Susan U. Neal RN, MBA, MHS @SusanNealYoga

Your business’s growth plan outlines where you want your company to grow in the next few years. Growing your business, whether through increased book sales or additional publications, is a way to increase revenue. What goals do you have for growth, and how do you plan to get there? Those are the questions. By the end of this five-step process, you should have a clear idea of what goals you want your business to achieve this year. Visually documenting the plan to achieve your business goals will provide a concise growth strategy that is easy-to-follow.

A business growth plan should be both realistic and ambitious. Last year, to increase my book sales, I wanted to be a guest on as many podcasts as possible. In eight months, I was interviewed on twenty-nine podcasts and ultimately won first place in the Christian Author Network Crown Award for Outstanding Broadcast Media. What strategies have you employed to help more readers find the value of your books?

Vision/Mission

Have you defined your business’s vision and mission? That is the place to start when developing your company’s growth plan. A vision is a measurable description of where you want your company to go. Christian Indie Publishing Association’s (CIPA) vision statement is “To become the premier Christian small publishing and indie author association. To be known for its value, discounts, and training.”

Next, you should develop your company’s mission statement. The mission statement should answer the question, why does your company exist? A clear and concise statement about your company’s value will bring clarity to all who read it. CIPA’s mission statement is “Equip Christian small publishers and indie authors with tools, resources, and discounts to sell more books. Help authors get their God-given message into the hands of more readers.”

Goals and Strategies

Goals measure the success of your organization’s performance. They include employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and profit. Define what you will measure. Do you want to measure customer satisfaction? I do. That is why I conducted a 2020 CIPA Member Satisfaction Survey. One of CIPA’s objectives is to obtain 80 percent member satisfaction on the annual survey. 

The next step is to define your company’s strategies. Strategies are the tasks your company will perform. Identify five to ten of the most critical issues. Define the major categories of work to be completed—your strategies—and who will do what by when. For example, to increase book sales, you could do a blog or podcast tour. Whatever tour you decide will become the strategy you employ to grow your book sales. When defining your strategies, start with a goal and end with an action to attain that goal. 

Priorities

Once you figure out your strategies, it is time to prioritize. What project should you accomplish first? Or what must you complete each month? Priorities may include problems to solve, goals to achieve, and capacities to develop. Your priorities should be measurable. For example, one of CIPA’s strategies is writing, publishing, and emailing a highly effective CIPA monthly newsletter to members by the first Tuesday of every month. When prioritizing, set priorities to be accomplished in the next thirty to ninety days.

Action steps are one of the most critical phases of developing your growth plan. Define the next step to getting the task performed. If your strategy is a blog tour, you would need to email bloggers to determine which one you will send a guest post to. 

After you created your business’s vision, mission, objectives, strategies, and priorities, document your plan on one to three pages. This simple document will help you stay focused on what is essential to your growth. It is easy to become busy and lose focus of your ultimate priorities. If you have employees, reviewing your company’s plan with them will get all of you on the same page. 

At the end of the year, review the plan, and celebrate the progress your company attained. Evaluate your plan to ensure your company is not moving in a different direction. If it is, update your business plan. 

If you would like to create a growth plan for your company, follow these five steps:

1. Determine your company’s vision—visualize what’s possible for your business. Where do you want to go? A vision should inspire you and your employees.

2. Create a clear and concise mission statement based upon the value your company provides or wants to provide. 

3. Define the measurable objectives or goals for your business.

4. Choose which strategies your company will perform.

5. Set your priorities by determining which tasks are most important.

Growth is a lengthy process, and it requires that you stay focused on what is most important to your company. A well thought out growth strategy will help you succeed. 

If you would like to learn more about developing a business plan, check out The 1 Hour Plan for Growth by Joe Calhoon.

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Susan U. Neal, RN, MBA, MHS

Susan’s mission is to improve the health of the body of Christ. She has her RN and MBA degrees, as well as a master’s in health science. She is a CERTIFIED HEALTH AND WELLNESS COACHwith the American Association of Christian Counselors. She published five books, the Selah award winner 7 STEPS TO GET OFF SUGAR AND CARBOHYDRATES, CHRISTIAN STUDY GUIDE FOR 7 STEPS TO GET OFF SUGAR AND CARBOHYDRATES, HEALTHY LIVING JOURNAL, SCRIPTURE YOGAa #1 Amazon best-selling yoga book, and YOGA FOR BEGINNERS which ranked #3. She published two sets of Christian Yoga Card Decks and two Christian Yoga DVDs that are available at CHRISTINAYOGA.COM. Her digital product HOW TO PREVENT, IMPROVE, AND REVERSE ALZHEIMER’S AND DEMENTIA is a great resource. To learn more about Susan visit her website SUSANUNEAL.COMYou can also connect with Susan on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, and INSTAGRAM.