Just like planning for a voyage, business owners and professionals need to evaluate if what they are currently doing is going to carry them forward to their next destination. If not, they must find the tools and resources they need. That process of assessing and refreshing is vital if a business is going to make it through the stages of growth that success triggers.



I was reminded of that as I prepared for a six-week trip, with visits planned in more than 18 cities. I had to figure out what information I wanted to know ahead of time and what I could pick up along the way. The same went for clothing, supplies, and contact information.

I knew I'd be carrying my luggage through airports, train stations, ports, and metros. I hoped to not waste my time in each city looking for the tour books I'd want to refer to along the way. And there were clothes I'd need for the climate I was visiting that I don't normally wear at home. Even so, I needed to keep expenses down and the exchange rates would make it more costly to buy what I needed overseas.

So I bought new books and clothes at home. Then I worked to get the weight down. I went through the books and stripped out what I didn't want to carry on this particular trip. The pages I didn't need I put in my trip files. And as I traveled I kept tossing the ones I had with me, saving only unique pages like the addresses of the gourmet desert shops in Barcelona so I could give it to others who'd be interested.

Along the way I shipped home a box with nearly 12 pounds of paper - postcards, museum books, maps from the first half of my trip. I wanted them, but I wouldn't be using them and so I sure didn't need to be carrying them the following 3 weeks!

So it is with business tools. When you consider what you need for your business, the process is the same:

1 - Decide what you need next

What skills, tools, resources or 'know how' are needed to guide your business through its next stage? I don't just mean technical knowledge. As you take your organization on its steps of growth, there may be management systems you need to take on to boost your own productivity and to ensure that everyone in your organization is focusing on high payoff activities.

2 - Evaluate what you have already, and what you need to add

Most often what's required is more information, a new way of handling it and of making decisions. You need to identify what you need to add so that you figure out the timing and budgets for adding them, and so that you commit to getting the tools you need.

3 - Decide what you'll leave behind

Much of our behavior in business and in our travels is based on habits. One of the most important decisions you need to make is what you'll stop using, what behaviors and systems you'll 'retire' to make room for the new ones that will help you create the new results you are intentind to create.

4 - List what you want to buy along the way

There may be courses to take, staff to hire, or systems to install. Needing them doesn't mean you'll install them all immediately. However, putting them on your action plan will ensure that your keep them in your attention and follow through in picking them up.

5 - Give it a test

As you prepare for the next step in your business journey, pack your bags with the knowledge, experience, and expertise you've got on hand and the new ones too. Take it all for a test drive! Take it on a trip! Apply it to a new project and TEST it.

I wish I could have tested my luggage before leaving town. The true test came on the road. I carried three different skirts that each were worn only once in six weeks. I could have sent them home in week two and relieved my mind and muscles from taking care of them... and had room to buy a new jacket to use on the journey and bring home to keep wearing.

Most entrepreneurs start with a passion and a vision and a fierce commitment to their idea. From that starting point, their results are built upon their gathering the resources they need as they proceed. That includes not only money and technical resources, but also relationships and 'know how' as well. They need to constantly assess what really is needed, right here and right now, in order to move their business forward.

Give your self and your team the challenge of evaluating the luggage you're using today and testing your new ideas, skills and systems for the best fit to carry you forward.

Copyright (c) 2008 Linda Feinholz