A business owner wants to move from having provided themselves with a job – albeit a good one – to owning a business that can function in their absence. The 9-Step Masterplan is about your freedom and your choices, running your business in a way that fulfils you.
But the Masterplan is also about working on your T.E.R.M.S. – whether you wish to remain working in it or not. And this requires a process.
You’re familiar with my theory of making a step change in your business, and that how to achieve that takes a step change in the way you view your business and your role within it. The Masterplan aligns with my theory, and works on three levels…
Three Levels of business mastery
Within the overarching Masterplan there are three levels of business mastery. Each level contains three steps.
The Entrepreneurs Circle teaches that each step is vital on your journey to business mastery, if you skip a step you may become distracted, or discover that the step change is too great and that’s where your inner saboteur can appear…
The Foundation Level
Level one – The Foundation Level consists of three steps that you can probably anticipate and helps you clarify what you want from your business, what level of profit you’ll need to define success and the strategy to get you there:
- Your life plan: The why – What lifestyle do you strive for? What’s your end goal, that shiny vision of success and happiness? In this step we’ll also figure out what your T.E.R.M.S are – how much you are willing to put in and whether that aligns with your end goal…
- Know and plot your numbers: The what – Your accounts and bookkeeping will help you here. We’ll look at where your business is right now and where you want to get it to and define the seven numbers that are key to helping you deliver on the terms for your life plan. This step considers your ‘Money Now’ and ‘Money Future’.
- Your path: The how – By now you’re familiar with the business model canvas which describes the rationale of how an organisation creates, delivers and captures value. Working from this we put together a strategy for how you can achieve the business you desire and deserve.
The Execution Level
Once you have clarity on your foundations, we move to Level two which consists of action points and referring to the business Model Canvas to identify and prioritise the deliverance of value, whilst ensuring your processes and team are capable and aligned.
- Your team – Achieving the goals you set out in the foundation level depends on having the proper resources, and that means people on your side. Everyone needs to be pushing in the same direction as you with an aligned goal. Does everyone know their responsibilities? Is the environment conducive to productivity? What is 100%? What is the association between Skill and Will?
- The rhythmic acquisition of customers – This tackles your marketing strategy and high pay off activities, your customers’ journey from need to purchase and defining how you add value.
- The delivery of excellence – What is the process on onboarding a new customer? How do you convert them from a one-off purchaser to an advocate who talks about you with their friends and business connections? What is operational excellence in your business?
The Optimisation Level
The third and final level within the 9-Step Masterplan for business optimisation is focused on monitoring the routines within your business so you know what’s going on and where it is on the journey to success, but releases you from the day to day work…
- Your day to day – Let’s get you out of working IN your business and get you working ON your business. Systems and process, delegation and outsourcing all play a big role in the step. We’ll look at measuring the effectiveness of these tactics and see how they can be improved.
- Leverage your business – All business owners recognise that there are areas within their structure or processes that are weaker than others. These create leaks in your bucket, so we need to create plugs to fill those holes.
- Don’t work Fridays – You’ve made it! You’ve got the business you deserve, and you can step away from it confidently knowing that it will continue to be profitable in your absence. Now what? Your exit strategy is coming to fruition, so let’s talk about whether you plan to stick around, retire, sell up or invest in it further.
This article has given you a very top line overview of how the Entrepreneurs Circle 9-Step Masterplan works. The full title of the book this has been taken from is in fact ‘Your Million Pound Masterplan – The 9 Steps to Get Your Business to Seven Figures on Your T.E.R.M.S’. If the content is used properly and followed in the right order it is a powerful tool for achieving your life goals.
In future articles I’ll be taking you through the levels in slightly greater detail, but in the meantime, if you’ve read something today that has sparked an idea, or raised any questions, I’d love to talk to you about it.
No obligation, no catch and certainly no hooks into a complicated marketing machine! Just you and me discussing how you can use these tools to grow your business and escape mediocracy to live life on your T.E.R.M.S. Let’s have a conversation.