What you want to do to help you move forward is to:

Plan and prioritize. If majority of your day is spent with your customers, you will need some down time. You need to have time to look at trends in your business. By this I mean go over your customer records, see where patterns are, what changes you need to make and then set up a plan to implement those changes. If you spend a little time at end of each day going over what transpired during day and set up your plan and schedule for next day, you will be much better prepared for next day and subsequent days.

At beginning of each week, take a look at where you want your business to be and make plans on how to get there. If something you are doing isn’t working, make changes. However, then you need to give those changes time to work. If they don’t work, change them again. Most important is that you spend time each week to figure out what your business needs are and what your needs are, till you come up with what works best for you, your business and your customers.

As many of our long time readers know, I am a big proponent of To Do lists. Make up a daily to do list, a weekly and a monthly. Remember to consider your goals when making up your To Do list. Where do you want your business to be in five years, ten years? When you ask yourself these questions, you focus on direction you want your business to take and income you want to make.

Remember, after you have determined what your goals are, then take your goals and figure out steps you need to take to get to that particular goal. Do this with each of your goals. Since we are concentrating on sales in this article, ask yourself: Do I need a new product? Do I need to look for other ways to sell my products? If I make these changes will I need additional funds? If I need funds should I get a parnter or find an investor? If I increase my business will I need to hire someone? Once you have answered these questions, then take steps you have come up with and put them on your To Do list.

It is very important that you have a calendar and that you set deadlines. Your calendar can be paper or electronic. The most important thing is that you use it. Put all your goals, steps needed to get to your goals, and deadlines to meet those steps in your calendar. Remember, if you use your calendar wisely it will help you accomplish what you need to and help you to get things done efficiently and on time.

To show you how your calendar can work for you, let’s set up a marketing campaign. First, you want to schedule deadlines for everything that needs to be done before you can even start campaign.

Second, it is very important that you believe that you have power to change things. The one thing to take from past is experience of success. Like us, many people “have had it and lost it and have had it again”. As we discuss in our book, “Who Makes It Happen We Do”, we lost it for a while, but we got it back. As we state in our book and constantly to our students, “who makes it happen, you do!” You have to believe you can be successful, to be successful!

If you haven’t had experience of creating a business success or earning a lot of money; then you need to get a mental picture of a time when you made a wise choice or acted in a certain way. For example, having suggestion you made at work implemented. Getting down to a weight goal you set for yourself. Winning a tournament or championship in a particular sport. Closing your eyes and getting a mental picture of yourself succeeding or a mental picture of yourself in a more positive time is a very popular technique.

Third, you need to work harder and smarter. As we have stated before, you are not going to be a millionaire overnight, unless you win lottery; and we all know what your chances of that happening are. The surest way to make money is old fashioned way, working for it. When you’re starting a new business, expect to work harder for months, even several years. If you can, hire someone or buy a piece of equipment that saves you time. If all your time is spent producing product or if you are concentrating only on supply end, you miss big picture. You need to be able to see big picture, to set goals for future, and make decisions, in fact, some very important ones, to keep your business ahead of competition. In order to succeed, you need to be able to focus clearly. This means that you need to take time, away from work environment, so you can think, without all distractions and pressure. So your think time needs to be in a calm and serene environment. If that occurs while in your car, walking, exercising, spa, shower, whatever, go there.