You wouldn’t leave home without knowing where you’re going. Printing directions, using GPS, or taking a paper map are essential first steps for any road trip.

Your business is a much bigger journey than a road trip. Running a business is like taking a road trip to another galaxy. You wouldn’t step foot on a space ship without knowing the way, would you?

You may already have a business plan, which is great for showing to loan officers and investors, but do you have a way of making small course corrections as you run your business?

Action Steps:
1.Create a one page document with your Most Valuable Indicators, as well as a sense of what is most valuable to you at your business. If you need help with this, my new book, The Focused Business, has a step-by-step process to help you create your business map.
2.Post your map in a prominent place, where you will be reminded of what’s important to you every day.
3.Review your map daily. Take a moment and decide if there are any small course corrections you need to make. Use your business map to remind you of what’s most important at your business.
4.Revise your map on a quarterly basis. You will be more mindful of the larger course corrections you need to make in order to achieve your long-term goals when you take time to revise your business map.

Principles:
1.As a business owner, you’re like the captain of an ocean-going vessel. Sometimes the course is treacherous.
2.Adventurers use maps to take some of the risk out of their journeys. As a business owner, you must create a map to know where you’ve been, as well as the corrections necessary to keep your business on course for success.
3.A business plan is not the same as a business map. A business plan is a long term blueprint for how your business operates. A business map is an essential tool for keeping your business on course in the short term.

Adapted from a post by Dave Crenshaw.