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Annual Business Plans

It is important to write a new Annual Action Plan in November or December each year. These will list anything that you didn't have time to accomplish over the last year and what you hope to accomplish in the next 12 months. The annual action plan briefly outlines the steps or tasks needed to accomplish each goal for the upcoming year.

Action plans help to hold yourself and your partners or co-writers accountable. They help you become tenacious, set up organized processes that save you time and money in the future. Action plans act like a map that the entrepreneur follows step-by-step, taking them where they want to go within a short period of time. 


Contingency Plans take in the "what if" scenarios of each activity, event, contract or appearance. A balanced action plan will consider these scenarios and plan for them in advance.

What if my phone connection fails; do I have a back up system in place so that I can still participate in an interview? 

What if my guest is a no-show? 

What if there are technological issues? 

What if my site gets hacked? 

Could travel restrictions affect the event?

What if the bookstore loses books, there is storage damage or theft? 


Determining what could go wrong will help you find ways of eliminating the chances that something will go off the rails. You'll also develop new in-house policies for specific situations that might occur such as returns or complaints, and various problems you've experienced. 

Succession Plans involve who will get the rights to your business, who inherits the financial resources and royalties. Take the time to re-evaluate your succession plan annually because as your business changes, so will your plans for the future. 

Consider:

Who will receive full access of my unpublished material? 

Who will run the business if I get sick or have to be away for an extended period of time? 

If my business does well, will I sell it? 

Should I make plans to give it to my child - do they even want it? Or should everything revert to my partner(s)? 

What if my partner passes on, who gets the rights to our co-written work or their share of the business? 

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