On Sunday, it will be November 1st.  That means the end of the year is closing in.  So how will you spend those final two months making sure your business is ready when 2010 makes its appearance?

I’ve spoken with a lot of entrepreneurs who have basically told me (implicitly or explicitly) that they are planning for a slow November and December, so they expect to be in a kind of hibernation mode.  But when January 1st rolls around, they assure me that they’ll be ready to go.

With all due respect, this type of laid-back, “nothing I can do about it” attitude isn’t going to fly in today’s competitive marketplace. 

My suggestion?  That you spend your final weeks of 2009 doing aggressive planning and preparing.  And the best way to do that is to start right away.  Don’t wait.  After all, you don’t really have two whole months, do you? 

If you were to break down the days you would realistically work in November and December, you’d discover that there are far fewer than you might assume at first glance.  Check it out:

November + December = 61 days to plan for 2010

Minus number of 2-day weekends (8 weekends, 16 days total) = 45 days to plan

Minus holidays - Thanksgiving, day-after-Thanksgiving, Christmas, Christmas Eve (4) = 41 days to plan

Minus unexpected days off (2) = 39 days to plan

So you really don’t have 61 days to get ready for 2010.  You have 39.  And that changes things, doesn’t it?  If you want to work with a professional to gear up for the new year (e.g., an accountant, business coach, banker), you’d better get on their calendars lickity split.  After all, they’re working within the same 39-day time constraint that you are.

So… what will you do with your next two months?  Will they be a time you look back upon with pride or with regret?

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I’m starting a new series called “Ask Julie!”  If you have a question regarding business coaching, entrepreneurship or marketing, please write it in the comments section.  I’ll answer questions one at a time in later posts!

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Tags: Accountant, Array, Business Coach, business coaching, C2, Calendars, Christmas Christmas, Christmas Eve, Comments Section, Competitive Marketplace, Day Time, Due Respect, First Glance, January 1st, Laid Back, New Year, November 1st, Thanksgiving Christmas, Thanksgiving Day, Time Constraint, Unexpected Days, Whole Months

This entry was posted on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 11:59 pm and is filed under Entrepreneur, business coaching. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.