
Roadmaps and Strategies: What it Takes to Get You There
For all the talk about roadmaps and strategies, you’d think being an entrepreneur would look a little more glamorous than a trip to the local coffee shop. Roadmaps and strategies aren’t sexy, but they will get you where you want to be — a successful business owner.
What is the difference? A roadmap is an overview of the route and a strategy contains the building blocks of events that get you to your destination.
Your big goal, the reason you started all of this in the first place, is the master vision. Your roadmap is the sequence of events that need to occur (your strategy) to make that goal a reality. And milestones are the essential actions that create those individual key events.
Here’s an example:
Your goal is to start a business. Your roadmap will likely contain key strategies like build my network, set up business systems, and determine my business structure. Your milestones to make these things happen might be something like make a list of networking events to try, attend an event for each, identify good tech support partners, and talk with a business attorney and CPA about business-structure alternatives.
A good roadmap will help you waste less time, money, and energy.
Taking the time to create a high-level strategy lets you know where you’re going in the long term and what tools you need to get there.
If part of your strategy includes being a speaker, a milestone could be creating a schedule of how often you want to speak and to whom.
Your tools might include email software and social media sites to help build your visibility and credibility, and a program that assists you in building a sales funnel to reach potential venues and clients afterward.
You don’t have to come up with the maps, strategies, and tools all on your own. There are good resources out there.
You could start with joining the free Life Reinvented® community, and checking out my book, Reinventing Your Life: Your Guide to Fulfillment in Starting Your Business. If you’re ready for group or 1:1 guidance, I offer several programs.