Jack Boykin and his wife, Muffin…short for Love Muffin, own an electrical service company, The Sign Doctor. Not long ago, I suggested that the two of them take a weekend and put together a business plan. Family businesses can get a lttle kooky, and a focused plan can help. Jack reported in on the planning weekend:
“We decided on new year’s weekend for our business planning adventure. Start off the new year right. We have 8 kids, but we feel like empty nesters with only 6 still at home. The older kids can take care of the littler ones now, so we booked a room at a local hotel. The hotel is one of our commercial customers, and they set us up in a deluxe room. We traded out a few light bulb changes.
“Friday afternoon, we did a run through of what we wanted to cover over the weekend. We brought the computer, your books, our business plan binder and plenty of paper. We went out to dinner and started asking the big questions: What do we want? Why are we in this business? Is it working? What can we do to make it better?
“Saturday morning we dove in and worked through our mission statement and elevator speeches. We discovered that, for us, it’s all about relationships. Muffin came up with, “We’re not looking for a one light stand.” Ha! We set goals and worked through the budget. Sunday, we dug into our Marketing plan and we got some projects lined up. We committed to using our calendars more effectively.
“Now, we didn’t get everything done that we had originally scheduled. And that’s Muffin’s fault because she can be a little distracting. Muffin told me how cool it is that we still like each other. It’s not just about having kids together.
“Now I keep my Biz Plan with me all the time. I’m getting in the habit of looking at my calendar every day. I am entering sales data throughout the day which is keeping the accounting more current. We’re going to enlist our daughter, Hannah, to help with the bookkeeping. She has a feel for it and is excited to learn more. Life is good!”
Hurray for Jack and Muffin and The Sign Doctor! Cool story, isn’t it? Business planning is simply considering what you want and making sure that you are heading in that direction.
I asked Jack to send me a picture. I got one, and a little epilogue from Muffin.
Ellen,
Had a great time with Jack working on the Weekend Biz Plan. I’m glad I can encourage and help him with the business. Just being there to bounce ideas off of is great. The picture is of the whole family including our oldest son, his wife and our two beautiful grandsons. Of course our youngest is being silly as usual. Can’t wait to read your blog. Thanks for all the encouragement and direction for the business. Looking forward to a great year!
Sincerely,
Muffin
Thanks, Jack and Muffin! You are lovely people. You have a terrific family and a rockin’ business. You inspire me.
Are you ready to create your business in a weekend? Check out The Weekend Biz Plan!
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