When I was on the executive team at a tech company, I was used to setting annual goals. It was an exercise the company went through every January, with monthly and quarterly comparisons against what had been planned.
Running a solo business is very different. January’s goals might be obsolete by March because there are simply so many variables.
As a solopreneur, I realized I had to be much more fluid. A single client’s decision can drastically alter the course of your business, and so can a change in the market.
I stopped planning in years and started planning in quarters.
Goals can be annual. Roadmaps need flexibility.
A large company can adjust mid-year when revenue swings. It might trim a department’s budget or move people to a different project. The big goals for the year stay mostly intact, and the rest of the business keeps running.
Solopreneurs don’t have the luxury of “shifting things around” – at least, not in the same way.
Goals still have their place; it’s good to work toward something. But you’ll make plans according to a roadmap. You might have a specific revenue goal, and your roadmap tells you, step-by-step, how you’re going ot get there.
The roadmap is the part that’s impossible to plan for a full year. Instead, your solo business should work in shorter increments.
What a 90-day cycle actually contains
A 90-day roadmap planning cycle is simple enough that you could start planning right away. Here’s what goes into it:
- A theme. The specific steps you’re working on toward one of your larger goals.
- Milestones every week or two. If the roadmap starts slipping, you’ll notice right away.
- Track time elapsed next to progress. If you’re 45 days into your 90-day cycle, are you 50% done with the action items on your roadmap?
- A specific outcome. What do you want to have accomplished by the end of the 90 days?
As you begin a planning cycle, ask yourself how your specific roadmap for the next 90 days rolls up to your larger goals for the year. Also, think about what the next building block will be in the subsequent 90 days. You don’t need to start planning for the next cycle yet, but have it in the back of your mind.
The review at the end of the planning cycle
Without a scheduled review, 90-day planning doesn’t help you build over the course of the year. Reviewing and reflecting on your results is how you set yourself up for the next cycle.
Put the review as a recurring event on your calendar, and don’t let it get scheduled over or moved. I block roughly half a day, a few days after the end of each quarter.
During the review, you compare what you said you would get done with what you actually got done. Then you look at what worked and what didn’t. I have a template I follow each time, writing down my observations. In the background, Claude gathers some information for me so I don’t have to spend my time compiling data.
Ninety days is long enough to gain some traction and assess. At that point, you can ask yourself whether something new is working, whether you need to give it more time, or if you need to change course.
Planning for a business that keeps changing
A company with hundreds of employees has resources I don’t have. It also has hundreds of people working from the same roadmap, which makes it hard to change direction when something drastic comes up. In my business, I can make that type of change whenever I feel it’s necessary.
The 90-day roadmap is how you get to your annual goals. And if you realize a cycle or two in that an annual goal is out of reach, it’s okay to make an adjustment.
I keep my big-picture goals on a sticky note on my monitor. The details, project, and plans live within my 90-day roadmap. That’s where the work happens.
