When you become a Pure Bookkeeping licensee you’ll get access to the Guided Implementation Program. There is one for a startup practice (i.e. the focus is on marketing strategies to help you fill your books) and one for a mature business (i.e. you have staff or you’re full up and need to recruit and your focus is on Leadership, Management and HR). There is a workbook for both versions with specific weekly actions, a video and instructions. Your intention is that you’ll complete the implementation of the Pure Bookkeeping System and we’ll do everything we can to support you.
However, what often happens is that other stuff gets in the way of your best intentions. You put on new clients (that’s a good problem to have), it’s tax time, your father becomes ill, it’s school holidays etc . And you might miss a week or two or three or more. You become frustrated and disheartened. You feel like you’re falling behind and you begin to doubt whether it’s possible to complete the project. Maybe you even give up.
In David Allen’s TED talk he says that “surprises are coming, life is messy and stuff is going to come”. And he gives lots of strategies to help you be prepared rather than be surprised. When Peter Cook was coaching me I lost count of the number of meetings I had where I hadn’t completed some actions from last month.
One of the things I did that helped was to work out exactly how many weeks in the year I had available to work ON my business (i.e. after I deducted tax time, Easter, Christmas, special holiday, etc). Although confronting, because I realized how little time I actually had available to work ON my business, it also made me more determined to make sure I made the most of the available time. I also became more selective about what I said yes to.
There are lots of projects to implement to help grow your business so make sure you’re clear about the outcome, create a realistic start and end date and have specific actions to tick off each week to move the project forward. And if you’re working on the Guided Implementation Program use the workbook to keep you on track.
That will help you be prepared when life gets messy.
Article by Michael Palmer
Michael is the CEO of Pure Bookkeeping, the host of The Successful Bookkeeper podcast and an acclaimed business coach who has helped hundreds of bookkeepers across the world push through their fears and exponentially grow their businesses and achieve the quality of life they've always wanted.
