Your Business Is Like a Road Trip

“Adventure” and “excitement” are two words I’ve always associated with travel.

The first long trip I remember my family taking was when I was 4 years old, when we drove from California to South Dakota (or was it Minnesota?), for a family reunion on my dad’s side of the family. LOTS of cousins!

However, the road trips I remember the most involved driving hundreds of miles across the Mojave Desert, when my family traveled from San Francisco to Las Vegas, Nevada – to visit my grandparents (Mom’s parents). In the summer.

My dad was usually the one driving, and even though the scenery was incredibly boring (miles of sand and cactus, with mountain ranges in the distance), I never wanted to take a nap – like both my sisters and my mom were often doing. Even when it was over 100° late in the afternoon.

I felt like I needed to stay alert, since I MIGHT just miss something!

The excitement of going on road trips like this always energized me, which is probably why I rarely wanted to sleep in the car.

One year, I noticed large patches of water on the road ahead of us. At least, it LOOKED like water. My dad informed me that what I was seeing was a mirage. That phenomenon never failed to fascinate me.

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One big difference between the road trips I took as a child and the ones I take now is the PLANNING that goes along with those trips.

And, believe it or not, there are a LOT of things about preparing for a road trip that can be applied to your business!

The six tasks I’ve listed below are things you’ve probably done when planning your own road trips. But when you see the way those same tasks relate to your business, I hope you’ll be inspired to start applying those things to your business life … if you’re not already doing them, that is.

?? MAKE A LIST

When you’re packing for a trip, you probably only need two lists – one for clothing and one for food. But with a business, multiple lists are more helpful.

For example ... your top 5 goals for the year, newsletter topics for the next 6 months, subscribers you’d like to contact over the next 30 days, or even necessary office supplies.

(IMPORTANT: Be sure to keep your lists handy, so you can refer to them often.)

?? PURCHASE WHAT YOU NEED

This task applies to more than just the usual office supplies (like paper clips, copy paper, and toner cartridges). It also refers to things like desk calendars (to help with goal-setting and daily schedules) or even a new (ergonomic) office chair.

?? CREATE DEADLINES

When preparing for a road trip, the most obvious deadline is the day you’re leaving on your trip. In a business, deadlines are just as important.

Short deadlines are easiest to work with, and can be created by breaking down long-term (like one-year or five-year) goals into smaller periods of time.

?? SET THE ITINERARY

Mapping out activities and figuring out which stops to make along the way are a couple of the more enjoyable parts of taking a trip. (At least, they are for me.) But setting an itinerary for your BUSINESS is a little trickier.

I think of this task as being more of a daily (or maybe even weekly) thing. It’s the schedule you’ve created for the day and works best when you highlight just one, two, or (at the most) three “must do” tasks.

I’ve heard a couple of time management experts say they like to write down those top “must do” items on a piece of paper, then carry the list with them all day – to keep the tasks uppermost in their mind.

?? PACK

Packing for a trip is simple. Time-consuming, but not complicated. The same is true when “packing” for your business.

Once you’ve purchased the things you need, instead of throwing them into a suitcase, you just need to find a place for those items to “live” in your office space … where you can easily find them when you need them.

?? RELAX ... AND ENJOY THE RIDE!

The best part of preparing for a road trip is being able to kick back and enjoy the experience. Especially once you’ve traveled a few miles and are sure you didn’t forget anything!

The same goes for your business.

When you have your “systems” in place and are confident of the direction you’re going in your business, your day-to-day routines will be something you can look forward to.

They’ll also free you up to be more creative in ALL areas of your life (not just your business).

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In his podcast titled “The Power of Structure for Boosting Creativity,” Chase Jarvis says: “With the right balance of creativity and structure, there’s no limit to what we can achieve.”

The excitement I felt as a child during long road trips is similar to what I feel now as I build my business.

I hope some of the tips I shared in this issue will encourage you as you work on systems and improvements in your own business!

Systems and structure will help you build something solid. SO much more satisfying than chasing a mirage!