Episode 140: The PreMortem

It's the Hallowe'en Spooktacular!

 

Not really--but it's a fitting time to do a Business PreMortem. With the end of the year coming, I'm sure you're booking calls with your mentor to set up your 2019 strategic plan. In the TwoBrain family, we start this process in November. If you're not in the TwoBrain family yet, you can use this exercise to kickstart the process (a little fun before the spreadsheets!)

 

In this episode, I walk through a simple exercise to help you identify and prioritize your opportunities and threats. We're going to pretend to look back on your "dead" business, because hindsight might be 20/20...but insight allows us to see into the future.

 

Question 1: What WAS your business?

If you've ever had to describe a loved one in three column inches or less, you know what it's like to distill someone down to their essence. How would you want your business to be remembered? What WAS it, really, at its core--without branding or labels? What did it look like with its clothes off? What will it be remembered FOR?

Question 2: What killed it?

Let's be really, really clear about your biggest problem. If you don't KNOW what's stunting your growth or slowly bleeding you dry, we can help. There are no leeches or bloodletting: just a careful, compassionate examination of your health. I shared a few myths that I still hear every single week.

This exercise should reveal your Achilles heel, and therefore your greatest priority for action.

Was it exhaustion? Complacency? Cash Flow? Coaches becoming competitors?

Maybe take a strong dose of medicine NOW to prevent the fatality later.

 

Question 3: What survived?

You're training to be an entrepreneur. If your business goes bankrupt, you'll have learned something really valuable...and you'll continue to be an entrepreneur! No one can fire you from this job. You'll keep many hard lessons learned, many transferable experiences, and maybe even some money.

I hang around with some very successful people. We're a tight group. And many of us have the "clean slate" fantasy: the wish to start from scratch with what we know now.

What survived that shouldn't? Did the plague continue to haunt your family after the body was gone? Maybe take steps to quarantine poisons now, too.

 

If you're in the TwoBrain family, there's a worksheet coming to help you. Fill it out and send it to your mentor ahead of your November call. Because on October 31, death ends, and gestation for 2019 begins!