How to Find Clarity in Your Business in 2023

This year, one of my intentions is to create and share - on a regular basis - meaningful content which can help other solopreneurs and small business owners change their businesses for the better.  

So, over the course of 2023, I promise to share with you some of my favourite strategies and tools which I use for my own business planning purposes, and when I am offering one-to-one advice and guidance to my clients.

Tool 1: The Business Clarity Canvas® 

Whilst not everyone is a fan of making new year’s resolutions, January can be an opportune time to reflect on your business - to consider the lessons you have learnt from the previous year, and to create new and motivating goals for the year ahead.

If you find yourself in a period of reflection this month, then I invite you to try out The Business Clarity Canvas®. 

When you have found business clarity, you are aware of the current state of your business, and understand why you are doing what you are doing. You have a clear vision of what you want to achieve, and you can see the path you need to take in order to realise that vision. Without business clarity, you may feel lost at times, and you certainly won’t progress as quickly as you would with business clarity.

What is this tool?

I actually developed this tool back in 2018, when I became frustrated with other one-page planner tools. I found some of them jargon-heavy, difficult to understand, and not a particularly good fit for service-based solopreneurs (whom I predominantly support). 

Therefore, I wanted to create a one-page planner which was easy to use, and which would help startups, freelancers and solopreneurs - at any stage of growth - gain a holistic view of their business.

After various iterations, I came up with The Business Clarity Canvas® - a one-page planner which covers eight, key areas of a business: Purpose; Mission & Values; Products & Services; Tasks & Resources; Costs & Income; Customers; Marketing Activities; and Resilience.  

Having tried and tested the tool on a significant number of business owners, I now use this tool with my clients on a regular basis during the one-to-one sessions and workshops I facilitate.

How can I use it in my business? 

You can use this canvas throughout your business journey - either as a startup, or as an established business owner who is looking to innovate new products and services, or who is wanting to make incremental improvements to your business.

I recommend you revisit and update this canvas on a quarterly basis, and every time you want to analyse new ideas before you implement them.

Whilst I have written a full list of prompting questions to accompany the canvas, for the purpose of this blog post, I will just share with you the overarching questions for each section.

When you reflect on these questions, you should be able to identify which areas of your business you are most clear on, and those which you need to do more work on, in order to build a financially sustainable and resilient, small business.

What should I do next?

1. Download a copy of The Business Clarity Canvas® (available for £3.00 from my shop), and print out a copy, if that suits your learning style.

2. Write down - either electronically or on sticky notes - your answers to the following questions:

Purpose: Why are you doing what you are doing?

Mission & Values: What - in the broadest terms - do you offer your customers/clients/end users? What are your core values? How do you bring those values to life? 

Products & Services: What do you sell to your customers/clients/end users? How do your products and services benefit and impact your customers?

Tasks & Resources: What are the key tasks you need to undertake in order to run your business? What resources do you need to run your business?

Costs & Revenue: What are the costs you need to cover in your business? What are the different revenue streams for your business?

Customers: Who are your customers/clients/end users? Who comprise your main customer segments? 

Marketing Activities: What are your current marketing goals? What marketing activities will you carry out to achieve your goals?

Resilience: What are the strengths and weaknesses of your business? What could you do to build your business resilience?

3. Once you have jotted down your answers to these overarching questions, you should have a better understanding of which areas in your business you are most clear on and those which you are least clear on. With that knowledge, reflect on what you could do in 2023 to gain clarity and change your business for the better. 

I hope you find this tool useful!

If you would like my support to gain clarity and find focus, please book a one-to-one Business Clarity session with me. 

For further information, go to: https://www.thriveinbusiness.co.uk/business-clarity-sessions