As a part of managing and running my business, I annually review my business plan. It’s not my favorite thing to do, so I allow myself the nice big month of March to do it and spread it out over 31 days.

Last month I reviewed my standards. Many had not changed, like my business vision, hours, services, and fees… but many had. I spent time outlining my standards around interviewing, business travel, vendors, and referrals.

As March began last week, I printed out my business plan. So much changed for me in 2014 that I am embarrassed to say I did not complete the review… so there is a lot of updating to do. In January 2013 I changed my DBA name, domain name, and many, many policies and procedures. The plan was in a state of disarray in the aftermath of making the changes and not completing the updates, so I have my work cut out for me.

I will be engaging the assistance of my business coach, Anastacia Brice over the course of 2-3 coaching calls to ensure I am approaching it from the proper perspective and not omitting any needed changes. It’s such a benefit to have a business coach on my team, in my passenger seat/navigating with me, right alongside to help me keep things online and on target. She nurtures me so that I can nurture others in the manner in which I was created.

The first order of business was to take my newly revamped standards and hold them up against the business plan. Necessary change to say the least. The next was to review the debt I have accumulated over the course of growing my business. Debt is something I don’t like to admit much less discuss. But it is there. I began my business part-time in 2008 and quit my full-time job in 2010 to work full-time in my practice.

Life intervened (and, I hate to admit that fear played a part, too) and in 2011 and 2012 I treated my full-time practice as a hobby… putting our two home relocations ahead of growing it. During that time I pulled money out of savings and racked up debt. Then in 2013, as I reinvested myself in my business and while it has been successfully growing ever since, I have not applied a similar dedication to paying things off and replenishing the coffers. I failed to nuture my own finances. It’s time to dedicate myself to reviewing that structure.

After applying my standards to the plan, I will be reviewing the financial segment with this in mind and taking the necessary steps to getting things back on track to being debt free, reinvesting in my retirement, and showing a profit that I can actual put into savings and not spent on interest.

I am looking forward to having the new business plan in concrete place by the end of March and feeling like my foundation has been reviewed, updated, and is solidly beneath my feet as I put myself out in the world in service to others.

How often do you update your business plan?