#91. Annual Planning for 2022

Planning for the coming year is one of the most important things you can do for you company. My brother Chet is going to cringe when he reads this, because he hates over used cliches, but I am going to use it anyway. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Or a the very least, you are not going to be as successful as you could have been. Over the years I have become a big fan of planning. It's not my favorite thing to do, but I have seen how much of a positive impact it has had on all of my businesses over the years. I attribute a lot of my success to annual planning. If I break it down by how much time I spend doing it vs the benefit it brings, it is probably the most valuable thing I do. Let me say that again, it is the most valuable thing I do. That's saying a lot.

What To Expect From Episode 91

My philosophy with planning is that you should only have 2-3 big goals for the year. These should be very impactful for your business. If you have too many, you'll get spread too thin and either won't do them all or you won't do any of them very well. Each goal will typically have 3ish tasks associated it. We have done some of the main planning for Haulin Assets for 2022 and I want to share with you our main goals and their tasks.

1. Grow by 5 trucks
   1. Decide Direction
      1. Owner Operators or Hired Drivers
      2. Purchase, new/used
      3. Brand of trucks and trailers
   2. Work on Financing
   3. Make sure we are able to attract and retain quality drivers
2. Improve Scalability
   1. Start using a TMS (Transportation Management System)
      1. Evalute different TMS's
      2. Implement the one we choose
   2. Use a better method to track and issue driver pay
3. Establish direct shipper relationships (Probably 3^rd or 4^th Quarter)
   1. Create an outline with targets and dates to accomplish this goal (1st quarter)
   2. Hire someone to help us build relationships and possibly start a brokerage
4. Improve our financial strength (This one doesn't really take much time, but is incredibly important so I want to make sure we have it as a defined goal)
   1. Savings
      1. $15,000 in operating capital per truck
      2. Build savings to 10% of outstanding debt
      3. Accomplish 1 & 2 before we take any distributions
   2. Pay down debt

In this episode, Craig and I go into more detail about planning and we talk about the Haulin Assets goals for 2022.

Impact Tip

Just Do It. Annual planning is not the most fun or glamorous thing you will do in your business. I would argue that it is one of the most important things you can do and possibly the most important thing you can do. Make it a priority and do it!