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Top 10 Six-Month Business Plan Templates with Samples and Examples

Mohammed Sameer

Well begun is half-done! But you need a well-thought-out plan first to begin well. Only 1 of 4 businesses survive beyond 15 years. The terms ‘Longevity’ and ‘Sustainability’ might sound boring, but they are even more challenging to accomplish. While the failure of 75% of the businesses might not be entirely attributed to inadequate planning, it is still a huge factor.

You’ll never see a blockbuster movie without a good script, a Super Bowl champion without a game plan, or a successful musician without a well-rehearsed setlist. Similarly, every successful business has an inclusive business plan to chart the course forward.

Crafting a relevant and effective business plan isn’t an overnight job. You need small pieces to build a robust structure that can withstand competition. One such piece is a Six-Month Business Plan. To save you from the struggle of preparing it from scratch, we have ready-to-use PPT Templates.

How Do Six-Month Business Plan Templates Help You?

SlideTeam’s Six-Month Business Plan Templates serve as a strategic guide, providing you with a clear and organized framework to streamline your planning process. Here's how these templates can be a game-changer for you:

1. Time Efficiency: These templates are designed to save time. With pre-built slides and a user-friendly interface, you can focus on refining your business strategy rather than starting from scratch.

2. Adaptability: Business landscapes evolve, and your plan should too. Our templates are easily customizable, allowing you to adapt your strategy to changing market conditions and emerging opportunities.

3. Comprehensive Guidance: Regardless of whether you are a veteran entrepreneur or a newcomer, our templates provide comprehensive guidance. Each slide is curated to include essential elements, guiding you through the components of a robust business plan.

Let’s explore the templates!

Template 1: Six-Month Business Plan PPT Template

This PPT Bundle is a comprehensive resource that guides organizations through strategic initiatives. It encompasses diverse plans, including a Business Development Plan focused on market share, revenue, and new product launches. The Digital Transformation Plan emphasizes business analysis, digital platform creation, market analysis, optimization, and consumer feedback. Additionally, it features a Quality Improvement Business Plan and other crucial strategies. This template enables communication of objectives and key actions, providing a holistic framework for organizational growth, innovation, and enhancement over six months. Download now!

Download this template

Template 2: Initial Six-Month Business Plan Gantt Chart

This PowerPoint Slide outlines a practical strategy for organizational development. It focuses on five key categories: Strategy, emphasizing transformational goals; Finance, incorporating initial analysis and cost reductions; Personnel, detailing hiring and recruitment plans; Customers, highlighting initiatives to engage and meet customer needs; and Functional Areas, encompassing competitive analysis and marketing strategies for products and services. The Gantt Chart format organizes these crucial aspects, giving each a timeline, and providing a roadmap for the first six months of business operations. Download now!

Template 3: Six-Month Fundraising Roadmap for Startup Business Plan

This PPT Set outlines a strategic plan spanning for half-a-year, focusing on four key categories: Resources, Funds, Tech, and Marketing. Over this period, the plan encompasses milestones such as recruiting two developers and one sales manager, restructuring efforts, and preparations for private fundraising. The timeline includes:

A funding deadline.
The launch of fundraising initiatives.
The integration of second-layer Ethereum solutions.

Marketing strategies cover Inbound Marketing, partnerships, channel marketing, conversational marketing, and targeted sales lead initiatives. Download now!

Six-Month Fundraising Roadmap for Startup Business Plan

Template 4: Six-Month Organization Business Development Plan

The PPT Template on business development encompasses business objectives, including market share and revenue generation, the establishment of a new consumer services process, the launch of a new product, efficient financial capital allocation, product development initiatives, and opening a second business location. Each target is accompanied by specific key actions, such as price reduction and complementary product offerings for market share and revenue generation. The aim is to provide a detailed roadmap for achieving organizational growth and success over the six-month timeframe. Download now!

Template 5: Six-Month Business Digital Transformation Plan

This PowerPoint Slide guides organizations through a digital evolution. The plan involves business analysis through gap analysis and process documentation, fostering standardization via reporting automation, and establishing a robust digital platform through app and web development. The PPT includes market analysis, comprising a study of market size and competition influence. Optimization strategies involve efficient HR allocation and KPI analysis. Additionally, the plan emphasizes the importance of consumer feedback by implementing mechanisms for recording and analyzing feedback, ensuring a holistic approach to digital transformation and organizational advancement. Download now!

Template 6: Six-Month Quality Improvement Business Plan

This PPT Slide helps guide businesses through a strategic enhancement journey. The stages covered are Business Analysis, detailed Problem Assessment, Formulation of a Blueprint for improvement, precise Policy Formulation, strategic Incentive Introduction, and Output Analysis. This template serves as a roadmap for organizations seeking to boost their operational excellence. Download now!

Template 7: Steps to Six-Month Business Development Plan

This PowerPoint Presentation outlines a structured Six-Month Business Development Plan. In the initial month, it focuses on the creative process of Business Idea Generation. The Second Month involves the systematic creation of a detailed Business Plan. The Third Month centers on implementing the Business Development Plan, while the Fourth Month emphasizes the development of a compelling Business Proposal. In the 5th month, the plan involves negotiations and the establishment of secure strategies. Finally, the Sixth Month is dedicated to the crucial process of Employee Onboarding, ensuring a holistic approach to business growth and sustainability. Download this template!

Template 8: Six-Month Business Plan for Marketing a New Product

This PPT Framework streamlines the launch of a new product. The template outlines steps, including in-depth analysis of the target market, efficient organization of promotional campaigns, conducting pilot surveys for valuable insights, strategic product distribution planning, and a systematic approach to gathering and analyzing consumer feedback. This template provides a structured framework for businesses to tackle the initial months of product launch, ensuring an organized and effective marketing strategy for optimal market penetration and sustained success. Download now!

Template 9: Six-Month Online Marketing Business Plan

This PPT Template offers a comprehensive framework for strategizing digital success. Beginning with a detailed Market Analysis, it digs into Online Approaching Techniques, directing users to reach their audience. The template provides a clear Action Plan, facilitating goal-oriented steps, accompanied by Budget Allocation for resource optimization. It emphasizes Controlling and Monitoring aspects to ensure adaptability and success measurement. A focus on Consumer Feedback enhances user engagement, fostering a dynamic marketing approach. Download now!

Template 10: Six-Month Business Strategic Partnership Plan

This PPT Set offers a structured framework for cultivating successful collaborations. Initiating with developing a robust partnership strategy, it prioritizes establishing clear objectives and a visionary approach. The template facilitates the structuring of partnership operations, aiding in outlining roles and responsibilities. It also guides users through the critical process of budget establishment, enabling an analysis of capital requirements and strategic allocation. Emphasizing continuous monitoring, the plan advocates a proactive management report analysis and feedback mechanisms to ensure agile and effective partnership management. Download now!

Over To You

In a world where businesses face an uphill battle for longevity and sustainability, the significance of planning cannot be overstated. SlideTeam's templates offer more than just a structured plan; they embody efficiency, adaptability, and comprehensive guidance.

As you embark on this journey guided by our templates, remember that success is not just about starting well but sustaining and evolving. The next six months are not just a countdown but an opportunity to redefine and reshape your business narrative. With a clear vision and the right tools at your disposal, you're not just planning for the future – you're creating it.

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Your First 6 Months in Business: A To-Do List

Getting your business off the ground is an exciting journey, but it’s not without challenges. There are a lot of moving pieces, a lot of decisions need to be made and a lot of money needs to be spent. If you’re not ready, it’s easy to be overwhelmed.

So much of getting your business running involves a feasible plan and the right timing. If your business is new, it’s crucial to have a checklist of your priorities. Here, we’re outlining everything you need to focus on in the first six months of your startup so you can sustain its growth.

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1. Continue doing your market research

Research is essential for any new business, and there are several good reasons to continue researching even after you’ve started operations. First, the business landscape changes rapidly. What works today might not be what customers want tomorrow. Second, you might not be targeting the right demographics for your product or service.

By keeping up with new developments in your field, you can ensure that your business stays ahead of the curve. Doing a lot of research can also help you identify new opportunities for growth and expansion. Even if your business is doing well now, there’s no guarantee that it will stay that way forever.

Effective Marketing Strategies for Early-Stage Startups

2. hire your core team.

New business owners are notorious for single-handedly running the show. They wear many different hats in a day and oversee every aspect of the business from production to execution to customer service. However, you need to hire the core people in your team so you can focus on more important tasks .

Core teams are important because they help the owner understand and execute their vision for the company. These are the first people you need for your startup:

Chief operations officer (COO) – manages the daily operations of the business.
Chief financial officer (CFO) – responsible for handling the money in your business. They ensure that your capital is spent wisely and keep the books balanced. They also ensure that suppliers are paid on time and all taxes have been filed early.
Product manager – stays on top of any developments in your product or service. They are your go-to for all things related to your product offerings, from documentation to design to training.
Marketing manager – in charge of helping you promote your business and build your brand reputation. They create the content for your products, build your website or set you up for a press meeting.
Customer support – someone who responds to client inquiries, suggestions and questions through various forms of communication such as e-mail, SMS, phone calls or social media.
Sales manager – focuses on generating new leads for the company. They help you sell your products and services to customers and build lasting relationships with clients. Sales managers and marketing officers typically work together to find leads.

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3. keep your business plan within reach.

No matter what type of business you have, you must always have a business plan . A business plan helps you steer your company as you start and grow. It sets the foundation for your company, specifies all measurable objectives and enables you to create a detailed strategy for growth .

Moreover, having a business plan can be a lifesaver when you’re applying for small business financing. Lenders want to see how you’ll make your business profitable and gain the confidence that you won’t default on your loan.

4. Build your online presence

With the help of your marketing manager, you can start building your online presence by setting up a website and optimizing it for search engines like Google. This is also the perfect time to set up your social media accounts such as TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.

Since we’re becoming more digital than ever, you want to be where your customers are. In a survey conducted by Statista , 46% of respondents said they spend five to six hours daily on their mobile phones. A separate study predicted that by 2025, retail mobile e-commerce sales would reach $728.28 billion and account for 44.2% of retail e-commerce sales in the U.S.

These trends mean that you can leverage free digital tools like social media to be where your customers are. Depending on your niche , you can also tap influencers to help you introduce your products and services to your target market.

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5. Seek feedback from friends and family

If your business is new and you don’t have customer testimonials yet, you can take this opportunity to collect honest feedback from your families and friends. You can ask them to post about your product and tag your social handles. You can also record good feedback on video and upload it to your website.

Getting honest feedback can help you understand what your customers want and need, identify problems with your products or services, and make necessary improvements. Soliciting feedback early can help you avoid making costly mistakes down the road.

5 Ways a Feedback Culture Will Benefit Your Business

6. build your network.

Building a strong network will help you connect with new clients, get advice from experienced entrepreneurs, and find potential partners or investors. It also enables you to get the word out about your business and your offerings.

To grow your network, you can start by joining industry events and meetups so you can meet like-minded business owners. If you’re shy and think that this is too much for you, you can join online groups, communities and forums that discuss topics related to your niche.

The Art of Successful Networking

7. get the right tools to automate certain processes.

Lastly, set up the right tools to manage projects, boost productivity and simplify your tasks. Digital tools like Microsoft 365 or Google Suite can help you work and collaborate with your team in real time. You can also get accounting solutions to minimize human error in recording finances or managing cash flow.

Running your own company is a fulfilling journey

As with any new endeavor, growing your own business can be daunting. But with the right planning and execution, it can also be an exciting and rewarding experience. When things get complicated, always refer back to your business plan. This will serve as your guide in going through the tough times and achieving your business’ successful future.

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Your First 6 Months as a Startup: A To-Do List

What is one thing every startup team should do during the first 6 months as a startup company.

To help you put your startup company on the right footing during the first six months, we asked successful startup founders and business owners this question for their best insights. From putting a lot of work into your digital marketing to doing market research to help articulate your value, there are several things that are important for every startup team to focus on, in the first 6 months in order to best position their startup company for success in the years ahead.

Here is a to-do list of 14 things these startup leaders focused on during the first 6 months:

Put a lot of work into your digital marketing, prioritize search engine optimization, create an account with your company name on every online platform, document the core principles of your brand for consistency, get the paperwork in place, focus on building the product, learn to work together as a team, define your brand, build a client base, focus on intensive networking and community building, develop a clear understanding of your target market, establish your core team and delegate roles, build a culture of innovation, do market research to clearly articulate your value.

It takes a lot of work upfront to build a digital presence online. First, from the website to your social media profiles, branding must be consistent with analytics set up to measure what’s working and not working. You must clearly define and research your target market(s). Then set SMART goals for the first 6 months, but give yourself some monthly goals, too. The next step is to develop a strategic marketing plan to meet those goals and a tactical plan to implement the strategy.

Part of the strategy is to grow your social media following by creating and posting relevant content of interest to your target audience and building relationships. This takes a lot of time upfront, but if you neglect this, it will take you longer to start seeing results. At the end of each month, check your analytics and see what worked and didn’t work. Adjust your goals, as well as your strategic and tactical plans accordingly.

Giselle Aguiar, AZ Social Media Wiz

Today, people search for solutions on the internet. If you want your new product or service to be found in Google’s Search Engine Results Pages, you need to optimize your website content for SEO. A keyword research tool will benefit anyone hoping to be found on Google. Calculate the costs of an accurate keyword research tool against how much you stand to make if people find your product online and purchase it. Publishing web content that people are searching for is a way to brand yourself as an expert in the field which further increases your chances of making sales. For both reasons, don’t wait to prioritize SEO.

Janice Wald, Mostly Blogging

After you have the initial startup in place you want to go to every social media forum, email host, and business profile page and create an account. You want to have every major email host set up with your business name. You want to set up all social media with your company as the username even if you don’t think you will use the platform. You just want to do this to prevent anyone else from taking those names. It’s also a good idea if you hear of a new social media platform becoming popular to sign up right away just to lock in your account name. We did this on all platforms but didn’t do Twitter right away and it was a mess trying to acquire the name later on.

Evan McCarthy, SportingSmiles

So many times I see businesses reactively creating brand assets without an overarching strategy, this results in inconsistent message and marketing. Strategy takes time and resources and many startups are short on one or both of these. However, it’s important to get your core brand foundation down on paper so everyone is on the same page. Create a foundational brand messaging guide where you document brand values, differentiators, and characteristics. Do the same for your visual brand image with brand standards or, at the very least, a small set of agreed-upon design elements, colors, fonts, image styles that will help create consistency.

Tanya Gagnon, Miss Details

The adrenaline rush that comes with being a part of a startup team often receives a harsh reality check when one comes up against incomplete formalities and paperwork that are crucial to any new business venture. It is therefore extremely important that every startup completes the necessary registration and other regulatory formalities with relevant authorities. While it is easy to understand the different challenges associated with a startup, it is equally important to acknowledge that without the paperwork in place, every effort and progress could easily hit a brick wall.

Riley Beam, Douglas R. Beam, P.A.

The product is the most important thing for a startup. It’s what you’re building, and it’s what customers will ultimately judge you on. So you must focus on building a great product. That means making sure the product is well-designed, user-friendly, and solves a real problem for customers. It also means paying attention to the details and ensuring that every aspect of the product is high quality. If you can build a great product, you’ll be well on your way to success as a startup.

Demi Yilmaz, Colonist.io

Whether you’re part of a co-working space or have an office, it’s important that everyone on your team gets used to working together. This will help you build trust and establish a level of comfort with each other that will be crucial when you’re trying to innovate and grow your business. It’s also important to spend time getting to know each other as people: what are their hobbies and interests? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How did they get into the industry they’re in now? How do they approach problems and challenges? What do they think about [company name]? Knowing these things will help you work together more effectively and efficiently, and make sure that everyone feels comfortable in their roles within the company.

Chad Rubin, Profasee

The bottom line is that if you don’t know who you are as a company, there’s no way that you can expect anyone else to magically figure it out. That’s why, during your first six months, it’s crucial that you begin to gain visibility as a company, and illustrate that you have clear-cut, defined goals. Before you can calculate the costs for marketing, though, be sure to determine your target audience, and then create content that will attract them.

Mark Sider, Greater Than

The most important thing for a young startup is to land a client. We know that the first 6 months of every startup are the most chaotic – from building a team and branding, scaling price and administrative work. But despite all of it, my policy is to not invest more than 6 months in something that doesn’t have a demand.

If in the first six months you can’t find one buyer, a customer, or an early adopter – anyone who will commit to using what you’re offering – then potentially, all of your investment of resources is in vain. If you’re not selling or offering something people want, and there isn’t a market demand for your product/service – you don’t have a business, you have a time-consuming hobby.

Barbara Maheshwari, CEO of RemoteBob UK

During the first six months of the start-up’s operation, focus on intensive networking and community building. First, it refers to acquiring new customers through various channels. But building a network is more than that. It is also about establishing relationships with other entrepreneurs whose activities can support yours or whose services complement yours.

Building a network also covers finding potential investors or business partners that would contribute to the start-up’s further development. But it’s also about talking with people who have been in your shoes and can offer some advice, help, or support.

To grow your network, start with traditional and social media advertising. Take part in industry events and fairs. Organize meetups with both clients and potential partners. Take advantage of online groups, communities, or forums. Don’t wait for networking opportunities; create them. This is the best way to establish your position and let people know you operate in the market.

Nina Paczka, Resume Now

Within your first six months as a startup, you should have a clear understanding of your target market, what their needs are, and the best way to reach them. By building a “Buyer Persona” for your ideal target audience, you can create laser-focused content and messaging that resonates with your audience, and helps you build a relationship with them.

To identify your ideal target customer, consider their demographics, such as age, gender, location, and income. Then, think about their needs and what they are looking for in a product or service. Finally, determine the best way to reach them, whether that’s through online advertising, social media, or word-of-mouth. Once you have a clear understanding of your target market, you can start creating targeted content and messaging that resonates with them. By building a strong relationship with your target market, you can turn them into lifelong customers.

Shawn Ryan, Techtopia

Establishing the core team is a crucial step in the first 6 months in a startup company. Roles such as product manager, financial officer, customer support, marketing manager and sales manager should be assigned to specific people in the team. For instance, the financial officer is responsible for equipment supplies, while the operations officer creates analyst reports when the company is still in survival mode. This step helps the team to be productive and accountable in steering the growth and success of the startup.

yongming Song, Imgkits- Photo Editor

One thing every startup team should do during the first 6 months is to build a culture of innovation. This means that everyone on your team has the freedom to explore new ideas, experiment with new approaches, and try out new ways of working. The main purpose of this approach is to improve your business by opening up space for experimentation and innovation—and by doing so you will see more opportunities for growth than if you only focus on your current strategy or business plan.

Frank Samson, Senior Care Authority

Statistics show that about 80% of new businesses fail within the first 18 months. The sad part is that a lot of them had incredibly innovative offerings. So, if a great product and service isn’t the key to success, what is? It truly boils down to one thing and it’s crucial it remains your only focus during the first 6 months. But first, let me share that I spent over 24 months and $50k in systems, experts and programs in order to figure this out. And most businesses that struggle have missed doing this during the first 6 months as a startup: To clearly articulate your value.

It’s easy to get distracted by new projects. But all your operations and tasks need to focus on one thing: Identify why customers should buy from you over others and clearly articulate it.

Don’t fall in the trap of skipping market research. Find and engage with your ideal client until you refine your Unique Selling Point (USP) and can clearly express it through your marketing. That’s your main and only job.

Ioni Papadakis, 9 ELEPHANTS CONSULTING INC.

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General Business

5 steps to design your 6-month business plan, nov 7, 2023.

When you think about the future of your business, what comes to mind? I’m not just talking about those fundamental goals, like increasing your revenue or becoming a go-to name in your industry.

What specific things do you want to accomplish? Are you thinking about rebranding? Will you be launching new offers or hiring more team members sometime soon? Do you have a specific revenue threshold you want to hit next year?

Looking ahead isn’t just about setting goals — it’s just as important to create a comprehensive plan to achieve those objectives. Both short-term (monthly, quarterly ) plans and long-term (yearly) plans can be valuable. However, you might also want to consider making a 6-month plan.

Half a year, two quarters — however you want to think about it, this length of time is a good middle ground between those short- and long-term goals.

Unsure how to create a 6-month business plan that doesn’t overwhelm you? I like to break it into five steps.

6-Month Planning Step #1: Take some time to reflect

First, take some time to think about what’s been happening in your business over the last few months:

What good things are happening?
What wins do you want to celebrate?
What are some of the challenges you’re dealing with?
What lessons have you learned recently?

It’s good to take some time to reflect on these questions on a regular basis. But it’s especially important to think through them before you start making plans for the next several months.

6-Month Planning Step #2: Listen to what your customers are saying

Reflecting on your business is like giving feedback to yourself. Once you’ve done that, it’s time to see what your customers are thinking and saying about your business. When was the last time you gathered feedback from your customers?

There are several ways to do this:

Send out well-designed surveys
Read comments on your blogs and social media posts
Analyze your website metrics to see which pages people spend the most time on
Look at your opt-in numbers to determine which lead magnets are most popular
Review your social media stats to see where your audience is interacting with you and your content most often

In short, you want to answer the question, “What are your people telling you?” That’s crucial information you need before you decide to spend the next six months designing new offers, changing your marketing, or adjusting your product ascension model .

6-Month Planning Step #3: Evaluate your overall business

Next, it’s time to take a big-picture look at your business. The reflection exercise you did earlier focused on smaller aspects of your business: things that have been going well (or not) recently. This step is about zooming out to evaluate the overarching elements of your business. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

Does your business’s mission still reflect your values and goals?
Has the vision for your business changed?
How is your business positioned in your market/industry?

Completing a SWOT assessment can also be valuable. SWOT stands for strengths , weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Take a minute to evaluate your business in each of these categories and make note of what you discover. Those details will be crucial when you’re identifying what you want to focus on in the next step. (Lucky for you, you’re already halfway done with this one if you spent time answering the questions in Step #1!)

6-Month Planning Step #4: Choose a focus

Now, it’s time to take all the information you’ve gathered in the previous steps and decide what you want to focus on for the next six months. What do you want to put your time and energy into over the next two quarters? What goals align with your business’s mission and feel feasible to achieve? What do you feel excited about concentrating on?

When you’re focused on the things that are exciting and aligned with your business goals, it’s harder to get distracted by every new thing that pops onto your radar. You can’t do everything at once — and trying to leads to burnout and frustration. So choose what you want to focus on, and ignore those distractions when they come along.

If you want more help clarifying your priorities and learning how to focus on them, get my free workbook on overcoming shiny object syndrome. It will help you gain clarity and overcome overwhelm. Get your free copy here .

6-Month Planning Step #5: Identify clear milestones and start project management

All right — you’ve evaluated your business and customers and identified your focus for the next six months. Now it’s time to actually get started building out those projects . Define some clear goals that you want to achieve in the next six months. Then work backward to identify clear milestones — and choose realistic dates for them.

With goals and milestones in place, you can start working toward those objectives. A well-designed project or task management system helps you oversee all the moving pieces and keep your business on track to meet those six-month goals. And if you need help knowing exactly how to do that effectively, join my Your Best Business Mastermind .

Inside, you’ll get the support, advice, leadership, and accountability you need to follow your six-month plan and reach your goals… and right now it’s just $27 for your first month.

Even if you don’t have your six-month plan in place yet, now is the perfect time to join Your Best Business. Right now, I’m offering the first month of membership for just $27 with the promo code STARTNOW. If you join right now, there’s still enough time to get guidance and support for your Black Friday sale! Don’t wait — this offer ends November 7, 2023.

Join with promo code STARTNOW to get your first month for less than $30. (If you’re reading this after November 7th, 2023, email me at [email protected] and we can chat about your first month 😉)

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What Sales Leaders Should Do in Their First 6 Months, According to HubSpot Managers

Updated: June 15, 2021

Published: November 06, 2020

A lot of the tactics and responsibilities effective sales leaders need to understand and fulfill aren't exactly intuitive. They can be tough to nail and navigate — especially if you're just settling into your role.

sales leader presenting in his first six months on the job

While there's no be-all-end-all playbook for effective sales leadership, there are some tricks and strategies you can employ early on to set yourself on the right track.

That said, resources that cover that kind of insight can be hard to find. That's why we asked some HubSpot managers to offer their perspective on how new sales leaders can get the most out of their first six months.

Here are the tips they came up with.

Things New Sales Leaders Should Do in Their First Six Months

Get to know your team, and set standards.
Assume positive intent, and try to get the same out of your team.
Don't be afraid to ask your peers for insight.
Develop an understanding of relevant data and what you'll be reporting.
Start to master the art of hiring.
Establish and commit to a pipeline.

1. Get to know your team, and set standards early on.

Sales leadership is a personal game. You need to get to know who you're managing — being too distant might undermine your ability to properly direct them.

Diarmuid Walsh, HubSpot Principal Sales Manager, said, "You need to get to know the team you manage, and make sure you start to build trust with them early on."

HubSpot Senior Director of Sales Ed Barret agreed — and also stressed the importance of making early inroads with your team.

He said, "For a sales leader to succeed, they need their team to be skilled, motivated, and clear on their objectives. That's why getting to know your team — understanding their strengths, and feeling out their weaknesses are critical to helping them (and you) succeed."

And once you establish that trust, you need to let your team know what you expect from them. Walsh advised that new sales leaders "set expectations early and begin to understand what they need to be more successful."

2. Assume positive intent, and try to get the same out of your team.

Encouraging positivity is also important for managers who want to keep morale high and build a sustainably constructive team culture. As Walsh put it, "It’s always easy to blame someone for doing something that doesn't sit right with you. When that happens, you need to pause and ask yourself the question, 'Why have they done this?'"

He suggested that "new sales leaders should take an empathetic approach with their teams. Don't immediately assume the worst of an underperforming team member."

Walsh said that "[a rep that made a mistake is] doing their job, so you should give that person the benefit of doubt. Then, talk to them and resolve your issue. Negative energy does not help a team sell more!"

3. Don't be afraid to ask your peers and higher-ups for advice.

Being a sales leader doesn't mean you don't have room to grow and more lessons to learn. One key to being an effective sales leader is projecting authority that's tempered by humility — you also need to maintain a commitment to consistent personal improvement.

That often means asking for advice. Walsh said, "Don’t be afraid to lean in and ask questions from your peers. Ideally, you'll be able to get aligned with a buddy manager who can help guide you as you grow into your role."

Your professional development doesn't end with your ascension to sales leadership. You can always be doing better — particularly in your first few months. Don't be reluctant to talk to your peers and superiors. Many will be happy to help and set you on the right course.

4. Develop an understanding of relevant data and what you'll be reporting.

Knowing how your success will be measured and the KPIs you need to focus on is central to thriving as a sales leader — and Barrett advised just as much.

He said, "Know your key funnel metrics. What's the lead-to-opp rate? What's the discovery-to-close rate? What's the demo-to-close rate? What's the sales cycle? What's your average deal size? With these figures in mind, you can plan your business and help your reps understand how they can improve theirs."

Going over reporting with your peers can also be central to nailing your first few months as a sales leader. As Walsh said, "Reporting is a key. If you have a buddy manager, work with them and sales operations to understand all necessary reports you'll be referencing. Data — like conversion rate and discount rate — is key to helping identify areas that can be improved."

He also suggested you work with your managers to better understand and approach reporting. He said, "Work with your boss, make sure you have a clear understanding of the metrics you're going to be measured on. And seek actionable feedback."

5. Start to master the art of hiring.

Your sales leadership skills will only go as far as your team can take them, so you have to surround yourself with the right kind of talent. That's why developing hiring skills is crucial to your success as a new sales manager.

As Walsh put it, "You'll need to understand and become an expert in hiring as quickly as possible. Hiring is key to success as a manager. A wrong hire can be very expensive in terms of time, effort, and money. So you have to believe in and understand the hiring process."

But how do you get there? What does it take to become an exemplary hirer? Well, as Walsh framed it, the necessary insight often comes from your peers. He said, "Pay close attention to your colleagues' feedback when they interview candidates for your team."

You also need to know your sales org and the qualities that define the reps that keep it running smoothly. He argued you need to "understand the skills and attributes that you want to hire for — as well as the questions you need to ask to uncover them."

Once you understand what you want out of a candidate, Walsh suggests "working closely with your recruitment consultant and giving clear instruction on the qualities you are seeking."

6. Establish and commit to a pipeline.

Salespeople need a framework to operate by. There has to be some established structure and progression reps can reference to understand how they're performing at any given time and how they should proceed when they find themselves in tricky positions.

Putting a solid, functional, accessible pipeline in place and developing a routine to keep it full are absolute musts for new sales leaders.

As Barret put it, "Salespeople can't close if they don't have a pipeline. Building a pipeline early — so your team has deals to work on — is critical. If you don't build a pipeline, no amount of closing coaching will help."

For some insight beyond these tips, we also reached out to Dan Tyre, HubSpot Sales Director, for his take on how new sales leaders should take on their new positions. Here's the four-point framework he offered.

HubSpot Sales Director Dan Tyre's Four-Point Framework for Successful New Sales Leaders

1. learn about your team members..

According to Dan, "The first six months are the most critical of any professional relationship. They're when people form ideas, opinions, and connections, so getting off to a good start is important. The first time I meet someone on the sales team I ask, 'Tell me about you,' or 'What's your deal' — because I want to understand a bit about their background and experiences."

2. Start to build trust by learning how they want to build trust.

From there, Dan recommends working with your reps to build trust.

He says, "Trust is important in any relationship. I would go so far as to say if you don't have trust, you don't have a relationship — and I think most people would agree. So I ask my team, 'How do you want to build trust?' That question freaks a lot of people out. They usually respond, 'Ah...I don't know.' And I respond, 'please think about it, and let me know the best way for us to do it.'

3. "What kind of manager do you want me to be?"

After that, Dan poses what he refers to as "another weird question".

He asks, " 'What kind of manager do you want me to be?' New salespeople usually say something like 'a good one,' and I respond by saying — without any lack of ego — 'I am the best manager ever , and a manager today has to be responsive to the team. So think about the best and worst managers you've ever had. Then, tell me exactly what you need.'

He said he "encourages them to think about factors like the frequency of one on one meetings, if they need me to praise them in public or private, how they can work with him to find their motivation, and, finally, the best way for me to get them to be the best person and producer they can possibly be."'

4. Cover how to set goals with your team.

The last part of Dan's four-point framework has to do with goal-setting.

He says, "I ask my sales team if they set goals — I tell them the science behind goal-setting and share my annual and five-year goals. From there, I try to see if they are comfortable sharing their goals. That way they know that I know what their aspirations are, so I can help them craft their career from there."

A new sales leadership role can be imposing, but thriving in one is far from impossible. There are plenty of strategies you can leverage to boost morale, establish a productive work culture, build and grow an exceptional team, and generate sustainable success.

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Use this template to set up a 30/60/90 day sales training and onboarding plan.

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More From Forbes

7 tips for achieving 300 percent business growth in six months.

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Who doesn't want to effectively grow their online business? What if you aimed for 300% business growth and wanted to achieve it in six months? It's a very ambitious goal, to say the least, but one that is far from impossible.

If you’ve just purchased a new online business, one of your first priorities should be to focus on a growth plan. Get to know your business inside out and create a business plan focused on growth and expansion. If you have owned an online business for a while, you might also want to consider the following tips in order to grow your business.

Follow A Strategic Growth Plan

The first step to growing a business is establishing a proper growth plan. Without a strong and clear growth strategy, how are you supposed to plan your next move? Improvisation is really not the way to go when it comes to business and finances.

Create a structured and a specific growth plan for your online business. This document should contain defined strategies, such as key performance indicators, revenue streams and market expansion strategies.

If you’ve just acquired a new online business, get in touch with the previous owner. Ask the seller about his growth strategies and consider a transition plan. After all, the seller probably knows your business better than you do at that point.

Don’t Try To Fix What’s Not Broken

Sometimes entrepreneurs lose quite some time trying to fix components that are completely functional. There’s nothing wrong with trying to improve certain parts of your business, but this shouldn’t be your main focus. You simply shouldn’t try to fix what’s not broken because chances are you might end up breaking it yourself. If that happens, you’ll have a new problem to solve, when you already have enough issues to deal with.

Think Big And Aim Higher

Playing it safe is generally a decent strategy in life. But in the business world, you need to think big if you want your business to go anywhere. It’s quite difficult to try and implement a growth plan when you’re aiming for mediocre results.

Always set challenges for your business. Aim higher and you might even surpass your own expectations. In the end, you are the archenemy of your own business. Do not restrict it to mediocrity. Move it toward innovation and expansion.

Increase the stakes, be ambitious and don’t be afraid to take risks. But always retain your sense of reality so that you don’t set unrealistic goals for your online business. In order to remain focused and grounded in reality, evaluate your most recent results when setting your goals.

Look For Growth Opportunities

This is a matter that many online business owners do not include in their business plans, despite the fact that growth opportunities are crucial for achieving high growth rates. It is a rather obvious strategy, but it’s not always that simple to implement. As such, actively look for growth opportunities in whatever business tasks you perform. Sometimes a small detail can turn out to be a massive turning point for your entire business. Turn missed opportunities to your advantage.

No matter how unpromising a growth opportunity might look to you at first, consider each and every one of them. Explore what hasn’t yet been explored. Execute what hasn’t yet been executed.

Listen To Customer Feedback

Key performance indicators (KPIs) can provide you with reliable and vital information about your business, but there’s probably nothing better than listening to what your customers have to say. If you want to develop your business successfully, evaluate customer feedback regularly. There are many ways to retrieve this information directly from your users or clients. Reviews are probably the most popular strategy. Customer surveys and live chat support are two other methods for retrieving direct feedback from your audience. Once you have a representative sample, you can start adjusting your business plan and your growth strategies.

Keep Your Business Deals Transparent

If you’re looking forward to reaching new markets and expanding your business, you should look into your documentation. Are you compliant? Do you keep all of your receipts? Do you keep your contracts safe? Keeping and organizing all your business documentation can make your life much easier in the long run. This also allows you to easily negotiate with potential new partners and retailers.

Besides, if you ever consider selling your online business in the future, you can easily create an effective exit plan. Otherwise, it’ll take you a while to get all of the documentation in order and that can damage your asking price.

Once you have a growth plan in motion, it’s time to review your growth strategies. What’s working right now? What’s not working at all? You must be willing to try new things, to risk more than you have in the past and to be diligent with your choices. If you find a growth strategy that works for your online business use it as much as possible. The trick here is to maintain and improve what’s and eliminate what’s dragging you down.

One Step Away From 300% Business Growth

Give yourself a reality check while still aiming big. Listen to your customers, and most importantly, be persistent and train your brain to spot growth opportunities on a regular basis.

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First Six Months Plan Template

In the previous blog post, we learned about how transformational leadership is needed in any kind of renewal process. Sometimes the number of tasks and the complexity can seem overwhelming. That is where a concise one-page First Six Months Plan Template can give you an easy-to-follow guideline to make sure you don’t leave out any important parts.

The template is organized as a matrix with time across the top and areas along the vertical axis. Because there will be many things you do not know initially, the timeline provides greater clarity in greater detail in the short term and is “fuzzier” as you approach the six-month milestone. So, for example, typical timelines would be: First Two Weeks, Second Two Weeks, Second Month, Months 3-4, Months 5-6. The rows consist of the key areas that will need investigation. While this will be dependent on the specific situation, typical categories would include “Strategy”, “Financials”, “Personnel”, “Customers”, “Sales”, “Services”, and “Operations”.

In most cases, a good First Six Months Plan Template will result in clear visibility to your board or management, and a reputation will be established for both accomplishment and transparency. The First Six Months Plan Template is a living document. As time progresses, it should serve as a tracking mechanism for milestones met or not met, using simple visual clues. For example, highlight completed items in green, incomplete items in red or yellow, deleted items crossed out. You can even make your Six Months Plan accessible online, with click-able details for each item.

As the first six months come to an end, a smooth transition to a Rolling Twelve-Month Plan as described in the section on 3×3 Process for Business Transformation will ensure continued progress.

Read previous post here . Check out the next post in the sequence.

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How To Grow Your Business in 6 Months

by Claire Bahn

In 2019, I was at a point where I knew I needed my business to expand. Despite being in the personal branding space for over a decade, my approach to clients always came from my company’s perspective. Based on my experience, I’m telling you that you need to get rid of the company branding if you want to grow your business.

It’s been a while since I’ve talked to you about these facts, but even in 2021, it’s still true that 92% of people trust recommendations from individuals (even if they don’t know them) over brands.

The reason my company brand approach for Online Profile Pros quit reeling in as many clients as it did back in 2010 is because of the switch to personal branding. That’s why, over the last year or so, I’ve rebranded all of my businesses to have a personal approach— me!

Since taking this approach, I’ve been able to generate consistent client discovery calls and conversions than I ever did with my company brand. However, a lot of work went on behind the scenes. It took a lot more than my friendly face to get my companies where they are now.

RELATED: HOW TO REBRAND YOURSELF – MY EXPERIENCE

These past six months for me have been the most profitable. Not only have I fine-tuned my process enough to build my team, but I have leads coming to me passively and actively.

And you need both if you want your brand to thrive and succeed.

Do you want to attract more clients and boost revenue?

So what did I do these past six months to help my business grow? Below are the first three things I did (keep in mind, you need to be consistent in your branding and marketing before you can move on to the last few steps).

1. Define Your Personal Brand

As cliche as it might sounds, being yourself is the only way to market yourself in 2021. If you want to grow your business, you need to define who you are and what you want your brand to do for others.

I’ve taken on a handful of clients whose marketing wasn’t consistent with who they are as a person. This left them feeling little passion for their business because their messaging didn’t resonate. It might not sound like a huge deal (fake it till you make it, right?), but it is. You wouldn’t build a seafood restaurant and then name it Burger Palace because burgers seem to sell more. So don’t brand yourself as a charismatic CEO when, in real life, you’re more of a blunt, no-nonsense type of talker.

The way you portray yourself matters. Do it honestly, and you can grow your business. Pretend to be someone else, and you’ll be inconsistent, unfulfilled, and slow to develop.

I have plenty of blogs on building your personal brand, but here are my favorite methods:

RELATED: THE FIRST 5 THINGS YOU SHOULD DO WHEN BUILDING YOUR BRAND

Create Your Personal Branding Statement

I have an easy formula for writing a personal brand statement that sells. This is essentially your elevator pitch but in a single sentence. You need to explain your expertise, your client’s pain points, and the transition you help people go through.

Figure Out Your Content Pillars

Your content pillars will be the topics you speak on the most. If you’re an author, you should have the expertise to talk about grammar, writing techniques, and maybe self-publishing.

These content pillars will be the topics you speak on the most. This makes creating content easy which means you’ll be consistent and reliable.

Research SEO Keywords

Once you know your personal brand’s area of expertise, it’s time to dig into the research. Besides slight competition research, the big goal here is to know your SEO keywords. These keywords should appear in your blogs, YouTube videos, copy, and social media content.

Start Creating Long-Form Content

Now, most importantly, it’s time to start creating content for your audiences. Social media I a great place to start trying to grow your brand, but remember you need your own platform.

Long-form content lets the audience get to like and know you. And if you’re consistent, then they’ll be able to trust you. Long-form content is typically blogs, YouTube videos, or a podcast.

RELATED: HOW TO CREATE A STRONG SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT STRATEGY

2. Draw Up Your Business Plan To Grow Your Business

The next step is to write your business plan. You want to do this second because you need to determine your personal goals (aka your personal brand) to know what you what to do.

Now, we’re going to map out where you want to go.

Ideal Client Persona

If you’re looking to grow your business, you need to understand your target audience. By picking your personal brand’s content pillars, you know what you want to talk about. But why does your audience want to learn these things, and how can you help them solve their problems?

The only way to determine this is to know who your audience is. Figure out your target demographic (age, gender, and location). More importantly, imagine what these people dream about and struggle with daily.

Monetary Goals

Your business, ideally, is going to take you from a side hustle to a full-time entrepreneur. And if you already have your foot in the door, this will help you scale your business.

Be realistic about these goals. Figure out what you need to charge based on your expertise and time spent on projects. Remember to factor in expenses such as monthly memberships or a CPA. Then, outline your revenue goals for every quarter.

Plan Your Social Media Schedule

Just like your monetary business plan goals, your social media schedule should be realistic. If you’re new to entrepreneurship, you shouldn’t expect to hit $10K months in your first quarter. And if you’re new to social media, you shouldn’t expect yourself to be on every social media platform and post three times a day.

RELATED: 5 STEPS TO DEVELOPING A PERSONAL BRAND FOR BEGINNERS

3. Inbound and Outbound Marketing

Boosting your business is all about how well you market. With your personal brand, marketing can be a breeze— if you know where to start.

Inbound Marketing

This is where most new personal brands start. This is organic marketing, including SEO blogs, content marketing, and using strategic hashtags on Instagram.

Organic marketing can go a long way to grow your business. However, the best way to get people to trust your brand is to showcase client testimonials, reviews, and social proof routinely.

One thing that is undeniable when it comes to organic marketing is the success of video.

Video content marketing acts fast to bring you in leads for your business. One study finds , “54% of consumers would like to see video content from the brands they support.” So remember that long-form content we discussed? YouTube videos are a great way to see a quick Return On Investment.

Outbound Marketing

Outbound marketing typically refers to paid advertising, but it doesn’t have to. With your personal brand defined and a content strategy in place, now is the time to build outward confidence in what you have to offer.

This is when you want to reach out to your sphere of influence for referrals. It also means kicking ass at networking events . And if you’re like me (a business owner stuck in California), then networking online maybe your online option. Attend digital conferences, genuinely converse with your ideal client on social media direct massagers, and start booking those sales calls.

Next Steps: How To Grow Your Business After Hitting Your Goals

Here’s where I want you to stop.

You should solidify these first three steps in your first three months with your new personal brand. Yes, you can change things slightly as your brand grows, but these are the building blocks that set up your business’s entire foundation.

These next steps will take place over three months, thus completing your six-month business growth cycle. But ask yourself if you’re really ready to move forward.

I know that you’re impatient to grow your business, but jumping into it before you’re ready is never the answer.

Before you move forward with what I have for you down below, go back and look over Steps 1-3. Are you resonating with the personal brand your promoting on social media? No? Tweak it a bit and start again.

Is your ideal client resonating with your personal brand enough to buy from you? You’ll know if they are because of your business plan. If you haven’t hit a single monetary goal, don’t move forward quite yet. Go through the first three steps again and see how things look in 3-6 months down the line.

When things are looking good in terms of your business growth, now you’re ready to scale. Here’s how:

No matter how hard you try, you can’t grow your business without support. It’s up to you where you outsource first. I recommend hiring someone to do the work you’re not good at or that you don’t enjoy doing. I enjoy hiring copywriters, social media managers, and marketing managers for my business. However, your first outsourcing gigs will typically be virtual assistants (VA), graphic designers, or personal branding strategist.

Ads are only a good idea if you know who your ideal client is. Social media and Google ads depend on this knowledge for you to see an ROI for your paid ads. That’s why this is one of the last steps to grow your business— to avoid losing thousands of dollars with arbitrary ads,

RELATED: 4 REASONS YOU NEED VIDEO CONTENT MARKETING FOR YOUR PERSONAL BRAND

Book Press or Speaking Gigs

Since you’ve already worked on networking and content marketing tactics for your inner circle, it’s time to branch out.

Getting your name in the press serves two purposes. One is because it looks impressive. That’s that social proof that you need to be sharing on social media. The second reason is that it helps you reach new audiences.

Speaking gig opportunities are also two-fold. It puts you in front of an audience who inherently like, know, and trust you Plus, speaking gigs can be paid positions for your personal brand. Do well, and this can be an easy way to supplement your income.

You can hire a PR firm to book your speaking gigs or help you with press opportunities. There is also plenty of ways you can do this yourself. Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is the perfect platform to pitch your expertise to journalists.

Likewise, if you’re good at copywriting, it’s easy to pitch yourself to podcast hosts with an episode idea. Podcasts are always looking for guest speakers, so there’s no shame in reaching out to them.

Create Courses or Write a Book

And finally, the most tell-tale sign that you’ve made something of yourself these days is having your own online course. However, I don’t recommend doing this before you’re hitting your monthly revenue goals with clients or products.

Once you have a flawless system and consistent income, you can use your growing audience base to bring in more money for your business. Courses can range anywhere from$100 to over $1,000 per person. That’s a huge opportunity to boost your business revenue and goals.

If video is not your thing, you can always write a book. You shouldn’t come to this decision lightly, though. Anyone can publish a book, but it takes a lot of work to earn a living (or even supplemental income) from it. That’s what being loyal to your personal brand and knowing your audience is paramount to your business’ success from beginning to end. If you’ve done it well and you do decide to write a book, you’ll have an audience waiting to pre-order.

And writing the book will be easier.

Do you want to attract more clients and boost revenue? Learn how to position yourself as an expert, grow your audience, and attract the right clients. Watch my FREE Personal Branding Masterclass today.

how to grow your business , how to grow your business online , how to grow your business with your personal brand

Claire Bahn

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100 Day Plan for Leaders New in Role (Examples + Template)

When I dropped my son off at school on his first day of kindergarten, he looked at me and said, “I can’t wait to not be new anymore.” Thinking about the many people changing roles and companies these days, I can’t help but wonder how many may be counting the days until they’re not new anymore, too.

No matter how many years of experience a person has – even the most senior of leaders – being the “newbie” is daunting for most and hard enough that many avoid taking the new job in the first place. Add to it the complexity of the workplace these days – exhausted teams, workforce shortages, supply chain and business disruption, the war for talent, and constantly shifting ways of working and connecting as teams and organizations – being a leader in a new role is even more challenging.

For those talented and brave souls venturing to new roles and opportunities, congratulations. Instead of a new coffee mug or new decoration for your Zoom background (or at least, in addition to it), give yourself the gift of preparedness so you make the most of your first months on the job and set yourself up for success.

Is a 100 Day Plan Necessary for Leaders New in Role?

In short, yes. As a newly appointed leader, it’s easy to fall into the trap of waiting for the dust to settle – for you to get comfortable in your role and get a lay of the land, for your employees and teams to get accustomed to having a new leader before you start making any plans. However, waiting to form your plan means you lose the opportunity to set the right tone from the start by being purposeful, organized, and action-oriented.

What is a 100 Day Plan for New Leaders?

A 100 Day Plan is an action plan to guide executive leaders through their first critical months in a new role – outlining strategies and tactics to identify and engage key stakeholders and to build relationships, understand the business, set goals, and gain traction quickly so you can set up a foundation for long-term success in an organization.

While a plan needs to be customized for each leader – and you can download a 100 Day Plan Template here to get started – our experience points to six critical strategies all leaders can deploy to ace their first 100 days regardless of industry or function.

What should a 100 Day Plan include?

While a 100 Day Plan for executive leaders in a new role can take on many forms and is as unique as the business challenges leaders face, there are some core components that the best plans have. Use this 100 Day Plan example framework as a guide:

Situation Summary – Outline the current business landscape, strengths, opportunities and other important headlines that capture the context you’re stepping into as the leader in your role. This might include the state of engagement at your organization, cost pressures, how employees perceive you as the new leader and more. Take an employee-centric point of view by key audience segments and then try to understand the challenge they need to overcome in today’s environment. You may need to set up informational interviews with a few key colleagues to help confirm some of your assumptions and to highlight details that you wouldn’t yet know.
Longer-term: What do you want people to say about you and the business 18 months from now and what are some of the big actions you might consider taking to make your vision a reality?
Near-term: Where do you want to be 100 days in on the job? What impact do you want to have made and how does that line up with your longer-term goals? List your goals, ensuring there are business metrics and relationship goals.
Evolve the vision and goals for the organization’s future (if needed)
Retain top talent
Know : What facts do they need from me? What new information can I provide them? Examples: Key milestones I’m setting, changes from how the role was previously defined and new priorities / expectations I’m establishing .
Feel: What do I want to be top of mind when they walk away from meeting with me? What pain point are they currently experiencing that I might be able to begin alleviating? Example: Confidence in the path forward, comfort in their ability to talk to me.
Do: Is there an action that you need them to take right now? Is there a behavior that you want to see them demonstrate going forward? Example: Share the information you’ve provided them with their team, commit to asking questions and keeping the lines of communication open and adopt a mindset that assumes good intent even when faced with challenges or times of change.
Key Messages – Articulate what the main messages are that you want to convey as you get to know your various key stakeholders. These may be key themes that you know you want to highlight about your leadership style and vision for the role, high-level examples of how you view your function tying into broader company goals and strategies, or a list of commitments you are making to your staff and the actions you are asking them to take while you settle in.
Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Plan – Make a plan for how you’ll purposefully reach your stakeholders and how you’ll communicate over time to accomplish your goals. When you consider your stakeholders, think about big “centers of gravity” so you can separate out how to allocate time and where you can have the greatest impact by investing time and energy. Also, consider what key relationships you need to build because they’re critical to establishing bridges and sponsorship across the organization. Look for communication channels that already exist so you can simply plug in without having to build infrastructure – don’t underestimate the value of informal conversations and small group huddles as a powerful vehicle while people are getting to know you.
Quick Win Tactics – Identify opportunities to generate quick and meaningful wins that demonstrate progress toward your overall goals. It is easy for leaders to get caught up in the long game, focusing on the notable impact they aspire to make within a business, but it’s the small wins along the way that both give you something to celebrate and help your stakeholders appreciate the impact you are already making.
Measures for Success – Consider how you’ll know when success is achieved. Identify the metrics and how you’ll monitor progress – remember, this is a 100 Day Plan, so the metrics should fit accordingly with that timeline. For example, a measure could be around moving sentiment – such as belief in the company, confidence and optimism in the future, and clarity around where we’re heading and why. Use the progress in your stakeholder engagement and communication plans to show momentum.

Want help getting started? Download our free 100 Day Plan Template .

Click to download the free 100 Day Plan Template

100 Day Plan Example – Your 3 Month Action Plan

The following is a sample 100 Day Plan that shows how to quickly and strategically build out your approach. You can simply customize this list, or you can use the list for inspiration to develop a more detailed plan in alignment with your or your new organization’s preferred format.

Before you get started:

Continue to learn as much as you can about the organization and your team
Have pre-meetings with identified stakeholders to discuss the game plan and listen for key expectations, core issues and opportunities
Begin to map key stakeholders
Get briefed on the employee, culture and communication landscape (set up an initial meeting with the Communications team, if possible)
Consider having an informal visit with your new team over breakfast or lunch
Prepare your elevator speech and/or your initial message platform
Create a list for your Listening plans, outlining who all you need to meet with to hear perspectives, observe and tap for insights; set up meetings with key stakeholders (including senior leaders, peers, direct reports and skip-level reports/teams) ; if you don’t yet know their names, list their roles to prompt you to then find out the right point of contact
Begin your listening “tour;” reinforce that you’re hearing what people are saying and make a point to circle back with anyone who asked a question that you couldn’t answer in the moment
Connect with Communications and HR partners to understand the company culture and how communication happens
Set the stage with your team and stakeholders with what to expect these first days and weeks, including what to continue to focus on and do
Identify key contributors and any key people who are flight risks on your team and engage with them, including conducting stay interviews
Actively participate in company onboarding so you experience what others also experience
Continue listening tour
Work with team members to codify strategy; involve people representing a cross-section of the organization whenever possible
Identify communication channels you’ll regularly use to share updates on what you’re hearing, doing and thinking in advance of the formal launch of your communications plan
Finalize your strategy and plan and socialize with key stakeholders for alignment
Develop a communication plan for playback of listening and to share strategy going forward
Refresh key messages and leader platform
Implement communication plan
Continue a steady cadence of employee listening, and update/amend the plan and messages in real-time based on new, viable insights that come from listening and any key changes within the business or your work environment

6 Strategies to Learn and Lead in Your First 100 Days

From our years of experience working with senior leaders as they navigate being new in their role while leading teams and organizations, we’ve compiled a list of six strategies that will help you learn while leading yourself and others with confidence and credibility.

1. Study up

Learn everything there is about the team or company you’re joining, but also spend the time where it counts so you don’t get caught up in analysis paralysis. Have a game plan leading up to your start date for what you need to know to hit the ground running, what you can learn along the way and how you want to get immersed. There’s plenty you can read online, but there’s so much more you can learn from inside the organization, especially by speaking with those who have the pulse.

Get to know the Communications and HR/People/Culture teams early on because they likely have a wealth of information about employee mindsets, hot-button issues and the best ways to reach and interact with employees. Many Communications teams we work with would be happy to help you know how information flows in the organization and what channels are best for leaders like you to get information and communicate effectively with your teams.

When an incoming senior executive was getting ready to join the organization, we partnered with the Communications team to develop an executive briefing book on the state of the workforce and how communication happens inside the company. There was a briefing meeting, great discussion and an opportunity for the leader to get to know the Communications team as they discussed shared needs and expectations so the leader could get connected and communicate effectively with key audiences. All of this led to a better, more actionable 100 Day Plan.

2. Figure out where to start

The first months are an exercise in drinking from a fire hose. Prioritizing is essential, but it can be hard to know where to start. Many leaders we’ve worked with have found it helpful to have a “working session.” In those sessions, we work with the leader to sort through critical business and communication demands and needs and then map their 100 Day Plan – with a particular eye on the next 30 days. These sessions give the leader a chance to step out of the day-to-day, assess the situation, determine priorities and frame a practical action plan for how to spend their time – always with business outcomes and stakeholder needs in mind. This session also sets the foundation for the key messages to convey and what to communicate and when.

3. Hit the road

Get out of your office . Whether you’re rounding, doing listening tours, road shows or coffees, get in front of as many people as you can so you get to know people across levels and roles in the organization. There’s nothing like being in person to ask questions, surface ideas and stories, read the room, feel the vibe and get a sense of what’s being said (and not said). If you can’t be in person, do your best to hit the road virtually with virtual office visits, coffees and the like. Make a commitment to visit those teams and sites as soon as possible when you can. This one is easy to put on the back burner, so make a point to schedule a set number of meet-and-greets per week to hold yourself accountable.

Asking questions during your onsite or virtual meetings is an important part of your listening. The best leaders lead by listening . They seek to understand, not to judge, and make this a regular part of how they lead. Find out why things are the way they are. Get to know people’s stories. Ask them what gets them excited to come to work, and what pain points or barriers they see and experience that get in the way. Make it about them, while also giving them a window into who you are.

As important as listening is, that doesn’t mean you can’t also share your story. As a leader, people need to know you first before they’ll get on board with your vision or strategy. Help them know who you are as a person and as a leader – what gets you excited, why you want to be a part of the team, how people who know you best describe you, what principles you live by and what brings you joy outside of work. All these things give others a chance to know you, how you tick and how you think about the world, which gives them a chance to have a human connection with you and to be able to help you deliver on your vision.

Another key part of sharing your story is being ready with your elevator speech and core messages. The elevator speech is the main message that you want to convey succinctly to your key stakeholders and audiences. Have your story ready and use it regularly from day one. You may customize this a bit for your various audiences and over time, but there’s power in being consistent overall.

Determining your Elevator Speech as a Leader New in Role

Keep it short and make it conversational. Speak to what your role is and how you’ve been here before in your previous role. Write it out so you’re thoughtful about what you want to convey. This is how many people will first remember you. For example:

Example Elevator Speech 1:

I’ve seen the power of transforming the employee experience and am excited to lead our team as we make it happen here together.

This says you know employee experience and that you’ve been here before, which speaks to credibility and confidence in the role and where you’re going to take the team.
This shows that you’re bringing energy and enthusiasm, and that you want to be part of the team because you view yourselves on a common journey aimed at getting results. This is motivating, speaks to a shared end game, and reinforces camaraderie and collaboration.

Example Elevator Speech 2:

Having a child with medical issues, I have immense appreciation for how much work goes into making great healthcare possible . I’m grateful to be part of this team and to partner together with you to improve access to great care for those we serve.

Self discloses something personal and relatable, and establishes that this is a field of work that the person respects and appreciates.
Sharing gratitude signals a person with character, humility and heart.
Speaks to leading the team as colleagues, not subordinates, and that we’re in this together.
Signals a vision of what’s possible that you want the team to work toward.

For senior-most executives, a best practice is having your own leadership message platform. Much like a “stump speech” for politicians, this is a set of key messages and stories to help you tell your story in a way that connects to your audiences and drives line of sight and engagement. It’s a useful tool for driving message consistency across communications and channels, as well as for saving time preparing for meetings and communications (for both the leader and the communicators who support them).

When leaders are new in role, the method of developing this platform is especially powerful in helping leaders think purposefully about how to articulate their story, their vision and their approach to shaping the strategy.

4. Have a stakeholder engagement and communication plan

The complement to your core messages is an engagement and communication plan. Whether you’re preparing your own, or have the support of your Communications team, this is a must so that you are intentional in your first 100 days (and beyond) about which stakeholders and audiences you are reaching, the best approach to do so and the outcome you want to see.

Take a few minutes to follow this 5-step method to plan your communication:

OUTCOME: What’s the business goal for your engagement and outreach? As a leader new in role, your business goal may be to keep people focused on the current strategy, while you listen and determine the path forward. Or perhaps you need to stabilize the business and/or team. Whatever the situation, pinpoint what your business outcome is for the first 100 days.
AUDIENCE: Who are the key audiences you need to engage and where are they coming from? Different audiences will have different perceptions and information needs – and the more you know about each, the more effective you’ll be at connecting with them and ultimately moving them to action. If you discover that you don’t know much about some audiences, it’s a signal you need to go and get to know them more.
Why (rationale and context)
What (what’s happening and what to focus on for now)
When (a sense of timing for what’s happening and what’s to come)
How (how you’re approaching the coming weeks, how they can help, how you’ll use their insights to develop your action plan)
Who (who you are, what brings you here, what’s important to you, what they can expect from you and what you expect from them)
WIIFM (what’s in it for “me” – in other words, what all of this means for them)
METHOD: What’s the best way to reach them? Map your plan for how to connect with people in ways that foster conversation and the ability to share information freely and candidly. In-person is ideal. Consider where you need one-on-one conversations vs. where small group sessions or larger sessions – such as town halls – can be helpful. Maybe there are feedback channels you want to use or initiate. Consider the mix of methods.
MEASURE: How do you know if the plan is working? You can learn a lot about what’s working based on the nature of the conversations you’re having, whether you sense people are sharing their views openly and the questions you’re getting. Engage your direct reports and Communications team to share insights and feedback on what they’re hearing. Consider whether informal or formal pulse checks would be useful to get a sense of things as well.

TIP: Having a stakeholder engagement and communication plan is a critical tool beyond your first 100 days, too. The best leaders are always purposeful about how they stay connected with stakeholders and audiences and how they’re showing up regularly through communications.

Click to download the Take 5 Planning Template

5. Resist the urge to make change right away

Most leaders are hired to be change agents, so it’s counterintuitive to say don’t come in and change things right away. Even if you think you know what needs to change, try to avoid making big changes in those first 100 days as it can usually cause more harm than help.

Typically, leaders use the first 100 days to listen and formulate an informed strategy, gain key stakeholder buy-in, and then they roll out the strategy in a thoughtful way, so the right audiences are reached at the right time and with the right message. To the greatest extent possible, let others be part of the strategy shaping so it’s the collective plan, not “your” plan alone. WATCH OUT: Without adequate upfront listening in the first 100 days, there’s an assumption that the leader may be uninterested, uninformed or misaligned with the company’s heritage, culture and people. Any which way, it’s a bad look, and it hinders your and the team’s ability to get things done if you come out of the gate with your mind made up about what needs to happen.

There are a few exceptions when making changes in the first 100 days could be the right option. Perhaps there are things you’ve heard and seen that are clearly broken and getting in the way of the employee experience that could be fixed right away and that signal your focus on the people. Or, perhaps something is happening that’s putting the organization at major risk and cannot wait for action. In those cases, immediate change may be the answer to stop the bleeding and/or to signal important and meaningful change right away.

Engage key stakeholders who have institutional perspective in the planning so you’re aware of blind spots or bright spots and leverage your Communications team so what’s communicated is done in the right way and casts a positive light on your approach and intention.

6. Be yourself

All eyes are on you as the new manager or leader, especially those first 100 days, and people are searching for meaning in everything you do (or don’t do). Consider your leadership style and what has served you well and will continue to serve you. Bring that forward with intentionality in how you show up. Check the old habits or ways of working that may not have been as effective at the door. Communicate with purpose.

Lead with heart – knowing that the best leaders today are those who bring authenticity, empathy and humanity to the workplace, so teams can be their best selves and deliver on their mission and goals in the best way.

Empathy is not a “soft” skill

Leaders who practice empathy have more engaged and higher-performing teams, as well as more profitable businesses overall. (Catalyst research study: “The Power of Empathy in Times of Crisis and Beyond,” Sept 2021)

79% of US workers agree empathetic leadership decreases employee turnover. (EY Consulting survey, Oct. 2021)
85% of employees report that empathetic leadership in the workplace increases productivity. (EY Consulting survey, Oct. 2021)

The Bottom Line

Being an executive leader in a new role comes with big responsibility and a lot of hard work. With the right preparation and thoughtful approach to how you lead and communicate in your first 100 days – and year – you can make your first weeks and months ones that recharge, inspire, motivate and chart the path for great work together to accomplish your goals and strengthen your company’s future.

Don’t feel you need to do this important work on your own. Let those with expertise in these areas partner with you so you can elevate your presence, focus your time where you can have the greatest impact on the business, and achieve the results you want faster and better. If you’d like to discuss ways we can help you get quick wins and plan for long-term impact, contact us today.

—Kate Bushnell

Set the right tone in your new role from the start by being purposeful, organized, and action-oriented with the help of this 100 Day Plan Template. Click the image below to download the 100 Day Plan Template today!

Click to download the 100 Day Plan Template today

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Other posts you might be interested in, 4 ways to differentiate communication from information, internal communications plan: 7-step strategy and template, leading with heart: heart first leadership is key to making an impact in business today, subscribe to the leadercommunicator blog.

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How To Survive And Dominate The First 6 Months Of Your New Business

The first few months of setting out to start, run, and grow a successful new business can be the most challenging period of an entrepreneur’s journey. Most times it spans beyond the 6 months gestation period, but the founder’s resilience and wit to reach a fine line between building a great product and growing a large number of customers who desperately need the solution it offers is key to surviving the first 6 months and even more, for any new startup.

So much investment, time, focus, and energy is put into this early period. The essence of survival and growth is more than emphasized at this stage, and the ability to break things, make mistakes, and quickly move on from them, will have you better experienced and vastly informed to determine what your target audience wants and doesn’t, in the shortest possible time.

But before you set out to launch that new startup, here are some things you should do first:

See also: How to Succeed as a Female Entrepreneur In Any Part Of the World

1). Carry Out A Research:

A preliminary market research is a key to knowing the potential size of your target market, what percentage of them needs your products or services, their age brackets, demographics, gender, average income, and more.

Carrying out a research lays the facts on the table and gives you a clearer picture of what to expect or not from the industry your new startup is setting out to potentially disrupt.

2). Draw Up a Business Plan or Maybe Not:

There are many cases where a business plan is required, and there are even many more cases where a business plan isn’t required. Depending on the industry, your fundraising methods, and what you intend to achieve, you may be required to prepare a business plan or not.

For instance, banks and even some venture capitalists may require that you submit a business plan to them for a review before they may even think of making any financial commitments to your business. In other instances, investors just want a pitch deck that answers a few questions and shows your potential growth path and metrics.

For a large part of the time, you won’t be required to write a business plan since your initial focus would be far-off getting a bank credit to run your new business, but focused rather on ensuring you have a direction at the beginning; prompting your team to come up with a plan that makes the take off as smooth as possible.

See Also: 10 Key Reasons To Write A Business Plan

How Then Do You Survive Your First 6 Months?

With hundreds of entrepreneurs launching a new business every day only to end up on the wrong side of history for other businesses to learn from, here are 10 ways to survive and dominate the first 6 months of your new startup:

1). Make Mistakes Fast:

Everyone dreads failure. No matter how it’s presented, there’s hardly ever going to be a person willingly waiting in line to be hit by it. But great entrepreneurs know their greatest fears shouldn’t be failing, but not failing on time.

Every failure is a lesson. It teaches you one way that doesn’t work. And for every time you miss an opportunity to get it right, you come out smarter than you previously were.

Making mistakes fast will let you know what works and doesn’t work for your new startup, sooner than later. It will help you jump by leaps and bounds, as fast you can, and will position your business for growth within the shortest possible time.

If you’re a new startup that’s just going through its first ride in the real world, making mistakes fast could be one of the best decisions you’d ever make.

See Also: Warning Signs That Your Startup Is Growing Too Fast

2). Only Work With People Who Believe In Your Vision:

You can only go as far as your team. If they’re not as smart as is needed or as visionary as you are, when they reach the limit of their imaginations or motivation, your new startup would get stuck and trouble will set in.

When choosing co-founders or hiring employees, only go with people who completely believe in your vision. Steer clear of those whose knack for doubt and sheer disbelief is next to none. Their attitudes are contagious, and within a short time, could get every other member of your team in panic mode and asking questions that do nothing but breed fear and discouragement.

The right people will always help you go as far as possible. They hold you up when you’re down, come up with ideas to take a new customer acquisition approach, and can easily replace you in the business if a sudden need arises. Their personal goals are to ensure the success of the startup, and their actions coupled with their convictions are only always geared towards achieving a successful turnout of events.

3). Set A Budget:

Budgeting is one of the most overlooked topics by many new and growing startups. They spend their capital as it pleases them, after all, Startup B is doing the same. They focus more on looking cool for the media at the expense of sustaining their cash base, and when they realize they’re almost out of money, the reality of the cold startup world hits them, causing the team to scamper around in search of even more investors.

The thing with money is if you can’t measure it, you can’t control it. A budget is like a GPS. Without it, you don’t know where you’re going and can’t foresee your goals in a realistic and timely fashion.

To avoid the rot of uncontrolled expenses eating into the future of your new business and potentially rendering yours as another lesson for other businesses to learn from, set a budget from day one, so you can keep your expenditure in check.

See Also: 7 Sure Ways To Cut Your Small Business Expenses And Increase Your Profit

4). Keep Searching For More Ways To Reach Your Target Customers:

Your customer acquisition rate and cost will determine a whole lot about the future of your business. More customers equal more revenues, and thus, more growth. Without a streamlined customer acquisition process in play, your new business will experience little to no growth.

For startups who may have figured out an effective customer acquisition channel, expanding your horizons, plying untested waters, and covering new grounds is highly crucial to the survival of your business.

You must always be on the lookout for more ways to acquire customers, as this will determine the long-term growth and success of your business.

5). Get A Sales Expert On The Team:

As earlier stated that customer acquisition is crucial to the survival of any business, the entire process is streamlined around sales.

Sales are the lifeblood of every business. Without it, you’d no revenues, without revenues you’d have no cash flow, and without cash flow you’ll be unable to cover your daily operational expenses, leading to the eventual demise of your business.

The best way to usually tackle the sales process head-on is to hire a sales expert, bring one onboard as a team member, or get one as a mentor. This individual would help you find your optimum selling strategy, build a sales funnel around your business, and when they’re done, you’d experience more unprecedented growth than you would have if you had tried to tackle it head-on alone.

One thing you could do if you can’t afford to have a sales expert on the team is to attend an advanced sales and marketing course. This will help you understand the basic foundation of sales and marketing, how to get started, and would in the process, help you build business skills you’d come to value in the long run.

See Also: How To Build An Effective Sales Team From Scratch

6). Constantly Get Customer Feedback:

Since acquiring as many customers as possible is crucial to the success of every business, getting feedback from these customers is equally as important.

By getting feedback, you’d know where your products or services have lapses, where customers have problems with your business, what you’re doing right and wrong, and where you generally need to improve on.

You could go about this by sending an email survey to customers who made a purchase and also to prospects who didn’t get to complete their orders. In many other instances, you can put a call across to the customer after a couple of days since their last purchase to know how they feel about your business.

7). Study the Competition:

You should strive to find out what makes your existing competition succeed at what they do. You should be on the lookout and constantly review both your position and theirs in the market.

If you’re a new startup venturing into an industry with already successful players, a large part of your preliminary market research should be to gather enough data on your competition.

Find out how they’re making their sales, how much sales they’re making, who their largest customers are, where their strengths and weaknesses lie, what makes them very competitive, and how you think you can compete effectively in the same market.

By studying your competition and identifying everything that makes them what they are, taking a part of the market will be a whole lot easier.

8). Outsource All That You Can:

New startups like to handle everything in-house. In a bid to cut costs, they focus on covering every single aspect of running the business. The problem with doing this is it gives you lesser time to focus on what really matters, thereby slowing the time you’ve set out to reach your goals and keeping you a step behind the competition; if any.

You need to spend more time planning how you intend to acquire more customers, grow your revenues, and become a well-known brand, instead of channelling a bulk of your precious time into handling every single thing yourself.

If you spread yourself too thin, scaling quickly in the right way will become a lot slower to achieve.

9). Get Ready To Reinvest:

The first few months of running your new business shouldn’t be the time for you to earn fat salaries, go on expensive vacations, or spend on irrelevant things. This is the period to reinvest whatever the business generates.

By doing this, the new startup would grow larger and faster, giving you more hopes of a better eventual outcome. This process may very well have to occur for a period of one to two years, but ultimately ensures your business experiences a reasonable degree of growth every month for the next few years.

10). Network Strategically:

As a new business owner, it is important you attend networking events that will either help you get more clients, improve your understanding of your industry, or give you access to investors with interests in startups similar to yours.

Strategic networking ensures you don’t waste valuable time that could have been spent growing your business on attending events. It ensures that when you do head out to a gathering of entrepreneurs or like-minds, you’d always maximize your time.

To Sum It Up

Surviving the first few months for a new startup can be a relief to some. But for others, it’s no where close to success, but rather, a step in the right direction.

When you set out to start a new business, ensure you do an in-depth market research before going on to prepare a business plan or not. After which you should strive to build a great team, make mistakes fast, discover your optimum selling strategy, and do whatever else it takes, as stated in this article, to grow your business.

By inculcating an unrivalled determination and effort to get your startup growing in its early months of existence, surviving its first 6 months will eventually be an inspiring success story to tell.

What are your thoughts on how to survive the first 6 months of your new startup? Let me know by leaving a comment below.

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Crush All Your Goals With the 6-Month Rule

In business and in life, you can get what you want by creating a 180-day vision and sticking with it..

While I was studying jazz composition and performance at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, a weathered professor taught me a valuable lesson. With the wisdom of a Tibetan monk, this sage jazz cat whispered to me with understated confidence, "What you learn today, you'll play in six months."

He was referring to an idea gestation period, a natural timeframe to go from initial learning to muscle memory. I may have understood the scale, riff, or chord he happened to be teaching that day, but it took a good six months to internalize it and make it my own. If I wanted to perform something fresh, new, and bold, I needed to begin the learning process six months prior.

As his purposeful words have echoed in my mind over the past 25 years, I've realized that this concept covers far more ground than just jazz guitar licks. The six-month rule applies to numerous aspects of business and life: What you learn today, you can fully apply in six months.

Think of health and fitness. For most people, six months of healthy eating and exercise will enable a stunning transformation in both looks and well-being. The decision to get in shape takes six months to manifest. If you want to become reasonably knowledgeable in Asian currency fluctuations, salmon fisheries, or assembly line logistics, a solid six months of study will bring you to point where you can hold a thoughtful conversation.

Six months of focused energy can transform broken relationships, reinvent sales and marketing practices, or establish lifetime habits. While it doesn't work for everything (brain surgery takes more time to master, learning to make a grilled cheese sandwich takes less), the six-month rule applies to thousands of cases in our lives.

In just six months, you can achieve remarkable progress with this powerful framework. What you first learn today, you can internalize and master in just 180 days with consistent follow-though.

Unfortunately, this simple law gets undermined all too often in our quest for instant gratification. We want the results immediately, without putting in the work, sacrifice, and patience required to bring seeds of ideas to maturity. Farmers fully understand the gestation period between the planting and harvest of their crops; we need to do the same for our own progress.

Think of the person you want to be six months from now. The skills you want to posses, the knowledge you want to command. Think, too, of the business you want six months out. The clients. The deals. The team members. With this new six-month vision, reverse-engineer what you need to learn today in order to enable your vision to materialize. Six months at a time, you'll consistently marshal yourself and your company to your own field of dreams--fully ready for harvest.

Decide what you want today, and enjoy the win six months out. Music to my ears.

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Master Checklist for Your First 6 Months as Head of HR

The first few weeks of working any new role is overwhelming — but when that role is the head of HR, the to-do list can make your head spin.

Whether you’ll be the solo employee running HR for a 100-employee company or heading the human resources department for an organization of 10,000, there are a few standard steps to take during the first several months in any HR leadership role.

Below is a helpful checklist to get you started.

Learn the Business

Do you know the organization’s primary goals, both short- and long-term? Do you understand the essence of its mission statement (beyond buzzwords)? Do you have a grasp on the structure and hierarchy of each team, and how they interact with one another?

Perhaps most importantly, do you understand how the company makes money?

Invest some time learning the organization’s financial metrics to get a sense for its foundation.

Invest some time learning the organization’s financial metrics to get a sense for its foundation — as well as for projections for growth over the next three, five, and ten years. You may consider creating a cash-flow map that visualizes the business’ formula for generating revenue. Alternatively, you may ask to see the latest presentations for investors, and/or meet with the company’s strategy and finance teams to talk numbers. If the company is publicly traded, you may also want to speak with analysts and investors to determine what they factor into the organization’s valuation-driving intangibles.

As part of an initial housekeeping sweep, it’s also crucial to review the benefits administration handbook, current hiring practices, and FLSA classifications.

Lastly, familiarize yourself with the business’s product or services. If it’s a retail company, spend some time quite literally walking in the company’s shoes; if it’s a software company, ask the product team to walk you through the software’s intricacies.

Assess Engagement and Culture

As part of an initial evaluation of company culture, spend a couple of months developing an understanding of what every role, from the interns to the CEO, is responsible for. Through a culture audit, you’ll also begin to glean levels of employee engagement.

It is important to meet with all levels in the organization to understand the current culture, start measuring engagement within the organization, and promote the building of relationships.

“One of the first steps in the process is to conduct a listening tour,” says Dawn M. Cacciotti , a human resources consultant at EngageHRnow , LLC. “It is important to meet with all levels in the organization to understand the current culture, start measuring engagement within the organization, promote the building of relationships, ask probing questions that will enlighten you to the history, current strengths, and areas that may not be working very well.”

Cacciotti also suggests that, as you gain insight, ask each team and manager how they believe HR can help them achieve their goals and long-term, strategic plan. Ask questions such as: Do employees feel as if they have open lines of communication with their managers, and do they feel as if the current performance review system is adequate? Pay particular attention to managers and the management tactics they employ; good management often goes hand in hand with employee engagement.

Determine Areas of Improvement and Stability

“My first priority when going into a new organization is to understand what’s in place and what’s missing,” says Amanda Haddaway , managing director of HR Answerbox. “It’s really important to identify if there are any gaps, especially in the compliance arena.”

Haddaway suggests taking a holistic look at all facets of the existing HR function. “It’s not easy to know everything that’s required of employers, because [the requirements are] constantly changing,” she explains, adding that this may be particularly true in the case of small businesses.

“Small business owners want to do the right thing by their employees, but they don’t always know everything that needs to happen under that big and ever-growing HR umbrella,” she says.

Earn a Seat at the C-Suite’s Table

The first formative months of your role also present an opportunity to earn the trust and respect of the C-Suite.

[bctt tweet=”An HR leader can have an immense impact on creating and weaving the bonds amongst the leadership team” username=”reflektive”]

“An HR leader can have an immense impact on creating and weaving the bonds amongst the leadership team, which is essential if the company hopes to become a ‘great’ organization,” Cacciotti explains.

The first part of earning a seat at the table is to figure out why you were hired in the first place. Know exactly why you were brought into the organization: To change its direction? To help the company scale? Having a clear understanding of the company’s motivation for hiring you will help you begin to designate top priorities, and begin implementing your own set of goals — ones that align with the company’s long-term vision.

7 Things Managers Need to Do In Their First Six Months On the Job

Sharlyn Lauby

When you’re a new manager, it’s hard to know exactly the right things to do. You want to make a good impression but you have things that must get done.

It can be incredibly overwhelming especially when you’re in a small department or a solo practitioner. But, at the same time, this is a fantastic learning opportunity. Here are a few things to consider during your first six months as a new manager:

1. Get to know your boss.

THIS should be the number one thing on your list. This person hired you and they want you to be successful. Do not blindside them. You want to understand A) what you can do and not tell your boss, B) what you can do and tell your boss later and C) what you need to tell your boss immediately.

2. Find out what your colleagues expect.

You have a great sense of the competencies for your profession. Now, it’s time to confirm those with the individuals that you will work with every day. Trust me, they will very much appreciate being asked the question, “What do you expect from me and the department?”

3. Build a relationship with your team.

Find out the background and experience of your team members. What are their goals? Let them find out the same about you. Also, make sure they know what is expected of them from other departments. Get their feedback on the responses. Do they agree or disagree?

4. Learn your company and industry.

Even if you were promoted from within, it’s possible there are things you need to learn like company financials, budgets, market share, customer satisfaction, etc. As a manager, you are expected to have knowledge of the operation – regardless of your department.

5. Touch everything in your office.

What I mean here is open the drawers, look at the files, etc. Understand how the office works. That might shed some light on the best solutions to implement. You need to understand logistics to make good decisions.

6. Resist the temptation to create change.

It’s very easy to say, “This is what we did at ABC company.” Or “I prefer to do XX over YY.” Always ask yourself if something needs to be changed – at least initially. You’re building credibility and a reputation. Employees want to know that you’re taking the time to evaluate all options before creating change.

7. Make a list, then prioritize.

You’re going to see a lot of things that you want to change or that don’t make sense. Unless they are hazardous, unethical or illegal, it might make sense just to make a mental note of them. Then do your homework – ask employees why they exist. Find out the history. Then figure out what to tackle first.

Even when you’ve been hired to make change happen in the organization, you have to take time to build relationships with the team and understand the organization. Every company’s interpretation of “change agent” is different.

What advice would you give to a new manager during their first six months on the job? Share your suggestions!

Originally published on LinkedIn.com

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How to Set, Track and Accomplish Your Goals in 6 Months

How long has it been since you checked in on the progress of your New Year’s resolution ? If this question alone makes you cringe, it may be time to re-evaluate and adjust your goals for the rest of the year.

Feeling overwhelmed? Don’t worry — you still have 5 months to hit that target!

As author Karen Lamb once said, “A year from now you may wish you had started today.” In other words, late is always better than never. Time to pull yourself up by the bootstraps (or running shoelaces!) and use the next 5 months to tackle your 2018 goals.

Review, Evaluate and Adjust Your Goals

By now, you may have noticed some holes in your goals, or places where they lack specificity. Evaluate and adjust your goals to set yourself up for success.

Make sure your goal is SMART

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, and Time-Based. For example, instead of saying, “My goal is to find a new job,” change it to “I plan to change careers and become a freelance writer by December 31st.”

Develop your skills

Schedule time in your routine to developing the skills you’ll need to accomplish your goal. If it’s a fitness goal, start practicing some new activities every week. If you want to improve your networking abilities, try a weekly meet up group. You’ll slowly gain the confidence you need to tackle the right opportunity when it comes.

Create a system of accountability

Now that you have a better idea of what you need to do to achieve your goal, plan how you’ll hold yourself accountable for taking the steps necessary to do so. Find an “accountabilibuddy” or a trustworthy friend or colleague who agrees to check in on your progress. Studies show that if you’ve made personal commitments to another in addition to yourself, you’re 95% more likely to achieve your goal.

Develop daily habits that require you to make progress

A good way to go about this is to create and stick to a morning ritual . Morning rituals are a collection of small habits that set the mode for your entire day. It also helps you sleep better at night without having to worry what your process for the next day will be.

Write down the purpose for your goal

You may want a $50k raise, but why? Focus on the end goal of your efforts, like those family vacations you’ll be able to have, or the feeling of being appreciated at work.

Adjust your timeline

You may be feeling like 6 months is no time at all to dream big. Or maybe you think it feels too long to wait for that shiny new life chapter you’ve been eyeballing. But according to the 6 month rule which states that what you learn now will be applied in 6 months, it’s the ideal timeframe to accomplish any goal. Reset your timeline to 6 months, adding periodic milestones or progress markers that will let you know you’re on the right track.

So you may have procrastinated a bit on those 2018 markers. Luckily, there are ways to overcome that feeling and move forward enthusiastically. Begin by taking a minute to envision yourself one year from now if you accomplish your goal. Try to get as detailed as possible: How will you feel? Where will you spend your time? What rewards will you reap, and how will they appear in your life? Then decide what action step you can take right now to get moving.

If your goal is to learn a foreign language and you’ve got 10 minutes to kill now, start searching for courses. If you’re looking to add 2 hours to your work routine, schedule an evening walk with the family after dinner every night.

Track Your Progress

Tracking your progress not only helps you adjust your plan as needed, but it allows you to find motivation by seeing how far you’ve come.

Try these methods to track your progress:

Write out each step required to reach your next milestone

Break your goal down into manageable pieces.
Check in daily on your progress and mark off the steps you’ve accomplished.

Create a visual

Create a calendar specifically for your goals, or try the paper clip method: put a paper clip in a jar for each step you need to take to meet your goal.
Once you accomplish a step, move a paper clip to another jar, and watch the accomplishments stack up!

Track the amount of time you use to pursue your goal

There are plenty of 6 month goal tracking tools to help you with the process.
Each of these creates a visual that helps you mark your progress, and map out any gaps you need to fill along the way.

The number one most important thing is NOT to feel discouraged about any goals you have not yet met. Grab a pen and paper and start planning, you will thank yourself a year from now. And d on’t forget to journal along the way to keep motivated and track your progress !

Joan Lunden’s in-house research and writing team works with Joan to create content that complements her focuses and the interests of her fans. The team is dedicated to creating a thriving community through content and conversations, and hopes their work, like Joan’s, can make a difference in the lives of her readers everywhere.

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US plans to slowly replenish Strategic Petroleum Reserve into 2025

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WHAT IS THE SPR?

How much spr oil was sold in 2022, what price does the us want to buy spr oil , how much is coming back, current spr level.

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Timothy reports on energy and environment policy and is based in Washington, D.C. His coverage ranges from the latest in nuclear power, to environment regulations, to U.S. sanctions and geopolitics. He has been a member of three teams in the past two years that have won Reuters best journalism of the year awards. As a cyclist he is happiest outside.

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Hurricane Beryl likely had minor impact on US labor market in July

Unemployment in Texas rose moderately in July, suggesting that Hurricane Beryl had a minor impact on the labor market and confirming the sharp slowdown in U.S. job growth last month.

New parents could get $6,000 for the first year of their child's life and a restored child tax credit under Kamala Harris' economic plan

Vice President Kamala Harris released economic proposals ahead of a North Carolina campaign speech.
They include a $6,000 credit for new parents in their child's first year.
She also proposed restoring the child tax credit, which has faced GOP opposition in Congress.

Vice President Kamala Harris has a new plan to cut taxes for parents and working families.

Ahead of Harris' speech in North Carolina on Friday, her campaign released details of her economic policy platform going into the election. The proposals are aimed at lowering housing and renting costs, helping states cancel medical debt , implementing a federal ban on price gouging , and cutting taxes for Americans.

They include restoring the enhanced child tax credit — which was hiked to $3,600 per child under the American Rescue Plan in 2021 — and instituting a new credit for young families.

Per Harris-Walz campaign officials, Harris' proposal includes a $6,000 credit for middle- and lower-income families with children in their first year of life; a fact sheet says this period may be costly for families who have to forfeit pay to take time off to care for newborns.

As a campaign official noted, Harris has also expressed support for paid leave in campaign remarks . The US is the sole country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development with no paid leave.

The fact sheet said Harris and her vice-presidential pick, Tim Walz, "fulfill their commitment to fiscal responsibility, including by asking the wealthiest Americans and largest corporations to pay their fair share—steps that will allow us to make necessary investments in the middle class, while also reducing the deficit and strengthening our fiscal health."

Money blog: Bakery chain under fire for selling day-old croissants for 95p more

Welcome to the Money blog, a hub of personal finance and consumer news/tips. Leave a comment on any of the stories we're covering in the box below - we round them up every Saturday.

Friday 16 August 2024 17:30, UK

Fines for parents taking children out of school to increase next month
Gail's under fire for selling day-old croissants for £1 more
Mortgage product shelf life drops significantly in sign of volatility
The UK's highest-earning roads revealed

Essential reads

Is this the end of the British pub?
What's gone wrong at Asda?
Best of the Money blog - an archive of features

Tips and advice

All the discounts you get as a student or young person
TV chef picks best cheap eats in London
Savings Guide : Why you should now be checking T&Cs
'I cancelled swimming with weeks of notice - can they keep my money?'

Ask a question or make a comment

By Jimmy Rice, Money blog editor

The centre-point of a significant week in the economy was inflation data, released first thing on Wednesday, that showed price rises accelerated in July to 2.2%.

Economists attributed part of the rise to energy prices - which have fallen this year, but at a much slower rate than they did last year.

As our business correspondent Paul Kelso pointed out, it felt like the kind of mild fluctuation we can probably expect month to month now that sky high price hikes are behind us, though analysts do expect inflation to tick up further through the remainder of the year...

Underneath the bonnet, service inflation, taking in restaurants and hotels, dropped from 5.7% to 5.2%.

This is important because a large part of this is wages - and they've been a concern for the Bank of England as they plot a route for interest rates.

On Tuesday we learned average weekly earnings had also fallen - from 5.7% to 5.4% in the latest statistics.

High wages can be inflationary (1/ people have more to spend, 2/ employers might raise prices to cover staff costs), so any easing will only aid the case for a less restrictive monetary policy. Or, to put it in words most people use, the case for interest rate cuts.

Markets think there'll be two more cuts this year - nothing has changed there.

Away from the economy, official data also illustrated the pain being felt by renters across the UK.

The ONS said:

Average UK private rents increased by 8.6% in the 12 months to July 2024, unchanged from in the 12 months to June 2024;
Average rents increased to £1,319 (8.6%) in England, £748 (7.9%) in Wales, and £965 (8.2%) in Scotland;
In Northern Ireland, average rents increased by 10% in the 12 months to May 2024;
In England, rents inflation was highest in London (9.7%) and lowest in the North East (6.1%).

Yesterday, we found the UK economy grew 0.6% over three months to the end of June.

That growth rate was the second highest among the G7 group of industrialised nations - only the United States performed better with 0.7%, though Japan and Germany have yet to released their latest data.

Interestingly, there was no growth at all in June, the Office for National Statistics said, as businesses delayed purchases until after the general election.

"In a range of industries across the economy, businesses stated that customers were delaying placing orders until the outcome of the election was known," the ONS said.

Finally, a shout for this analysis from business presenter Ian King examining what's gone wrong at Asda. It's been one of our most read articles this week and is well worth five minutes of your Friday commute or weekend...

We're signing out of regular updates now until Monday - but do check out our weekend read from 8am on Saturday. This week we're examining how couples who earn different amounts split their finances.

Each week we feature comments from Money blog readers on the story or stories that elicited most correspondence.

Our weekend probe into the myriad reasons for pub closures in the UK prompted hundreds of comments.

Landlords and campaigners, researchers and residents revealed to Sky News the "thousand cuts" killing Britain's boozers - and what it takes to survive the assault.

Here was your take on the subject...

I've been a publican for 19 years. This article is bang on! It's like you've overheard my conversations with my customers - COVID, cost of living, wages - the traditional British boozer going out of fashion. (My place: no food, no small children). Hey Jood

I own a small craft ale bar or micropub as some say. The current climate is sickening for the whole hospitality sector. This summer has been ridiculously quiet compared to previous ones. Micropubs were on the rise pre-COVID, but not now even we're struggling to survive… Lauren

I am an ex-landlord. It's ridiculous you can buy 10 cans for £10 or one pint for £5 now. It's not rocket science, it's a no-brainer: reverse the situation. Make supermarket beer more expensive than pub beer, then people will start to go out and mix again rather than getting drunk at home. Ivanlordpeers

Bought four pints of my regular drink at a supermarket for less than one pint in our local pub. It's becoming a luxury to go to a pub these days. Torquay David

Traditional pubs are being taken over by conglomerates who don't sell traditional beer, only very expensive lager, usually foreign, and other similar gassy drinks. How can they be called traditional pubs? Bronzestraw

The main reason for pubs closing is twofold! 1: The out-of-reach rents that the big groups charge landlords. 2: Landlords are told what stock they can hold and restrict where they can purchase it from. Strange, but most pubs belonged to the same groups! A pub-goer

Less pubs are managed now, pub companies are changing them to managed partnerships, putting the pressure onto inexperienced young ex-managers. Locals complain that their local pub has gone. but they don't use them enough. Can government regulate rents and beer prices for business owners? John Darkins

I was a brewery tenant in Scotland for many years and sequestrated because of the constant grabbing at my money by greedy brewers who wanted more and more. I made my pub very successful and was penalised by the brewery. James MacQuarrie

The only reason pubs are closing is locals only use them on Boxing Day, New Year's Eve, and one Sunday a year. Plus breweries don't need pubs, they sell enough through supermarkets! Use them or lose them. Peter Smith

The closing of pubs is a terrible shame. I still go to my local and have great memories of getting drunk in many in my hometown. They are important places in society. As someone once said: "No good story ever started with a salad." Kev K

It's the taxman killing pubs. £1 of every £3 sold. Utter disgrace. Stef

I go with my girlfriend, Prue, every day to my local. It's a shame what's happening to prices. It used to be full of people and joy but now it's a ghost town in the pub since prices are too high now. I wish we could turn back time and find out what went wrong. Niall Benson

Minimum wage is around £11 and the tax threshold is £12,600 per year. How can you possibly afford a night in a pub out when a pint costs between £3 and £8 a pint on those wages? Allan7777blue

Unfortunately, the very people who have kept these establishments going over the years (the working man) have been priced out, and they're paying the price. Dandexter

The pubs are too expensive for people to go out regularly as we once did a decade or so ago. People's priorities are on survival, not recreation. Until the living wage increases beyond an inflation that wages haven't risen above in years, then we will see shops, pubs, etc. close JD

Who wants to spend hard-earned money going into a pub that's nearly always empty. It takes away one of the main attractions - socialising. Michael

Monzo has been named the best bank in the UK for customer satisfaction, according to a major survey.

More than 17,000 personal current account customers rated their bank on the quality of its services and how likely they would be to recommend to friends or family.

Digital banks made up the top three, with Monzo coming out on top, followed by Starling Bank and then Chase.

Some 80% of Monzo customers said they would recommend the bank.

The digital banking app said topping the tables "time and time again" was not something it would "ever take for granted".

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) was bottom of the ranking for another year.

The banks with the best services in branches were Nationwide, Lloyds Bank and Metro Bank.

Gail's bakery chain has come under fire for repurposing unsold pastries into croissants and selling them for almost £4 the next day.

The retailer lists the "twice baked" chocolate almond croissants as part of its "Waste Not" range, which means it is made using leftover croissants that are then "topped with almond frangipane and flaked almonds".

The scheme has been hit with criticism online, with many pointing out the £3.90 price tag is 95p more than the original croissant.

One X user said: "The audacity of bragging about it being part of their 'Waste Not' range like we should be grateful to them and proud of ourselves for contributing to reducing food waste when they could just sell it for less money – not one pound more than yesterday.

"Unsure whether to be impressed or horrified that someone has come up with a concept to capitalise on yellow sticker goods to make more profit."

It should be added, however, that the practice was not invented by Gail's - and almond croissants were originally created by French boulangeries to reuse day-old croissants and stop them going stale.

When factoring in the extra ingredients (almond frangipane and flaked almonds) and baking time, the bakery chain would likely defend the increased price by pointing to the additional costs incurred.

It comes as locals in a trendy London neighbourhood signed a petition against a Gail's bakery setting up shop in their area.

After (unconfirmed) rumours began circulating that the chain was looking to open a site in Walthamstow village, more than 600 have signed a petition opposing the plans.

The petition says the village "faces a threat to its uniqueness" should Gail's move into the area (see yesterday's 11.54am post for more).

Gail's has been contacted for comment.

British retailers saw a rise in sales last month after a boost from Euro 2024 and summer discounting, according to official figures.

High street retailers said sales of football shirts, electronics such as TVs, and alcoholic drinks were all stronger amid the Three Lions' journey to the final.

Total retail sales volumes rose by 0.5% in July, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. It was, however, slightly below predictions, with economists forecasting a 0.7% increase.

It followed a 0.9% slump in volumes in June as retail firms blamed uncertainty ahead of the general election and poor weather.

ONS director of economic statistics, Liz McKeown, said: "Retail sales grew in July led by increases in department stores and sports equipment shops, with both the Euros and discounting across many stores boosting sales.

"These increases were offset by a poor month for clothing and furniture shops, and falling fuel sales, despite prices at the pump falling."

The data showed that non-food stores saw a 1.4% rise, driven by a strong performance from department stores, where sales grew by 4% for the month as summer sales helped to stoke demand.

However, clothing and footwear shops saw a 0.6% dip, whilst homeware retailers also saw volumes fall 0.6%. Food stores, meanwhile, saw sales remain flat for the month.

There are fears that the £2-cap on single bus fares could be scrapped after the government declined to say whether the policy would continue past December.

Bus companies said it was vital the cost of using their services is kept low for young people to "enhance their access to education and jobs".

Alison Edwards, director of policy and external relations at industry body the Confederation of Passenger Transport, said: "Bus operators are working closely with the government so that together we can find a way to avoid a cliff edge return to commercial fares.

"Analysis has shown that supporting fares, which can be done in a range of different ways, is great value for money and can support many other government objectives.

"For example, keeping fares low for young people would enhance their access to education and jobs, while also encouraging them to develop sustainable travel habits to last a lifetime."

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said in a recent interview with the PA news agency that her officials were "looking at various options" in relation to the cap, including whether they could "target it better".

It's been a busy week on the economic front.

There was no major shift in the overall outlook - since Monday we've had it confirmed that the UK economy has lower inflation and more growth than the last two years, while wages have grown faster than the overall pace of price rises.

On the back of all that news the pound is at the highest rate since early this month against the dollar, worth $1.2882, and the highest since July when it comes to buying euro with one pound equal to €1.1733.

Signs of a recovery from the global market sell-off of Monday last week can be seen in the share prices of companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Share prices have grown among the most valuable companies on the stock exchange, those that comprise the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 100 list of most valuable companies.

Today though, this benchmark UK index fell 0.19% but finishes the week higher than the start.

Also finishing the week higher than the start are the more UK-based companies of the FTSE 250 (the 101st to the 250th most valuable firms on the London Stock Exchange).

On Friday morning that index was up 0.08%.

With tensions in the Middle East and Eastern Europe high as Iran mulled a retaliatory strike on Israel and Ukraine made incursions into Russian territory, there had been concern about energy price spikes.

But the benchmark oil price has remained steady at $80.13 dollars for a barrel of Brent crude oil.

Gas prices have remained below the Monday high of 100 pence a therm (the measurement for heat) and now are 94.50 pence a therm.

A Cabinet Office minister has said it is "unfair" to suggest other public sector workers will be queuing up for a pay rise after the government's offer of a 15% increase for train drivers and junior doctors.

"I think that's an unfair characterisation as well," paymaster general Nick Thomas-Symonds told Times Radio.

"I think what is absolutely crucial here is we are a Government again that is sticking to the promises we made in opposition.

"We promised we would sit down and find solutions, and people expressed scepticism about that, but actually that is precisely what we have done in Government."

Last month, the government and the British Medical Association struck an improved pay deal for junior doctors in England worth 22% on average over two years.

Meanwhile, train drivers will vote on a new pay deal following talks between representatives of drivers' union ASLEF and the Department for Transport.

The new offer is for a 5% backdated pay rise for 2022/23, a 4.75% rise for 23/24, and 4.5% increase for 24/25.

The Dartford Crossing is the highest-earning toll road in the UK, new data shows.

The Kent to Essex route raked in £215.9m in the last year - 2,159 times more than the Whitney toll bridge in Hereford.

The crossing, which was supposed to stop charging customers in 2003, costs between £2 and £6 to use (depending on the vehicle you're driving) between 10am and 6pm every day.

Car finance company Moneybarn found it earned just over £209m in 2022.

It topped the chart of 13 toll roads in the country, making over £100m more than the second highest-earning road in 2023 - the M6 Toll in the West Midlands.

In third place was the Mersey Gateway Bridge between Halton and Cheshire, which made £48.9m.

You can see how the other toll roads fared below...

Fines for parents who take their children out of school will increase this upcoming term as the government continues with plans to improve attendance.

From next week, fines for unauthorised absences will go up by as much as £40.

Under the new system, the cost of a penalty charge notice will rise from £60 to £80 if paid within 21 days, and from £120 to £160 if paid within 28 days .

This marks the first increases since the system was introduced in 2013.

So, when do parents get fined?

Children are only allowed to miss school if they are unwell, or they have been given permission from the school in advance.

Parents can make an absence request to take their children out of school, but there needs to be "exceptional circumstances" and the headteacher needs to authorise it.

Currently, it's the responsibility of the local authority to decide when to issue fines, meaning the process varies from council to council.

But, under the new rules which were created by the Conservative government, all schools will be required to consider a fine when a child has missed at least five days of school for unauthorised reasons.

What happens if you keep getting fined?

If a parent receives a second fine for the same child within any three-year period, this will be charged at the higher rate of £160.

A parent can only receive two fines within any three-year period, and once this has been met, other actions can be considered.

This includes a parenting order or prosecution.

Parents who are prosecuted and attend court because their child hasn't been attending school, can be fined up to £2,500.

Where is the money spent?

Government guidance states any money collected from fines should be used by the local authority to cover the costs of administering the system.

Any surplus after that should be spent on "attendance support".

Any cash remaining at the end of the year must be paid to the education secretary.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: "High and rising school standards are at the heart of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life. Strong foundations of learning are grounded in attendance in the classroom.

"Tackling the root causes of absence is a major priority for the government.

"Our support-first approach outlined in our guidance is designed to help parents to meet their responsibility to ensure their child attends school.

"However, in some cases, including term-time holidays, it may be necessary to issue penalty notices."

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NASA Says Boeing Starliner Astronauts May Fly Home on SpaceX in 2025

The agency had insisted for a couple of months that it was confident that Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore would return on Starliner.

A long-exposure photograph shows the Boeing Starliner spacecraft docked with the International Space Station. It's nighttime on Earth, and the photo shows bright streaks from cities zooming by.

By Kenneth Chang

For weeks, NASA has downplayed problems experienced by Starliner, a Boeing spacecraft that took two astronauts to the International Space Station in June.

But on Wednesday, NASA officials admitted that the issues might be more serious than first thought and that the astronauts might not return on the Boeing vehicle, after all.

The agency is exploring a backup option for the astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, to instead hitch a ride back to Earth on a spacecraft built by Boeing’s competitor SpaceX.

The astronauts’ stay in orbit, which was to be as short as eight days, could be extended into next year.

“We could take either path,” Ken Bowersox, NASA’s associate administrator for the space operations mission directorate, said during a news conference on Wednesday. “And reasonable people could pick either path.”

The announcement adds more headaches and embarrassment for Boeing, an aerospace giant that has billions of dollars of aerospace contracts with the federal government and builds commercial jets that fly all around the world.

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A good business plan guides you through each stage of starting and managing your business. You'll use your business plan as a roadmap for how to structure, run, and grow your new business. It's a way to think through the key elements of your business. Business plans can help you get funding or bring on new business partners.
First Six Months Plan Template
The First Six Months Plan Template is a living document. As time progresses, it should serve as a tracking mechanism for milestones met or not met, using simple visual clues. For example, highlight completed items in green, incomplete items in red or yellow, deleted items crossed out. You can even make your Six Months Plan accessible online ...
Grow Your Business in 6 Months with These Three Hacks
Plan Your Social Media Schedule Just like your monetary business plan goals, your social media schedule should be realistic. If you're new to entrepreneurship, you shouldn't expect to hit $10K months in your first quarter. And if you're new to social media, you shouldn't expect yourself to be on every social media platform and post three times a day.
How to Plan 6 Months in Business a Step By Step
Does the thought of planning 6-months in your business sound overwhelming? I promise it doesn't have to be and can actually reduce the overwhelm you feel dai...
100 Day Plan for New Leaders (Examples + Template)
A 100 Day Plan is an action plan to guide executive leaders through their first critical months in a new role. Set yourself up for long-term success with the help of this strategic resource.
How To Survive And Dominate The First 6 Months Of Your New Business
The first few months of setting out to start, run, and grow a successful new business can be the most challenging period of an entrepreneur's journey. Most times it spans beyond the 6 months gestation period, but the founder's resilience and wit to reach a fine line between building a great product and growing a large number of customers who desperately need the solution it offers is key ...
PDF STEPS TO STARTING A BUSINESS
Phase 3 - Plan for Action Develop Detailed 5-Year Business Plan Describe the vision and opportunity List assumptions Describe the market Describe the new business Describe strengths, weaknesses, assets and threats Estimate sales volume during startup period Forecast operating costs Establish pricing strategy Forecast revenue Summarize pro-forma financial statement Develop break-even analysis ...
Crush All Your Goals With the 6-Month Rule
The six-month rule applies to numerous aspects of business and life: What you learn today, you can fully apply in six months. Think of health and fitness. For most people, six months of healthy ...
Crush Your First 6 Months in a New Job
Whether you're new to a company, or taking a new role at your employer, your first six months in any job are absolutely critical to building your brand.
Master Checklist for Your First 6 Months as Head of HR
Master Checklist for Your First 6 Months as Head of HR. The first few weeks of working any new role is overwhelming — but when that role is the head of HR, the to-do list can make your head spin. Whether you'll be the solo employee running HR for a 100-employee company or heading the human resources department for an organization of 10,000 ...
7 Things Managers Need to Do In Their First Six Months On the Job
4. Learn your company and industry. Even if you were promoted from within, it's possible there are things you need to learn like company financials, budgets, market share, customer satisfaction, etc. As a manager, you are expected to have knowledge of the operation - regardless of your department. 5.
How to Set, Track and Accomplish Your Goals in 6 Months
Create a visual. Create a calendar specifically for your goals, or try the paper clip method: put a paper clip in a jar for each step you need to take to meet your goal. Once you accomplish a step, move a paper clip to another jar, and watch the accomplishments stack up! Track the amount of time you use to pursue your goal.
US plans to slowly replenish Strategic Petroleum Reserve into 2025
The U.S. is slowly replenishing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, planning to buy back millions of barrels of oil for delivery in the first several months of next year, after the largest ever sale ...
the first growth in more than six months
UK CPI inflation reaches 2.2% - the first growth in more than six months. However, it has increased less than central bankers at the Bank of England and economists polled by Reuters had forecast.
Ontario Teachers' posts 4.2% net return for first six months of 2024
TORONTO - The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board says it earned a net return of 4.2 per cent for the first six months of this year.
New Parents Could Get $6,000, Restored Child Tax Credit Under Harris
Vice President Kamala Harris is proposing tax cuts for new parents and working families as she gears up to face Trump in a debate next month.
R&R Public House owner plans to relocate his restaurant
R&R Public House closed on Saturday after two months in business. But the owner says he'll reopen somewhere else. Jaime Green The Wichita Eagle Just two months after opening his R&R Public House ...
Money blog: Fines for parents taking children out of school to change
Money blog: Fines for parents taking children out of school to change next month. Welcome to the Money blog, a hub of personal finance and consumer news/tips.
NASA Says Boeing Starliner Astronauts May Fly Home on SpaceX in 2025
The agency had insisted for a couple of months that it was confident that Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore would return on Starliner.