By ARNELLE ADCOCK
Business Matters columnist

Have you been to Maquoketa, Iowa?  Probably not.

To take such a trip across several states, you could get in the car and start driving — hoping you would choose the right direction and the right highways.

Or, you might like to have step-by-step instructions.  You could use GPS, directions from an online map service such as Google Maps, a Rand-McNally map, or directions from someone who has been there. 

To use any of the navigational aids, however, you will need to know several important pieces of information:  Where am I now?  Where do I want to go?  The guides require specific locations; they don’t allow us to use vicinities.

Operating your business is similar to taking a trip.  You can take off and keep going — hoping you go in the right direction and take the correct highways.  You show up every day, work hard, stay busy, and hope you end up where you want to be at the end of your fiscal year.

Or, you can develop your Business GPS.  Your Business GPS requires that you know where you are and where you are going.

Making your plans, you need to decide your destination — your goals for this year.  Think through what you want to accomplish this year.  What financial results do you want, what do you want to be, how do you want your team to function, what will be your community/professional impact?

Next, you need to know your current location:  where are you and your business right now?  Where are you beginning the year?  Describe in detail the information and the metrics you know about your business performance last year.

Just like a travel plan, your Business GPS travel plan shows you the Big Picture — what the route looks like from beginning to end.  However, travel directions can only be executed one step at the time — one location to the next.   A business plan can be executed only one step at the time.

Just as a trip may have detours or emergencies, your business may have to adapt to changes.  The GPS re-calculates the route and keeps the trip on track to the destination.  Flexibility and adaptability are necessary in the business world. However, knowing your destination makes it easier for you to choose alternative routes.

One other idea about this concept:  you can choose your mode of transportation when you travel.  Time, money, access, and resources all figure into your decision.  You can walk; drive; or take a bus, train, or airplane.  If you must get there now, you can even charter a jet.

Business planning uses the same principle.  The resources you invest in implementing your plan determine how much help you have and how quickly you will reach your destination.  Walking may be fine for some steps in the plan.  Others may require a pilot and a charter jet.

By failing to design your Business GPS, your trip may be comparable either to sitting in the driveway not moving with the engine running or to driving aimlessly around the block never leaving the neighborhood in hopes of finding Maquoketa.

Make this year count.  Finish it before you begin by determining the end, assessing the present, and moving step-by-step to your success.

See you in Maquoketa, Iowa.

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• Defining yourself for yourself a positive step to success
• 'Executive Presence' defined by far more than suit and tie
• 'Employee engagement' comes from the top
• Building your business from a job into an asset
• Part II: 5 ways you can build your business into an asset