A winning thoroughbred is at full gallop at the winning post. It takes the jockey several hundred metres to pull the horse up after the finishing line. A 100m athlete is at full tilt upon hitting the line. An AFL footballer, when kicking for goal, is trained to kick through the goal line. He will invariably pick out someone or something in the crowd some 10-20 metres behind the goal line. When cricketers play their shots they hit through the line of the ball. Similarly, golfers practice extensively the follow through on their swing. They know this is one of the keys to mastery.

In business if your revenue target is $1 million then you also should be in full swing by the time you reach it and with such gusto that your momentum carries you through the goal. If you are burned out by the time you reach your goal then there is something flawed in your strategy or execution. The holiday season is a great opportunity to review this.

What might it look like to kick through your business goal?

Well, your pipeline is constantly being topped up with new qualified leads, your pipeline is flowing with no sign of it abating. Your sales conversion process is consistent and constantly being refined. There are no major swings in your performance indicators. Your growth rate is steady or growing BEYOND the target level. You have refined and developed robust business systems. Your business model is configured for passive income or repeat business. You have migrated or upsold your clients onto retainer agreements. Should you lose a key account or key staff member you have contingencies in place to cover for them. For example, with key account managers you rotate their portfolios from time to time, or introduce a "top and tail" model of account management, ie. two points of contact.

In addition to growth you expand your awareness to plan for sustainable growth – systems, people, marketing investment, lead generation, account management, resource management. You plan for absences and contingencies. You plan for disaster recovery scenarios. You have a risk mitigation strategy in place. You run scenarios to cover as one scribe put it "predictable surprises".

If you are successful in business you will have much to leverage. So as one planning cycle closes and a new one starts leverage what is working and drop what is not. If you are in recovery phase then you may need to spend more time on reinventing yourself, your products and services and your brand.

Wherever you are is a good place to start.

Dennis Roberts helps small business owner/operators start, run and grow their business from conception to exit. He is available for strategic advice, business planning, one-on-one coaching/mentoring, advisory board, interim management and facilitation. Visit www.DennisRoberts.com.au.