You can’t write out a plan that puts you ahead of the competition, because your competition is writing out the same plan.  You can’t rely on your ability to solve a problem before the competition does because you won’t always win.  So how can you stay ahead of the game?  Anticipate everything, plan for anything, and never let yourself get comfortable.

No matter how good you are at solving problems, you won’t get anywhere waiting for a problem to solve.  ”What if” should be on your mind at all times to anticipate problems and opportunities.  Murphy’s Law says that anything that can go wrong will go wrong.  Even though I like to think as optimistic as possible, it’s best to be ready for any unpleasant surprises.  If you can anticipate a problem you may be able to prevent it from ever happening.

Once you identify the potential future problems you should find a solution immediately.  Having a plan to deal with anything will save you the time and resources it would take to deal with an emergency.  You also have a plan for every possible success.  Knowing how to move forward, what changes to make, how many people to hire, etc. will help you from getting stuck long enough for your competition to catch up.

Don’t stop there.  Most people are tempted to make it this far and coast.  You may be heading downhill right now but you need to pick up more speed to make the next hill a lot easier to handle.  You can always be doing something better.  If you don’t have any ideas of what to do or where to go start asking your employees.  There are a million ideas floating around your company.  Ways to make things easier or more efficient, new services to offer your clients, and new ways to make your company stand out.  If you feel like the business is in a great place and nothing needs to be changed or adjusted, go on a hunt for new ideas.  Ideas are the fuel behind your companies growth and they will always help keep you ahead of your competition.