Everyone is familiar with the Christmas song, the 12 days of Christmas. Without going into every verse of the song, the carol works forwards with the first day of Christmas being a partridge in a pear tree, the second day of Christmas two turtle doves and so on. The song is full of optimism and hope that the giver and receivers of the gifts will be thankful for life, the opportunity to share and hope for the future.

From researching the origins of the song, I came across something interesting. One of the articles I read suggested that the 12 days of Christmas is not about the 12 days prior to Christmas but in fact, the 12 days from Christmas until the beginning of Epiphany which begins on January 06. When I thought further about this, it naturally combined with another favorite thing we do during the Holiday Season and that is to make New Year's Resolutions.

New Year's Resolutions are a powerful opportunity as they allow us to do three separate things. First, look back at our experiences of the last year and decide if it's been a good year or not and what we could have done differently. Because it puts us in the mood, we also tend to go back and look at more than just the last year but initially the last couple of years and decide where or not it's been good. Once we start doing that, we obviously look back at our life and decide what we like and what we wish we could do differently.

Our next reflection tends to move to the present where we look at our life and what we now have. We reflect on our family and friends and how important they are to us. We also look at whatever means we use to sustain ourselves and put a roof over our heads, the food on the table, the clothes we wear and the myriad of other things that allow us to live our life.

This then brings us to the final reflection and probably the most exciting and powerful opportunity of all, and that is to look ahead and decide what changes we'd like to make to build and enhance our life and our immediate loved ones. This reflection, for obvious reasons, takes us to both our job and what we are currently doing or, if we own a business, how that business is performing. Regardless of whether we have or don't have a job or own a business, it's the time to ask some questions. These questions include whether or not what I am doing is worthwhile and fulfilling, whether it produces the income I need to live the life that I want, what changes I want to make to achieve the personal, financial and emotional goals I've set for myself plus more.

For me personally, as I was sitting down to write this and some additional articles for the New Year that I started my own personal introspection. I'm a great believer in looking back and seeing what I've done, how I can do things better, did I get close to the goals I set for myself, what's the next personal and professional development I need to embrace. All this is in the context that I have a great wife and two kids who probably don't hear that enough, but that's another story.

So the point of this article is a couple of things. As you embrace the Holiday Season, enjoy it as it is a special time and I wish you nothing but peace and goodwill to all people. If your time allows, sit down and meaningfully decide on your New Year's resolutions. If your New Year's resolutions are likely to include either buying or selling a business you may want to consider a thoughtful and logical approach. If you've wondered if such a thing exists, I've put it together and it's called "The 12 plans of an Entrepreneur." For good reason I am unable to convert it to a song and for a better reason I am unable to sing it to you, but whether we are buying or selling a business, the process requires careful and thorough planning. From my own experience of owning and operating five businesses and using the start of the New Year to review where I am at and where I am going, the process includes looking and understanding these 12 areas of a business.

These twelve areas are as follows. Creating, reviewing and sharing your Life Plan, Financial Plan, Business Plan, Sales and Marketing Plan, Communication Plan, Management Plan, Performance Plan, Productivity Plan, Technology Plan, Performance Plan, Disaster Recovery Plan, Exit Plan and Transition Plan.

To explain each area in a little more detail, this is the first of thirteen articles on "The 12 plans of an Entrepreneur."

My hope for the Holiday season is that you are Happy and Prosperous.

Part 2 of this article series looks at the importance of a Life Plan to an entrepreneur and cover some tips that will help you decide where you are on your entrepreneurial journey.