I know you’ve heard the saying the money’s in the list, but the money isn’t just in your email or mailing list. It’s in your to-do list too.

Increasingly I am of the opinion that life is all about lists. Lists of short term goals, lists of long term goals, task lists, checklists, etc…

To my right on my rather messy desk are to-do lists written on post-it notes for my various projects. On my computer there are several checklists I’ve created for courses and how-to guides. On the wall to my left is a whiteboard with a checklist of bills I pay each month, and even further to my left is a wall calendar with to-do lists for different days.

I need these lists. They keep me focused and play a huge role in me finishing projects. I’ll admit, I don’t always follow my lists as disciplined as I should but overall I am pretty good.

When you really sit and think about it lists play a huge role in nearly all that we see and do. It would be unimaginable for a plane to takeoff without a preflight checklist right? Even MS Excel or MS Project or lots of other programs we use each day they really just help with creating and maintaining lists.

Tactical lists are the perfect compliment to higher level planning and strategy. Because, at the end of the day someone needs to carry out the steps necessary to bring the plan to life.

Why am I so hung up on lists lately?  Recently, and one of the reasons I haven’t been around much in the past couple of weeks is we’re getting ready to launch a new brand “Bodmon Naturals” bath and skincare products.

Bodmon is a line of premium bath and skincare products I’ve developed with the help of lab in San Diego. I don’t want to get too far off on a tangent here but these are fantastic products. My skin care lotions have been specifically formulated without alcohol and other questionable chemicals found in most skin care products.

Bodmon Naturals are…well…mostly natural. Bodmon products contain the highest quality skin care ingredients like shea butter, allantoin, silk protien, esther of palm oil, aloe, and vitamins E, B-5, A, and D.

Okay, enough about Bodman Naturals, where was I? Right. Lists… so, to bring everything together I needed lists.

Let me back up a bit and go over the steps it took to make this happen (which are mostly the same to make anything happen). I started with a vision. I followed that with a business plan outlining my strategy and other details necessary to the founding of the business. Next, a sales and marketing plan.

Once these higher level plans were in place  I began asking more questions and creating to-do lists based on the answers to those questions. I figured since I new very little about what it would take to make this happen I would call a number of labs and ask them questions.

Here’s a basic overview of my logic and lists:

1. Legal:
   • Discover licensing requirements.
   • Get licenses and create DBA (Fictitious Business Name).
2. Financial:
   • Do financials
   • Open new accounts
   • Get quotes and estimate production, transportation, and marketing costs.
   • Setup accounts with suppliers.
3. Marketing:
   • Research.
   • Marketing summary or creative brief.
   • Branding.
   • Labels & print collateral.
   • Trade show displays and signage.
   • Website.
   • Identify opportunities and events.
4. Product development and production.
   • Research.
   • Sourcing.
     • Capabilities
     • Availability
   • Get samples.
   • Purchasing and negotiation find out about price breaks etc…
5. Transportation:
   • Research options
6. Sales and Business development:
   • Plan.
   • Setup spreadsheets or CRM.
   • Write out feature and benefit lists.
   • Consider unique selling point (USP).
   • Consider strategic relationships and opportunities for distribution.
   • Get everything ready for trade show.

Those are the basics. There are multiple sub-lists that need to be created from these lists but these basic lists brought this project to fruition.

Now, before I wrap things up the reason I am going on about lists is because I notice a lot of people I encounter don’t use them. That leaves them always wondering what to do and constantly needing direction.

If you’re one of those people who feels like you can’t get anywhere because you don’t know where to start, just put pen to paper and make a list. If you’re stuck not knowing what to put on the list ask yourself, “How do I…?” Ask enough questions, you’ll have a good to-do list and the next thing you know your project is finished and your ready for the next one.

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