If you are anything like me, you have a million and one ideas going through your mind. And one of the best ways to consolidate your ways is through a journal. Journaling is your best business asset to building and growing a successful business. But the way you manage your personal journal should be a little different than your business journal. And to help you maximize your productivity, I want to share with you two simple ways to journal, constructively.

Journaling is your best business asset

Your journal is your best asset because if will help you to brainstorm and create new ideas. You cannot afford not to maintain a journal. In addition, a business journal will help you maintain a historic log of key events in your business. You use it to write down what’s going good and bad. Learning from your history will help you to make better decisions in the future.

Do not lie to yourself that you are too busy. Another myth is that somehow you will be able to remember everything. Few people have photographic memory. Moreover, your business needs to have clarity and focus. Journaling will help you to discern whether or not you have sound logic behind your business decisions.

The best coaches you can ever find are your notepad and pen – Denise Lee (Business Coach)

Famous Entrepreneurs who Journaled

You will not be alone in journaling. There are numerous examples of entrepreneurs who maintained a business log. Thomas Edison was a prolific note-taker, leaving behind more than 5 million pages at the time of his death in 1931. The notebooks, roughly 6×9 inches and averaging 285 pages each, record in minute detail everything from his business dealings to ideas for future inventions and patents.
You can read more about Thomas Edison and other famous entrepreneurs here.

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Where to Store your Business Journal

Choose to keep a physical journal or write it on your computer. If you have an electronic journal, keep it on the cloud. That way you will be able to access it anywhere, anytime. I maintain my journals online using Google Docs.

Note for electronic journals: I highly suggest creating a Table of Contents (TOC), which will help you to search for information quickly.

How to Journal Constructively

You must have structure to get the most benefit from a business journal. It cannot be a random stream of thought where you chronicle every detail of your business day. Leave unstructured thought for your personal journal.

I recommend journaling by date or by subject. You may also choose to include Lessons Learned, Total Cost (in time or money) and Goals Achieved. Below are two examples of journals by date and by subject:

Sample Business Journal by Date

Date	Event	Total Cost	Lessons Learned	Goals Achieved
August 1	Created new business plan. Looked at potential storefront locations.	None	I forgot to forecast future profits.	Yes
November 15	Decided to use WordPress for my website.	$550	I should have hired Becky instead of Ross to design the website.	No
December 1	Went to company picnic and found a new referral.	$10 parking and tolls	None	Yes
January 1	Don’t know if I should choose between PayPal or Stripe.	Unknown yet	None	No
February 15	Need to decide who to use for fulfillment processing.	Projected $200-$500 per month	Had a hard time working with UPS. Will choose Amazon Fulfillment over UPS.	N/A

Sample Business Journal by Subject

Subject	Date	What happened	Total Cost	Lessons Learned	Goals Achieved
Administration	August 1	Met with Denise to create a business plan.	Included with Business Coach Package	I need to review it regularly.	Yes
Online Marketing	November 15	Created new website	$550	I should have hired Becky instead of Ross to design the website.	No
Networking	December 2	Went to Chamber of Commerce luncheon	$10 parking and tolls	None	Yes
Operations	January 1	Find a new payment processor	Pay no more than %3 per transaction	None	N/A

Share Your Journal with Others

Once you have your journal constructed, the next step is to share it with your business coach or accountability partner. Your business coach or accountability partner will be able to review each topic and see if you need to add or revise any information.

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