It is that time of year again when we reflect on the year past and the year ahead. This is also a great time to reflect on your business year and some “resolutions” you may have for you and your business going forward.
10 resolutions you may want to implement in your business this coming year
- Learn how to delegate properly and do more of it!
There are so many things to do when you’re running a small business and we want everything done right. We may land up believing that we need to do all of them ourselves and then wonder why we’re so tired and frazzled and have no time to do anything else! Decide what is necessary for you to do yourself and what can be easily delegated. Don’t waste your time on things that will take you away from what you should be doing to improve and grow your business. Delegation is also the key to a healthy work-life balance. - Promote your business regularly and consistently.
Too often the task of promoting a small business slips to the bottom of the to-do list in the press of urgent tasks. If you want to attract new customers, you have to make promotion a priority. Make it a New Year’s resolution to hire a marketing expert or take the time to create a marketing plan on your own and follow through. - Refresh your website.
In the race to master new social media tools, don’t overlook your own website. Social media efforts like Twitter campaigns should be driving traffic to your website where conversion will take place. It doesn’t make any sense to build a beautiful and savvy Facebook presence that funnels people to a boring, inaccurate and out-of-date website. Keep it current and engaging! - Make business planning a weekly event.
Choose a day that will work for you every week, a Friday or Monday is always good. Planning is vital if you want a healthy, growing business. Business planning lets you take stock of what worked, what didn’t work and helps you set new directions or adjust old goals. Set aside time each week to review, adjust, and look forward. Not only will this help you avoid costly mistakes and stay on track, but you’ll feel more focused and relaxed. - Learn something new.
What you choose to learn may be directly related to your business or completely unrelated. Learning something new will add to your skills and add a new dimension of interest to your life – another important part of achieving a healthy work-life balance. Depending on how you choose to learn, you may meet new and interesting people who may become customers, colleagues, or friends. - Join or Start a new business organisation or networking group.
There’s nothing like talking to other business people for sparking new ideas, refining old ones and making contacts. Whether it’s a group specifically designed for networking or an organisation dedicated to a particular type of business, making the effort to be a part of a group will revitalise you and your business. - Ian Altman says: “Know how to describe why people might need your help.
Whether you provide a service to your external customer or an internal customer (like a coworker), it is easy to get caught in describing what you do. However, your customers and coworkers might not understand under what conditions they should reach out to you for assistance. Successful people do a great job articulating why people need their help.”
[Tweet “Successful people do a great job articulating why people need their help.”] - Put time for you on the calendar.
As an entrepreneur or Small Business owner, you are solely responsible for your own motivation, productivity and well-being. There’s no boss to pat you on the back or give you a raise. It’s up to you to keep yourself motivated and inspired. Also reward yourself for specific milestones like a big client win, meeting a tough deadline or working “overtime” for multiple nights on end. - Keep your Resolutions somewhere where you will view them often.
Have you ever set a goal only to later not remember exactly what it was? This resolution will keep that from ever happening again! - Give Back.
There are entire companies whose existence is born from the desire to do good but not every business is. Think about how you can give back. Is it a volunteer day for employees? Getting together corporate teams to enter walks or marathons to raise funds for a worthy organisation? A percentage of proceeds from a limited edition item? Whatever it is, commit to bringing a little good into the world.