New Year Resolutions You Should Make For Your Business
We all make New Year resolutions for our personal lives, so why not do it for your business too?
As 2017 draws to an end, take stock of your business year, and work out what went right and what went wrong. There are bound to be improvements you can make, not only helping you to increase profits but to benefit you and your time at work as well.
In this article, we will help you do both. 2018 has the potential to be a fantastic year, so add the following new year resolutions to your list, and you may achieve great success this next year.
Get back into marketing
For many business owners, marketing takes a back seat to the rest of the responsibilities that befall a busy company. Give your business a concerted push into the new year, outsourcing to managed SEO services to strengthen your online presence, and get your social media accounts in order to promote the new year services your business will be offering.
Arm yourself with some bold new business cards too, and get them into the hands of other business owners who are looking to work with somebody just like you.
Be sure to get in touch with your customers as well, reminding them to spend their Christmas money at your physical or online store.
Delegate some of your responsibilities
As you are starting to unwind at the end of this year, you are possibly feeling frazzled and in need of a well-earned break. Over the holiday, you will hopefully get refreshed and ready to take on the challenges of the new year.
However, you can still do yourself a favour and delegate some of your regular tasks to others. If you are desperate for the holidays to arrive because of your tiredness and stress, you know you need to do less.
Relinquish a little control, and outsource work to others, or give staff members added responsibility. They will be thankful for your consideration of their strengths, and you will finally stop working long hours all week.
Take stock of your finances
Money makes the business wheel turn, and we hope you have enough of it to keep you out of the red. On the other hand, you may be struggling to stay afloat.
In any case, get a handle on money matters, and look for ways in which you can earn more money and spend less. Sit down with your accountant if you have one, and budget for the year ahead.
There may be aspects where you can cut back, or you may have to spend more to increase your chances of earning more as the year rolls on.
You know budgeting is important, so spend some time before work begins in earnest to get your financial affairs in order.
Make time for your team
Assuming you work with others, book time for a meeting at the start of the new year, and discuss ways in which everybody can work better over the months to come.
Listen to what they have to say, and put into action anything that will benefit your business. This is one of the most important new year resolutions you could ever make.
All work and no play will make you all very dull, so book time in the year to engage with your team in other ways.
A company retreat may be useful, giving you all the opportunity for some team building. Fun activities, such as paintballing or bowling will also allow for bonding between you.
Then look at individuals within your workforce. Is there anything you can do to make their lives better this year? Is anybody ready to climb the career ladder?
Would somebody benefit from the delegated tasks we mentioned earlier? Sit down with them, and show that you care for their professional lives.
Learn new skills
This is something we put on our regular new year resolutions list, from learning new languages to playing a musical instrument. You can do the same in business.
Learning a new language may actually be good for international relations. You might also strengthen your web design skills, learn how to code, or take some lessons in public speaking.
If you want something you’ve never had before, you need to do something you have never done before, so take the time to broaden your skill set and you may flourish in whole new areas of your business.
Engage with the community
Not only does engaging with the community add to your marketing plan for the year, but you can also give something back to benefit the lives of others.
Could you be a school governor? Can you sponsor a local sports team? Is there a charity to which you could donate a share of your profits?
If you added public speaking to your new skill list, you could speak at events to raise an awareness of a particular issue, or you could mentor and train others.
You will raise your profile as a person and as a business, and giving something back to others will give you a sense of personal satisfaction, knowing you have made a difference in your community.
Make time for you
It can be hard to achieve an effective work-life balance, but your family and your health will benefit if you take a few steps to balance out your life. So what could you do?
Working from home occasionally will cut back on a few stresses in your life, both financially and personally. It’s easy to set up a home office, and cloud computing can still help you keep in touch with your team.
Don’t work long hours, whether you are in an office at home or at work premises, as you will only burn yourself out. Perhaps have longer breaks if need too.
Your performance at work will increase if you take time to refresh yourself, so add more ‘me time’ to your work calendar, and spend time having a little more fun than you may have had last year.
Finally
Our new year resolutions are just a beginning, and you may be able to think of more. Think about this: where do you want to be this time next year?
Tailor your resolutions to manage your hopes and dreams, and put them into practice as soon as you can. We hope you have a fantastic year!
Insanely Clever Marketing 