With the changing of the calendar and another year approaches, we start putting together our New Year’s resolutions, hoping for another beginning that can help us become better than the previous years. Others may not subscribe to the idea of New Year’s resolutions, but in business, there is a parallel mindset which is more related with goal-setting.
It is about time to assess and evaluate the things that you need to stop, minimise, improve and start doing. Whether you are making a New Year’s resolution or doing your end-year evaluation or annual corporate planning, you have to go back always on your purpose when you started your business. You may have updated your main objective, often articulated in your vision and mission, years after you have established your venture, but it’s nice to bear in mind the “why” behind your enterprise.
If you have been doing this for quite some time, you can review your past resolutions, goals or plans. If not, you can consider assessing and planning the following areas that can help improve yourself and your business. Choose the most urgent that will affect your venture positively and start listing down your resolutions under those items.
Personal development
As the business owner, you lead your team and your entire business. You also have to grow in parallel to your company or enterprise. What new skills do you need to learn or hone? What are the things you should do to improve yourself as a person and as an entrepreneur? It could be joining EO Melbourne and its various learning activities. Analyse your strengths and weaknesses and focus on areas where you need to exert more effort for your personal development.
Family time
Come up with a specific checklist on what you can do consistently to ensure that you still provide quality time and attention to your family. Having a happy environment at home can also extend to other areas of your life. You can start a new habit in the family that everyone will enjoy.
Business goals and targets for the year
If you have a specific picture of what you want to achieve for the year, list down the particular actions you need to do that will bring you towards those targets. The action items must be very specific so that it is easy for you to do them, monitor, and plan accordingly.
Staff development and company culture
Your internal environs are significant to the success of your business. Take a look at how you can attract and retain good people and endeavour on making your company a preferred place of work for your team members. Maybe you need to restructure your organisational chart or come up with programs for staff development.
Client relations and networking
What should you do to strengthen your relations with your existing clients and expand your network? It could be joining a business group like EO, having dinner with a client once or twice a month, or attending four conferences or conventions during the year. You can also renew ties with old friends you have never seen for a long time.
Finances and systems
Are there areas in your financial operations that need to be improved? If there is any, write down what you will do to achieve better results on the financial side of your business. There may be areas in your operations that need to have a more efficient system for faster and better outcomes. You might want to introduce a technology, upgrade your systems, hire an expert, or study finance-related or systems-related short courses. With IT and automated systems now flourishing in various industries, it would be good to include this in your New Year’s resolutions.
Marketing
These days, marketing one’s brand, product or service go beyond the traditional methods. New media platforms have become important tools in executing marketing strategies and tactics. If this is uncharted territory to you, then you have to familiarise yourself with these platforms and start incorporating them in your business.
Social Causes
This is probably one aspect that you want to be involved in the future. You may not have enough resources yet to support a cause, but you can start planting the seeds of good works by checking some charities or social causes that are close to your heart. You can also volunteer your time and expertise in helping out sectors of society that may be in great need.
Are you ready to welcome the coming year? Face the year 2019 aiming for a better version of yourself, and take your business to the next level. Make your New Year’s resolutions work for you. Look at it on a positive light as something that will add value to you, not burden you. Most important of all, whatever you have listed there, enjoy the exercise of fulfilling them and ticking them off.