Getting Your Business On Track for the New Year

You’ve no doubt made some New Year’s resolutions for yourself. But what about your business? As image & etiquette consultants and small business owners, it’s important for us to set goals for the year ahead, whether it’s to drum up new business, improve our online presence, or offer more services. There are plenty of possibilities and lots of room for growth, but one stumbling block many business owners encounter is biting off more than they can chew.

For instance, “being more successful” is too vague a goal. The question is, what specific actions will you take to achieve success? What are your priorities? What are the negative risks, if any, associated with this goal? What obstacles stand in your way? By using critical thinking you can hone in on what your company needs most, and create a step-by-step approach to making it happen.

Organization is key. One of the things I do at the start of each year is track where my income comes from. I use an Excel spreadsheet that has various categories, such as networking, free seminars, website, products, and repeat business. When I look at where my income came from the past year, it gives me an idea of where to spend my time and my marketing dollars. For example, 50% of my business each year comes from repeat customers. That tells me I should spend a considerable amount of time cultivating relationships with my current clients. By looking at the spreadsheet in review, you can really analyze the data and learn from it, change tactics, and implement new strategies. Instead of the general and lofty goal of “making more money,” my goal has narrowed to working with existing clients to get repeat business, and I can then focus on marketing strategies to best achieve that.

Say you want to do more social networking on behalf of your business. One first step might be to see what your competitors are doing. What seems to work? What do you respond to? What is less successful or seems to draw little interest? What fresh take can you add to the mix? What sites are best for people in your industry? By doing some research you can fine-tune your approach for the better. I also recommend watching online tutorials (HubSpot has some great webinars) for tips on improving your SEO and getting lots of followers and fans. By creating a detailed game plan and allowing time for research, you should be able to make this resolution a successful one, as opposed to someone who might set up a Twitter feed, and then never touch it again!

Ultimately, you should treat your business resolutions as you should your personal ones. You can’t realistically have a successful diet without doing the appropriate research into what foods are best for you, setting limits for yourself, and creating benchmarks. Hold yourself accountable. If it helps, give yourself daily goals and ask a trusted friend or spouse to hold you to them. Text that person each day when you have completed your daily task. If you fail to do so, have a system wherein you have to face a “punishment” of sorts. A life coach I know uses this tactic with his clients based on a points system. If they do their tasks and earn a certain amount of points, they are treated to a free session. However, every incomplete task results in a loss of points and if a client gets below a certain level, they have to pay an additional fee. Sounds tough, but it works!

Now get out there and make those goals happen! Here’s to a productive 2012!

©2012 Professional Image Management If you would like to use this article in your newsletter or blog, you may do so. Please include our credit information: Written by Juanita Ecker, Professional Image Management. © Copyright 2012. I would also appreciate it if you would send us a copy for our files.