Small Business New Year's Resolutions
Have you made any small business New Year's resolutions for 2020? If you are an entrepreneur, it's always wise to review the previous year and analyze how it went with your small business. You can get so busy in the day to day running your business, that you don't always take time to sit back and see where you stand.
Well, it's the first week of the new year and a new decade! That calls for some careful insight.
Where do you stand with your business?
Where do you want to be?
If you are not where you want to be, what changes need to be made to get there?
Let's assume your small business is not exactly where you want it to be. First, let's consider in what ways it needs to change.
- Do you want it to grow financially?
- Are you looking to change your schedule, maybe by working less and having more free time?
- Are you doing something you enjoy or are you feeling unfulfilled?
These are three of the top areas you want to look at to see if your business measures up. If not, we'll talk about some ways to you can make changes.
Financial
The first thing to do is to know what your financial goals are. Is your small business a part-time side venture or do you depend on it to make a living? Either way, you need to set financial goals so that you know if you are being successful.
Let's say you want this to be your sole source of income. Are you able to live on what you're making? Is it a comfortable standard of living? If not, here are some changes you can make.
- Trim your expenses. We have found, that if we're not careful, we can be paying out monthly fees for products and services we don't use or need. It's important to look at what your expenses are on a regular basis and determine whether you still are using the things you are paying or.
- Up your marketing. The problem might be that you aren't marketing enough or in the right places. Is your business getting in front of the right audience? If not, you are wasting your time and hard earned money. Make sure your marketing efforts are targeting the people who would be interested in your products or services.
Scheduling
Are you happy with your schedule - the number of hours you work and what those hours are? I know, at first, we would work evenings if needed because we were trying to build up our client base. Now we are able to be more in charge of what hours we want to work. We prefer to work Monday - Friday daytime hours. Of course, if there is an emergency, we adjust that, but for the most part, we are happy with the hours we work.
If you are not, see what you can do to change that. Do you need a different client type? Do you need to hire some additional help so that it doesn't all fall on you? These are options to consider.
Is Your Small Business Fulfilling?
It's possible you are just not happy with what you're doing. If that is the case, it's time to re-evaluate what you would like to do and take steps to get there.
You spend a lot of time working, so you want it to be something that fits with your interests, values and personality. If it's not, it will not be enjoyable and harder to be successful in it.
2020 is here. Now is the time to make some new year's resolutions for your small business, so that when 2021 rolls around, you are in the place (or at least heading there) that you want to be.
If you need some inspiration, you can write down some of these new year's resolutions quotes and start your day with them. We all need some encouragement from time to time to keep going. Do what you can to keep from becoming frustrated.
Review Your Website
And last, but definitely not least, do a review of your website. Has it worked for you? Is it bringing in new customers? Making sales for you? The new year is a great time to get a new website. Web design trends are always changing, so you want to keep up with the times. It's important that you keep it current, as an active current website is a reflection of an active current business.
Whether you like to make resolutions or would rather think of them as goals for your small business, make sure you take time to review the past year. Determine where you want your business to be next year. Set your goals and get started moving toward them.