Now is the perfect time to look back at the past 12 months, evaluate your success and to position your business for growth in the new year. Here are 10 tips to help get your started:
Finalize your 2013 goals, financial targets and budget. Don’t wait until January or you run the risk of dragging strategic planning into Q1 and even Q2.
Choose your key priorities for the first quarter. Limit it to three priorities or make a plan to delegate. If you can’t devote at least one day a week to something, it’s hard to make it a priority.
Make an action plan to get to know your customers better. Make a commitment to learn more about your customers’ needs, goals, and objectives, and why they choose you over others.
Run an ROI exercise on your business. Do some quick calculation to understand what you spend on various people, activities, and initiatives and estimate what you get in return.
Send a thank you note to your key employees, customers, and business partners. Explain to them how much they help you achieve your goals.
Visualize your 3 to 5-year goals. Focus creates success.
Pick one item that is a distraction and create a plan to eliminate it. Know what needs to be done to ensure that you meet your longer-term objectives.
Identify people on your team who do not share your organizational values and goals and make a plan to remove or replace them. Are there people on your team who make your organization worse rather than better? Are there people who drag down the morale and effectiveness of the rest of the team? Create a plan to either get them on board or take them off the team.
Review your operating agreement. It’s easier to have a plan in place before an event forces you to come up with one.
Get some rest and reward yourself!
For more on this topic, or for no-cost consulting with certified business analysts, including growth acceleration consultants and PTAC specialists, contact the SBDC at 561-862-4726 or email sbdc@palmbeachstate.edu