If you haven’t already done so, January is a great time to decide on a list of business goals for the new year. Whether you have decided to take the leap with a new business start-up or you want to expand your existing business, planning and setting goals, with details, for exactly what you want to accomplish will help you stay accountable and on task throughout the year. Having an accountability person, coach or consultant is also a great idea.
Here are 5 ideas for new business goals for growth to help get you going
Lower Expenses
Take a reflective and realistic look at last year’s expenses for your business and analyse which ones were higher than they should have been. Whether it was on office supplies or business lunches or even printing costs, you should find ideas on how to decrease the numbers. You can consider buying office supplies in bulk or even re-evaluating the partnerships you have with vendors to see if there are opportunities there to lower expenses. Even though it may cost money to seek professional business consulting it usually pays for itself with the proper consulting.
Reach New Markets
You can determine to make this year a growth year by reviewing last year’s marketing plan and results from specific campaigns to evaluate what worked, and of course, what didn’t. For example, social media and online marketing avenues are cost effective if done properly, if not they could be a big failure. If you haven’t tried promoting your business online, it’s definitely time to start. If you have and it hasn’t worked out for you like you thought it would seek professional help. You can also make a list of your specific target audience and obtain new ways to reach them. If you can’t come up with new ways that’s what marketing companies are for.
Keep Learning
Expanding your business means you have to constantly keep up with your competitors and new market trends in your industry. You can do this by following local marketing professional’s blogs in your area and keep informed. Another great way is to attend a course or seminar. There are lots of marketing agencies that offer free learning workshops. Just be careful, some are nothing more than sales pitches. With each new skill and connection you make, you’ll find that you are adding valuable knowledge to your business that when applied will help your business grow.
Know Your Weaknesses
Lastly, acknowledge where you are strong and where you are not. When you can know where you are not strong but still need success then find someone else who can do that part for you. It has been proven over and over if we let those do what they are truly good at and not try to do what we can not do well, things will improve. Let go and acknowledge what you are not good at. Be humble if you want to grow and just pay someone else to do what you need to have done to meet your goals. Yes, that can increase expenses but it should increase profit far more than the expenses.
Work Life Balance
As a marketing agency owner myself, I know it’s easy to let your business take over your entire life. Make time for yourself, for your family and friends, and set work hours that will create an optimal work life balance. Without a doubt there will be times where you have to work 12+ hours a day but have balance. You have to prevent yourself from getting burned out if you want to continue to run a successful business and love doing what you do. Evaluate which elements of your business create the most stress, and evaluate ways to automate tasks or off load them to someone or somewhere else to create more time for you.
Whatever your business goals are for the new year, it is vital to ensure they are achievable and measurable and that you have also set a reasonable time frame. I have found that setting short term goals (30 days), quarterly goals (90 days) and yearly goals help. It is too much to measure along the way with only yearly goals. Working towards goals which are actually achievable will help keep you motivated each time you meet one to keep going and growing your business. Quantifying your business goals with specific numbers also means that you can measure your progress and give you something to strive for. You will also be able to know for sure whether or not you have met your goal. Like in marketing we analyze goals weekly and monthly to make sure we are on track with our goals and growth is happening.