The end of the year is one of the most important (and busy) moments for a business leader. As the year quickly comes to an end, business owners and managers need to start thinking about the year ahead to make sure that when January rolls around they are already on the path to growth and success.
Though there is no secret and bullet-proof formula to ensure business success and growth, there certainly are steps that businesses can take to help them tread the right path in the new year.
Review and set realistic goals
Before setting your goals for the new year, take a moment to look over the results of the past 12 months. Establish whether your business met the goals that had been set, determine the areas where you performed best and the areas where performance could’ve been better. Look over your numbers, are you investing as much as you should? Are your sales and profit projections on track? What about your costs, are you spending than you should? Are there any areas where you could make better use of resources? What about your team; do they have the right tools? Do you need to hire more talent? Are they productive and efficient?
After taking a look back and reflecting on your 2017 results and your staff’s performance, it’s time to set the goals for the new year. Business goals should always be realistic, attainable, and measurable (you must know how you will measure whether you are meeting goals). Are you going to launch a new product or service? Do you want to increase sales by X%? Do you want start business in a new market? All goals should be written down and included in the 2018 work plan, with a description of each, the person in charge, and how follow-up and supervision should be taken care of.
Automation
In line with reaching new business goals; embrace the tools and platforms available to your business and team to help them work and perform their best. Are your processes as efficient as they should be? Is your customer service a 5-star service? What about payments? Shipments? Confirmations? Onboarding?
Businesses that grow and remain competitive today are those that embrace and take advantage of all the tools available to them. Automation can help businesses improve numbers by taking care of tasks that generally take up too much valuable time from workers. Do some research on the automation tools available today; this will help you establish in which business area you should invest in when it comes to automation: marketing, HR, accounting, or social media.
Invest and inspire your team
Gather your team and check up on them. Your business’ success highly depends on your team, their motivation, and their drive.
You must empower your team to perform their best, and you must provide a system and environment that inspires them. Invest your time and resources to them; help them stay up-to date with trends and technologies, update them on new processes or company policies, invest in a workplace that increases their productivity and efficiency levels.
Encourage them to innovate, to share their solutions, and to collaborate with one another. An empowered, motivated team is the best way to ensure better results for the coming year.
