Five Resolutions for Your Business this Year

Just two weeks back into it and you are no doubt back in the habit of working like a little hamster. But let’s just take a deep breath: there should always be time for a little reflection.

With the turning of another year comes the inevitable audit of business wins and losses, improvements and setbacks that will help you take a firm look at your business and ask that challenging question: “What can I do better this year?”

As a business owner it can be tough to take a step back from your all-consuming vocation for some perspective, especially if you hit the ground running on the 5^th January and feel like you haven’t stopped since! Here are some Tickety Boo brainwaves for unlocking your potential in 2018.

Tie up last year’s loose ends

We know! There’s just so much to do! But make sure the past stays firmly in the past by addressing outstanding issues from the pre-holiday period quickly. This could be replying to that niggling email that poses a seemingly insurmountable problem to making sure your accounts are bang up to date. Not only will you have a great sense of closure, it’s much easier to focus on moving forward when you’re not constantly looking back over your shoulder.

Fire up your goals

It’s likely that over the festive period, fuelled by liberal helpings of brandy, you may have made some strategic decisions for your business which are now languishing as you return to the cut and thrust of the day to day. But often it takes just a few actionable bullet points to keep these from growing mould in The Spreadsheet that Time Forgot. Perhaps for the coming year you wish to improve your customers’ experience, streamline your order-taking system, or work towards better compliance. Push yourself to write down five key goals that will make each objective become a reality, and you’ll find the vision is already in a sharper focus.

 Throw out the ballast

The procedures and processes that have shaped your business are often surprisingly difficult to surrender, but they could be weighing you down. From that defunct photocopier that will only work if you wiggle the paper tray a certain way, to the sketchy invoicing procedure. It might be time to bid a long overdue goodbye to the battered and not-so-trusty equipment and not-so-short-term workarounds to make way for strong ideas and more functional items. Make this the year you just won’t put up with things anymore.

Create soaring morale

Coming back to work in January is never exactly a frolic, but if you can introduce your team to something new and exciting to work towards, you’ll find morale will soar. These needn’t be thinly-veiled incentives or stodgy procedures. Consider working together towards something really worthwhile: a 5K, a cycling event or an office-wide pub quiz league are all great ways to build team spirit, and perhaps even incorporate some charity work into your team-building.

Review your suppliers

Valuable business collaborations are not to be sniffed at, and nurturing the habit of annually reviewing your suppliers is not disloyal – it makes sound business sense. Checking around for the price of relative goods and services every year can save your business money which can be invested elsewhere, and if you’re concerned it will damage your relationship with existing contacts, be open, honest, and offer an opportunity to them to price-match.

So let’s get to it. 2018 is going to be fabulous!