5 Ways to Be Kinder to Your Business in 2016

If you’re like me, the holidays can sweep
you up a bit.

Holiday crowds, mall traffic, holiday parties, what to give Aunt Mable and, hopefully,
even visions of sugar plums grab your time and attention.

And nowhere on your list is a “gift” for your business.

The gifts I’m about to offer you are, indeed, simple to do, and yet so amazingly critical to your success in 2016…without working as hard as you worked in 2015.

And you’ll get greater results, too…just do exactly what I’m about to tell you to do:

1. Review 2015—what worked and what didn’t? What services brought in the most money and which didn’t sell much at all?  Who were your best customers (don’t forget to thank them)? How did you get those customers…so you can go get more just like them?  What do they require next (you can’t solve their problem in one step…trust me, you cannot).  If you don’t know what worked and what didn’t, 2016 will look a lot like 2015.
2. Set a goal—I am stunned at how few small business owners set ONE measurable goal that ALL efforts are executed to achieve. Without a singular, measurable goal you will wander from pillar to post.  Your results will be less than you desire, and your workload will be larger than you’d like.  Bright shiny objects arrive to steer you in the wrong direction.  Set ONE, measurable goal and share it with your entire team.  Then you’re every effort, execution and strategy will be pointed at achieving that singular goal.
3. Determine what’s absolutely critical to your success—in the course of a year, lots of interesting “opportunities” will show up. Some opportunities will take you to your goal; some  will take you on a gigantic, unproductive detour.  The only way to know which is which is to know…right now…the things that are absolutely mandatory, critical to your success.  They will be strategies that will last you the entire year (for example, you will build your on-line presence…not you’ll build your website; the former is a strategy, and the later is a tactic).
4. Align—all your daily activities now should be executed to make your critical success factors happen. If you find yourself doing “stuff,” stop it.  It’s a waste of time.  Only do activities that make your critical success factors materialize.  You’ll thank me for this one.
5. Tweak—hey, it’s not all going to be perfect the first time! Trust me on this one.  Evaluate your results monthly.  Are people coming to your website and opting in?  If not, adjust the opt-in.  Are the right prospects responding to your Facebook ads?  If not, adjust just a little.  Are people referring business?  If not, what can you do to ENCOURAGE referrals rather than simply wait for them to happen…or not!

These simple steps…right now…will enable you to experience a kinder, gentler and more successful 2016, working fewer hours and not feeling like you have to pull a rabbit out of the hat every month.

Go forth and do great things,

Martha and Chris