You’ve accomplished a ton in your life. Your list of successes most likely turns a few heads. So you probably answered “yes” to this question.
How’d you do this year in your business?
No matter how well you did…or didn’t do…Chris and I want to hand you a few presents for your business. While we know argyle socks or a holiday sweater with a cat on it would be a swell gift, I think the presents below will “fit” you better.
I’ve made a list and “checked it twice.” The gifts on the list below are, indeed, simple and yet so amazingly critical to your success in 2017…and you won’t have to work as hard as you did in 2016 when you follow them.
You’ll get greater results, too…just do exactly what I’m about to tell you:
Review 2016—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, 2017 will look a lot like 2016.
Set a goal—I am stunned at how few small business owners set ONE measurable goal that ALL efforts are executed to achieve. Don’t be one of them!!! Without a singular, measurable goal you’ll feel like you’re wandering without guidance. Your results will be less than desired, 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 your every effort, execution and strategy will be pointed at achieving your singular goal.
Determine what’s absolutely critical to your success—in the course of a year lots of interesting “opportunities” will show up. Some take you to your goal; others will put you on the path to business “h-e-double hockey sticks.” 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 last 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 latter is a tactic).
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.
Tweak—hey, it’s not all going to be perfect the first time! No kidding, eh? 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 LinkedIn conversations? 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 2017, working fewer hours. You might even end feeling like you have to pull a rabbit out of the hat every month.
Speaking of rabbits…read the P.S. below for a gift from us to you.
Go forth and do great things,
P.S. Chris and I bought you a gift. Don’t look for it in your postal or personal email box. Won’t fit.
Each week during the holiday season we’re buying a gift in the names of our customers (you) to help a struggling family somewhere around the globe. This week we bought baby chicks…from Heifer International (see why you don’t want this gift in your postal mailbox??). A starter flock of 10 to 50 chicks provide eggs for eating and selling for other food needs.
Remember how just a few moments ago you recognized how successful you are? What if we all came together to make those less fortunate just a bit more successful?
Would you like to join us in chick giving? Simply head over to www.Heifer.org and send a gift of nutrition to someone in need.
Another gift is coming your way next week. What will it bee?