Happy New Year to you all and best wishes for 2015 from the team at Début Marketing.
Despite barely being into week two of January I have already heard some outrageous “ New Year plans” from my friends and it got me thinking about what New Year resolutions you could apply to your business.
At this time of year so many of us strive to make changes and most of these usually take on the form of eating plans, exercise plans and no smoking plans, or in some cases, all of the above. Anyone who has tried to do all of these at one time will more than likely have quit at least one by the time Spring rolls around. Why? Not because we are quitters or scared of a little hard work but simply because trying to achieve all these things at once is unrealistic. When undertaking any change or improvement plan your goals need to be achievable, and a little healthy push to take you out of your comfort zone is recommended.
So with that said, what are Début Marketing’s top tips for starting the year the way you mean to go on…
1) Evaluate your goals and objectives for the year
Like the aforementioned eating and exercise plans, things can only be achieved effectively if a target is set to achieve. Use the new year to set your goals and budgets for the twelve months ahead. Whether it is the turnover figures you want to achieve each month, the projects you want to undertake and complete in the coming year, or the number of new customers or leads you want to recruit, having targets keeps your focus on achieving something and increases motivation to achieve said goal and targets.
2) Review the successes and failures of the previous years
Take the time to look back on the previous year and establish what worked, but maybe even more importantly, what didn’t work.
When looking back, take the successes on board and ensure you repeat what worked (or elements of what worked) in the coming year. If it ain’t broke then don’t need to fix it.
However I am a firm believer that your learn more from your mistakes than you do from your successes. So be honest, and be realistic, and look back and learn from campaigns, activities and projects that didn’t work out or even just didn’t work as well as expected. Take on board the learnings from these, and then in your planning for the coming year either don’t repeat these activities, or adapt the execution of the unsuccessful projects and activities to ensure they are successful this year.
3) Take the opportunity to do some “tidying” in-house
The new year is a perfect opportunity to clean the slate. Take advantage of the fresh start by doing some in-house tidying up. Whether this is pressing the reset button on reports and starting again for the new year, having a clean up of your database (data cleansing), or chasing up and settling any outstanding bills or payments, make sure and start as you mean to go on!
4) Set yourself one large project
Each year set up one large project for the year that would have a huge impact on your business. It could be a full website review and update. Or a new stock system? It could be a new product or service. Whatever it is, make sure that it is planned well, and be sure to set realistic expectations on completing the project. Remember the easiest way to eat an elephant is in bitesize chunks!
In conclusion, a new year means a new start, it gives the opportunity to press the reset button but also look ahead to the future. Whether it is planning for a new project or setting new targets to achieve, take advantage of a clean slate and start as you mean you to go on.
As ever, Début Marketing are available for meetings and consultations and will always put the needs and goals of your business first.
Next week I will look at how to set objectives and goals for the coming year.