In timely fashion, I would like to wish all our readers a happy and prosperous new year. Many of you will have made resolutions pertaining to your personal life and some of you will have broken them already. That is OK. The key to succeeding is setting realistic goals and not trying to take on or change too many things at once…plus, God loves a trier!
Now seeing as we made it safely into 2013 and the world neither came crashing down nor did it explode into a gazillion tiny particles obliterating everything mankind has achieved (I always thought that should be a recognised quantity), it seems like the perfect time to take stock of where we are and how we are going to move forward.
In business, just as in life, this can come in many forms. Say you plan to go on a diet, in business terms this can be translated as the desire to reduce wastage or overstock. Or perhaps you plan to save for something, to a business this would be increasing profit or sales.
So let’s take a look at some of the common ‘new year, new company’ resolutions that are easily achievable with the right structure, plan and know how.
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Improve sales
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Acquire more customers
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Turn first time customers into returning customers
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Create awareness of your business and therefore more interest
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Reduce turnaround time…
…I could go on but your resolutions are your own goals and will only be limited by your drive and determination.
So once you have decided on a resolution that will benefit you and your business you need to consider how you are going to achieve it. Say your goal is to make more money, and let’s face it, this one is going to be high up on the priority list; it is all too tempting to cut corners in order to get a faster result. E.G. Initially; cutting pack sizes, buying cheaper stock and selling it at the same price or for slightly more may help you achieve the bullet points above, but in the long run you are ultimately compromising value for money and quality and therefore your reputation. You need to get savvy and use the everyday tools that are available to you to reach your desired audience and outcome and beyond.
Let me ask you this, how many hours a day do you spend at your computer for both work and leisure? That many, huh? I bet you didn’t realise that. Now, think of how even just a couple of these hours could be turned into increased business productivity and therefore sales…
Social media is a great way to not only promote your business but also to interact with people,therefore creating awareness. Plus, social media follows the unwritten etiquette of ‘it’s nice to be nice’ and ‘one good turn deserves another’ so chances are that if you ‘like’ or ‘share’ something, someone will do the same for you. But the internet and computers give us much more than just a path to another form of communication, they can tell us pretty much anything we need to know in order to establish our current positioning therefore giving us insight into routes of progression.
Analysis of response rates, website visits, customer demographics, current trends and topics of interest and generally the day to day news are your tools and, when used in conjunction with a well thought out and manageable strategy, are all you need to succeed.
Like my Grandma used to say, “look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves”, and like the Debut girls say “look after the plan and the rest will fall into place” and, of course, we are here every step of the way and always happy to offer a helping hand to put you on the right path to a happy and prosperous new year.