How are you doing on your New Year’s resolutions? Did you attempt any this year? If you did, maybe you selected one of the most common New Year’s resolutions from the list below.
- Lose Weight
- Quit Smoking
- Learn Something New
- Eat Healthier
- Get Out of Debt/Save Money
- Spend More Time with Family/Be More Present
- Travel, Explore New Places
- Be Less Stressed/Meditate
These are good resolutions, aren’t they?
They’re things most of us need or neglect. But you might be surprised that they’re also things your business likely needs as well.
If you’re already doing these things for yourself why not look at ways you can do that for your business too. In this article, will cover the most popular personal resolutions and give you actionable ways you can tie them into improving your business as you improve yourself.
#1. Lose (the dead) Weight
Losing weight can make you healthier personally but losing weight in your business can also help you achieve better results. Look for ways you can cut dead weight in your business. Examine inefficiencies, employees with bad morale, redundancies that don’t mitigate risk, and potential areas for outsourcing.
It’s important that you assess the efficiency of your business and performance periodically. It’s equally important that you look at company culture and morale. If you have an employee who is not performing, help them find their way to something that’s a better fit. If they’re a good employee that fit may be a different position in your company.
However, if they are toxic and not adding anything to your business, you need to show them the door. Not doing so is the equivalent of walking around with an unneeded 50-100 pounds on your business. Eventually, the extra weight will make your whole business ill. Eliminate it now and get your team on a healthier track for 2020.
#2. Quit Smoking (and other bad business habits)
Okay, so the second most popular New Year’s resolution isn’t one you can do literally for your business but there are ways to make your business healthier. Look for things in your business that are not bringing you closer to your goals and eliminate them. For instance, maybe you implemented a workaround a long time ago that used to suit your business but longer is needed. Don’t cling to it just because you spent a lot of time doing it. Instead, get rid of those bad habits that aren’t serving your business growth.
It’s likely the environment, market, and industry have undergone severe changes since you began your business. Customer preferences likely have changed as well. Don’t cling to bad habits. Don’t do things because you’ve always done them.
Look for ways to improve the health of your business by establishing new habits that are more aligned with your business goals.
#3. Learn Something New
This resolution is incredibly important to businesses everywhere. You can employ it personally as the head of your business and take the time to learn a new skill that will improve your business or you can make it a business/team goal for 2020 and encourage all of your employees to learn something new that will benefit them professionally.
If you have the means to do so, pay for your employees to learn a new skill. If your funds are limited, look into low-cost or free community solutions. For instance, the Chamber of Commerce may offer lunch and learn sessions that can help your employees learn a new skill for very little cost.
Don’t forget to think about skills that could mean new offerings for your business. For instance, learning how to produce a podcast will not only give you another avenue by which to reach your audience, it may also give you a new skill that you can use to help others. You may even be able to eventually charge for that service or by teaching others how to do what you did. When considering a new skill, don’t forget potential revenue streams.
#4. Eat Healthier/Improve Your Diet (make wellness a priority)
When it comes to your business, there are many ways you can make your business healthier. For instance, if you offer snacks for your employees, bringing in healthier options will not only help their wellness but will make them feel like you care about their well-being. You may consider implementing a meditation room or a yoga program for your employees to help with stress.
If those things are a little too grandiose for your budget, then consider ways you can help yourself and your employees by creating a better work-life balance. For instance, if you give your employees paid vacation and none of them ever use it, figure out why. Maybe they feel like they can’t that there’s always too much work to be done. Work with managers or employees directly to help eliminate the hesitance in taking time off. If you can cut down the stress and improve your employees’ well being you will have a much more effective and productive team.
#5. Get Out of Debt/Save Money
All managers should be tasked with a periodic review of how they can eliminate inefficiencies and save money within their department or the company itself. Some companies offer a hotline or an idea box that employees can submit money-saving ideas. If the company uses any of the employees’ ideas, they give that employee a percentage of the first year’s savings. That way they have an incentive to look for inefficiencies and cost-savings opportunities.
You may also want to use this time to look for ways you can save money or get more for your money by auditioning different vendors. Remember, it’s not always best to look for the lowest price. Some vendors may offer a slightly higher price but they may perform a service your team would otherwise have to do. Time is money. If that vendor can give your team more time there may be cost savings in that as well.
#6. Spend More Time with Family (and doing what matters)
In your business, it’s important to spend time doing the things that make the most sense. That means your salesperson is selling, not restocking snacks. That means the marketing person is dreaming up new directions to reach more potential customers, not answering the main phone.
There are some activities that even though everyone in the business can do them, it’s costing you more money for that to be the case. After all, when your salesperson is stacking snacks, they’re not selling. It’s not something they can multitask. There’s a cost to that person not doing the most valuable component of their work.
This is true of meetings as well. Every time you pull an employee into a meeting it’s costing you because they’re not doing their job at that moment.
Make sure all of your employees are performing at top revenue capacity. This means making sure they all have the appropriate job duties and that you are removing any obstacles from them doing their job.
And again, help them find that work/life balance that will make them more productive when they’re at work.
#7. Travel to New Places (and new markets)
While you don’t have to physically travel to a new place to get more business (although who are we kidding? That can be really fun.), in 2020, think of the possibilities of exploring new markets or doing business with a new demographic. For instance, maybe you currently market to middle-aged moms. And maybe you’ve realized your product or service with a couple of quick tweaks could appeal to millennial pet parents as well. Take some time and brainstorm areas of growth for your product or service.
To do so, ask yourself what solution you provide and who else might be interested in that solution. If your answer is “everyone,” use early 2020 to take a look at your sales data. Who is really buying from you? And how can you personalize your marketing to appeal to more of their peers? Personalizing your approach and speaking directly to them will improve your sales.
#8. Be Less Stressed
Boy, this is the Holy Grail for business owners everywhere. But how do you accomplish it? Stress seems to be part of the job description. But this is where slight changes in your approach can help your entire team.
Choose the approach that best fits you. That could be:
- Quick meditative practices
- Leaving room in your schedule for emergencies
- Delegating more
Your team may even appreciate the trust and additional responsibilities.
Getting yourself in a better place mentally will make your team feel less stressed as well. Stress affects productivity. Worrying about something doesn’t get it done. If you eliminated the inefficiencies that we talked about earlier, that too will help with stress.
Since money is a major stressor you can also look for ways to increase sales. For instance, you may want to change out some of your traditional advertising to do more online.
Or you may want to eliminate a problem that impedes your sales. This could be streamlining an online checkout process that takes a very long time or it could be keeping kids happy while parents shop in your brick-and-mortar location.
Take a hint from Trader Joe’s. Many of the Trader Joe’s locations hide a small animal toy in the grocery aisles. Children are encouraged to look for it. When they find it they can tell the store clerk where it was and receive a small reward like a lollipop. Publix grocery stores give out free cookies to children so their parents can shop in peace. Examine ways to eliminate at least one barrier to sales and you’ll experience more purchases.
Resolutions are something many of us take on this time of year. But you can do some real good in your business by following some of the most popular personal resolutions and translating them to your professional life.
How are you doing on your resolutions? Let us know in the comments.
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