Blog
Business Resolutions For The New Year
Business New Year's Resolutions are like self-improvement goals--they look great on paper, but make no difference until you put them into practice. We’ve assembled some of the best New Year’s resolutions business owners can make to improve their work-life balance and business performance, along with a few suggestions to turn each resolution into reality.
Learning to Delegate
Delegating is one of the great challenges of running your own business. Business owners and managers often feel the need to oversee everything, even though they trust the talents of responsible employees. If you're running yourself ragged trying to manage every task, you need to learn to delegate
Learning to delegate is, quite frankly, one of the most unnerving business New Year's resolutions. Remember you’re not giving up control you're just exercising your management skills.
Take your first steps into the
- Establish a priority system to determine which tasks can be delegated and which require personal attention.
- Delegate tasks to your employees based on their personal strengths and acknowledge their successes.
- Always include clear instructions on how to complete tasks with attainable deadlines. Be available to answer questions during tasks.
- Teach employees new skills - the more talented your employees, the more you can delegate.
- Trust your employees, but verify their results.
Launching a New Promotion
Launching a new promotion is a great New Year's resolution for business owners. What better way to start the new year than with a new marketing campaign to drum up business? While larger companies have on-staff marketers who focus entirely on promotional campaigns, small business owners may require outside assistance.
Fortunately, that assistance isn’t difficult to come by. Promotional product suppliers such as Triple Crown Products can help you design promotional hats and other items, customize your workforce uniforms, and refine your logo.
Network More
Every business owner understands the value of networking. For some, the process is as natural as breathing. For others, networking is a difficult, anxiety-inducing task. Still, a commitment to networking is one of the best New Year's resolutions a business owner can make.
Networking isn’t about selling--at least not directly. Join the local chamber of commerce or a local industry group. Keep your business cards and phone on-hand in case you need them, but don’t go to network meetings with a drive to sell. Instead, listen to what other people have to say. If possible, help others find solutions to their business pain points, whether your business benefits directly or not. You’ll build a reputation as a helpful, creative resource, which can open the door to future deals.
Me Time
Running a business can wreak havoc on your work-life balance even after you learn to delegate. This is more important from a business perspective than you might think. If you're not taking time to relax and enjoy some downtime, you put yourself at risk of burnout. Besides, what’s the point of running your own business if you can’t enjoy life?
One effective solution is to schedule your free time. That sounds like an oxymoron, but it’s actually a habit practiced by many successful business people. Block out times for yourself and family in your daytimer, just as you schedule meetings, work travel, site visits, and other business events. More importantly, honor those time commitments as much as you do your business responsibilities.
Upgrading Equipment and Staff
To remain competitive, your equipment needs to run at optimum efficiency and your staff need proper training. The new year is a good time to take a hard look at upgrading work equipment, switching to new systems, and sending promising employees for advanced training.
Like any other aspect of business life, this type of New Year’s resolution requires you to prioritize equipment and training in order of importance. The need for new flame resistant jackets for workers, for instance, is a more pressing concern than replacing that old office printer that doesn’t communicate with your computers as well as it should. Additional training for talented employees may cost money, but also improves employee retention, which is cheaper in the long run than hiring and training new staff.
Whatever business New Year's resolutions you make, break the task down into small, attainable steps. And while it can be tempting to make multiple resolutions, remember--one resolution you can complete is better for your business than ten that never get done. Happy New Year, folks!