If you’re like most business owners, you take time each year to look back on your business and evaluate your progress. As you review how far you’ve come, it’s great to celebrate your successes. But truly successful business owners also use their “Year in Review” to both identify key elements of success so far, and to make changes that will help build even bigger moving forward.
Here’s a process you can use for your “Year in Review” to help you focus your business activities on even greater success. Write these down, and refer back to them as needed throughout the year.
- Identify 3 strengths of your business this year. Did you come up with an innovative idea that led to increased business? Did you put an emphasis on personalized customer service? Write down the 3 things you feel were most important to your success. These are areas that you will continue to develop moving forward.
- Identify 3 areas of your business that you would like to improve moving forward. Do you need to do a better job following up with customers? Could you get more organized in your paperwork? Should you get out and do more networking? Write down 3 areas that you will focus on in the coming months, along with specific activities you will do to achieve greater success in these areas.
- Identify 3 goals that you have for your business in the coming year. These can be things you can measure, such as increasing your sales per customer or increasing the amount of repeat orders. They can also be something new that you’ll create for your business to drive growth, such as creating a social media marketing strategy. Starting with 3 goals keeps you focused without causing you to become overwhelmed. Write your goals down, and then make a bulleted list of the activities you’ll need to do in order to achieve each goal. Set dates to those activities to hold yourself accountable.
By taking some time to plan, you can be sure that your daily activities for your business are focused on growth.
Do you take time periodically to review the growth of your business? What tips do you have for planning ahead? We would love to read your thoughts in the comments below!
To get your free copy of the eBook, click here: 15 Days to Greater Success. You can download it from our Facebook Page. And while you’re there, you can download our other free eBooks too: Business Owner’s Road Map to Success, Creating Your Success Mindset, and Reflections on Success. They’re all designed to give you an edge in your business, and help you focus on the daily practices that lead to your goals.
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