It’s 2018 and I am thinking about what we can do differently in our small businesses. How do we improve? What can take us to the next level? Here are my thoughts.
Really learn something
Learn something, really learn something, don’t just Google it. Don’t get me wrong, Google is great for answers and information but you may want more help than that. There are times when we don’t even know what we don’t know (kind of hard to Google that one). Having someone work with you to assess you and help you further can be the best solution and get you going in the right direction.
Get Creative. Go outside your comfort zone and be creative with how you do your business. What other ways can you do what you do? What other ways can you help people? Think outside the ‘comfort’ box. Ask a stranger. Ask a kid. Be prepared for an honest answer. This could be just what you need for the new year.
Commit to a digital marketing strategy.
Pick a social media platform(s) and pick a time frame and stick to it. This could mean choosing to post to LinkedIn and Instagram weekly, while posting to Facebook and Twitter daily.
Think about what message you are trying to convey and make sure you stay true to who you are as a business. Be open, be honest, have fun. Spend time each week composing your messages and vary them enough so your audience stays interested and engaged.
Streamline operations
Embrace opportunities to streamline operations. Look at how you work and decide that it can be done better and faster. When we continue to do things the same way we might think we are fast at it because of repetition but what if there is a better way. The better way may not seem that fast at first or may need to be setup or configured but we need to look at the long term pay off here. Don’t just do something a certain way because that is the way it’s always be done, ask how can I do this better? Is there a better way?
Give yourself a break. As a small business owner we often find ourselves with too much to do and we think we have to do it all now. Take a break (away from your work), take a walk, enjoy a movie or dinner with a friend. Forget about work long enough to recharge and be that much more effective when you return to it. A break could actually end up giving you more time to do something because you are that much more effective, you have recharged.
Now is the best time to start. We use the New Years as an excuse to start something new but the truth is we can start something new anytime, better yet start it now.