New Year’s resolutions are not just for people. Small businesses could benefit from a good resolution plan as well. The irony here is small business resolutions are made by people with the intention of benefiting people. Someone owns a small business. The benefits won’t be reaped by the inanimate enterprise, but those who run it. And resolutions should lead to benefits.
Resolutions, in general, entail improving things in some way. An entrepreneur envisioning changes to a small business sees the need for improving things. The improvements, not too surprisingly, focus on boosting revenues in some way. Any deficiencies in the operation of a small business undermine the ability to generate profits. Whether profit motivated or not, a decision to improve a small business in some way can prove helpful. Here are a few resolutions a small business owner best consider during the next 12 months.
Building Up Online and Digital Footprints
Any small business that lacks a strong presence online isn’t going to connect with the maximum amount of customers. Customers commonly seek out information about businesses online. And “online” does not only refer to the search engines. Strong presences on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and more are required for even moderate success.
An entrepreneur that hypes a business on Twitter and Facebook multiple times per day would garner more attention than a business owner who does nothing. Granted, the daily promotional approach must be done right. Otherwise, the strategy could backfire. In general, a smartly executed daily online campaign should yield good results.
The social media platform does need to be personable. Reaching out to people in a truly social manner helps. Simply publishing expository information probably would fall flat.
Establish a Better Budget
A small business owner thrives when his/her enterprise delivers a good profit margin. Too frequently, proprietors focus on raw sales and customer numbers when seeking to increase profits. Sometimes, a little cost-cutting needs to be examined as well. A poorly-devised budget may be one that spends far too much on unnecessary things. Maybe the time has arrived to review new small business insurance quotes to acquire better premiums. Perhaps looking into alternative sources of energy is long past due.
Looking over the budget in relation to cash flow is something that should be done as soon as the new year arrives. If monthly revenues cannot reasonably be expected to increase by significant margins, serious thought must go into revising business’ budget. Otherwise, money will continue to be unnecessarily wasted.
Enhance Other Skills
In addition to honing primary skills, seek to build and improve secondary skills required to be a success at running a small business. If your speaking and writing skills remain a bit lacking, do what is required to enhance them. Such improvements would only benefit you. So, why not put the effort into enhancing these and other talents?
Increase Productivity Exponentially
Productivity takes many forms. In the business world, increased productivity may translate into both earning more money and also save money. A person who chooses to keep a business open one extra hour a day makes it possible to generate more revenues through servicing customers. An entrepreneur who performs certain duties him/herself rather than outsourcing things saves money on professional services. Profit margins may improve nicely as a result.
Increasing in productivity do need to be measured with a helpful amount of common sense. If you are not cut out for a particular task or can’t do certain things at a necessary level of quality, then the job should go to someone else. Areas in which you can be more productive should be where you focus your productivity increases.
Place Value On Yourself
Shockingly, not every small business owners put the right amount of value on their skills, services, and products. Why sell yourself and your business short? Not asking for prices commensurate with worth doesn’t make much sense from a business perspective. Some might feel uneasy about raising prices or charging higher rates.
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Well said.