Pacific Daily News:
1. Develop an annual business plan - engage in a regular business planning process every year. Set aside a few days, analyze your past activities, set goals for the coming year, prioritize new efforts, and, most importantly, establish an action plan. Set goals, establish priorities, be realistic.
2. Get a line of credit - The best time to get a loan is when you don’t need one. After all, you never know when you’ll suddenly need some extra cash. If you’re lucky, you’ll need money because you got an unexpected big new order, and you have to purchase inventory or raw materials. If you’re not so lucky, you may need money to handle an unexpected financial crunch. It will be a lot easier to deal with either situation if you have an already-established line of credit available to you. It takes time to complete all the paperwork of getting a business line of credit, so start applying now, when you’re not faced with having to fill those rush orders or handle an emergency.
3. Increase your marketing - Yes, I know you make this a New Year’s resolution every year, but you can’t stop marketing if you want your business to survive, let alone grow. But don’t just start marketing willy-nilly. As part of your planning process, develop a marketing plan. Once again, set priorities and goals. Choose ongoing activities that are realistic based on your budget and time. And don’t forget to keep networking.
4. Focus on your bread and butter - With a new year comes the desire to forge out in new directions. But remember what part of your business actually pays your bills. Entrepreneurs often get bored with their fundamental business and business fundamentals. But when you allow yourself to get too distracted by exciting new projects, you neglect your core income stream.
5. Do one big new thing - Let’s face it - most of us entrepreneurs are always coming up with great new ideas. We have to focus on our core, bread-and-butter business, but if we only did that, we’d be bored going to work every day. So it’s OK to have some new challenges. But if you have too many, it means you scatter your efforts and none come to fruition. So select one significant new challenge for the coming year, such as securing an additional distribution channel, landing a huge customer, launching a new product, improving your online presence. And make that a priority, right after you take care of your basic business.
6. Reward those you work with - No one succeeds alone. A successful business is always the result of a team effort. Sometimes that team is composed of your employees, and they deserve to have you say ‘thank you’ regularly and acknowledge their ongoing contributions. And, of course, to receive competitive salaries and benefits. Even if yours is a solo business, you have a ‘team’ of informal supporters - family, friends, business associates, other entrepreneurs. Remember to acknowledge and thank them for their ongoing assistance and belief in you.
7. Take care of yourself - In a small business, the entrepreneur is the business. If you’re not in good shape, your business is not in good shape. So take time to take care of yourself. Eat healthfully. Get enough sleep. Quit smoking. Remember to exercise. Try not to stress out so much. Remember, this is all to help your business. And have a happy, healthy, and successful 2007!
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