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With the year’s end approaching, it’s an excellent time to take stock of everything that has been accomplished over the past 12 months and consider your business goals for the New Year.
Since the days of ancient Rome, people have been making personal resolutions to mark the New Year. In the same way, business New Year’s resolutions can help business leaders break habitual cycles that impede growth and make operational changes that can lead to a harmonious, prosperous future.
With that in mind, we take a look at 8 business New Year’s resolutions to help you achieve your goals in 2024 and beyond.
1. Reflect on the previous year
A new year is not just a time to look ahead at your company’s future goals. Effective small business New Year’s resolutions are based on introspection and an honest appraisal of what has occurred over the past year.
Using business intelligence solutions and a data-driven approach, businesses should celebrate the year’s successes while using detailed analytics to identify areas where improvement is needed.
This helps businesses to build on a strong foundation that allows for the meaningful setting of business goals for the New Year.
2. Get better at goal-setting
Of course, one of the defining features of New Year’s resolutions is our inability to stick to them. This is often because our goals are ill-defined, difficult to track and hard to hold oneself or one’s business accountable to.
SMART goals should guide your approach to business management. These are the goals that are:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time-bound
Just as a personal goal like “getting into shape this year” is too vague and ephemeral to track and quantify meaningfully, goals like “becoming the market leader in 2024” can lead to frustration and failure in business. SMART goals should be aligned with the company’s vision and mission statement, address key areas for development and be subject to regular review.
If your results always feel misaligned with your strategy, improving the goal-setting process should be a New Year’s resolution for your business.
3. Plug up cash flow leaks
In a perilous economic climate where operational costs can spiral severely and rapidly, businesses need to take a proactive approach to managing business finances. With the future uncertain and the present precarious, business leaders should make financial management one of the most crucial New Year’s resolution ideas for the company.
Identifying wasteful expenditure, renegotiating terms with your vendors, revisiting the terms of your invoicing and taking a closer look at how much you’re paying for mission-critical solutions, like your POS software, can all aid businesses in plugging cash flow leaks and improving profitability.
4. Put the customer first
It’s easy to fall into the trap of becoming so excited about your company’s goals, ambitions and targets for the new year at the expense of what the customers want and need. Adopting a customer-first approach to operations as one of your small business New Year’s resolutions ensures that your brand continues to resonate with your target audience in 2024 and beyond.
Some practical ways to do this include:
- Auditing the customer experience, identifying points of friction and taking steps to address them
- Gathering customer feedback via feedback forms, social media etc.
- Addressing complaints promptly and decisively
- Implementing personalisation to ensure a more customisable and valuable experience
- Implementing a loyalty programme to boost customer loyalty and satisfaction
5. Show some heart
Many consumers will be going into 2024 feeling vulnerable, guarded and uncertain. They need transparency, a commitment to ethical operations and a sense of social responsibility from the brands they interact with.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives enable businesses to support their wider communities and demonstrate a commitment to doing business ethically. Implementing more eco-friendly practices, switching to sustainable supplies, supporting charitable causes and backing local fundraising efforts are all excellent ways to lend extra heart to your brand.
6. Invest in being seen
Being seen by the right people at the right time is crucial to generating the revenues that will fuel your business growth in 2024. As such, your business New Year’s resolutions may include efforts to make your business more visible.
You may want to make this the year you ramp up your marketing efforts, investing in digital advertising campaigns and engaging in a combination of paid and organic social media marketing.
A company’s marketing efforts may stagnate if its strategy remains constant. This could be the year to explore new marketing channels or refine your content marketing efforts with a laser focus on what your audience wants to see.
7. Invest more in your team
Everything your business can accomplish is because of your team. So make 2024 the year you show them how much you care.
Investing in your team is about more than hiring the best people. It’s about more than remuneration, bonuses and incentives. It’s about investing in their professional development and personal well-being.
Some areas you may want to address include:
- New training programmes
- Mentorship initiatives
- Continuous professional development
- Improving work-life balance
All of these are conducive to creating a positive work culture that improves employee retention, engagement and productivity.
8. Focus on future-proofing
The only constant in business is change. New Year goals for business in 2024 may benefit from a focus on adaptability. Invest your efforts into innovations, staying abreast of industry trends and changes in consumer habits. Think about how expanding your offering, investing in new technologies and effective forecasting can help your business thrive in an ever-changing market.
Before this quarter closes, take some time to think about your business goals for 2024 and how some small business resolutions could help you achieve them.
