New Year’s Resolutions. Reading before bed instead of doom scrolling. Learning to play the guitar. Only buying one coffee a day. We often start the new year with the best of intentions, but sticking to those New Year’s resolutions can be daunting, with the success of the entire 12 months seemingly resting on those first few weeks of January. When it comes to your business, the same pressures apply.
While managing new changes or adapting new procedures may seem overwhelming, they can be tackled by breaking down your plan of attack into manageable steps, allowing your business to rise to the occasion and thrive.
While you may feel ready to hit the ground running, your business’s success will likely follow from taking a moment to reflect, plan, and execute sustainable goals. So – where do you start? It’s time to revisit, review and reboot.
The 4 Steps to a Business Reboot
1. Review
Ask yourself this question; What worked for your staff, business and bottom line the previous year, and what will leave behind? By clearly articulating what worked and what didn’t, you’re setting your business up with clear intentions of where to head without continuing practices that no longer serve you.
Also, consider consulting with your team, and conduct an engagement survey to determine how your team views the current achievements of your business, where you’ve excelled and maybe where you can improve. Just as you have with your staff, a client feedback survey is a great way to understand what they value from your business and anything you could adapt or develop to offer a better service.
2. Reframe
Once you understand your workforce and clients’ attitudes, it’s time to pan out and look at the broader context in which your business operates. Ask yourself, has the market changed or are there big shifts coming?
Embracing and moving with change instead of losing time resisting is the best way to seize on opportunities and keep ahead of the game. This might include a marketing refresh, adopting A. I for efficiencies, considering your employee value proposition (EVP) to keep staff engaged or re-thinking the way you connect with clients.
3. Re-Plan
Now that you’ve reviewed your business goals, it’s time to update your Strategic Action Plan to plan out how and when to achieve them. Breaking your goals down into 3, 6 and 12-month objectives helps keep you on course throughout the year and avoids sobering realisations in December that you should have made adjustments in March.
4. Reignite
It’s time to leverage the momentum of the new year and kick into action mode! With a renewed drive and confidence, re-engage with your staff and clients and remind them of your business’ vision and purpose (which should now be clearly defined).
Let them know what you can offer, how the cornerstones of your business might remain the same but that you’re adapting with the times. Share your vision and invite them along for the journey.
Indifference poses a significant threat to the journey of your business. Actively reflecting on the challenges faced and evaluating what to carry with you gives your business the best chance at succeeding, one strategic step at a time.
