A solid foundation is the basis of every successful business The list includes a clear vision, defined mission, and execution plan that charts the path to goals. It is the base of your business and dictates how everything else fits together. This is where key elements such as market research, a strong business plan, and an understanding of your industry come into play. Any good entrepreneur both startups and established corporations alike should revisit their foundational principles every few years to ensure they are still in tune with the current business mission, objectives, and market trends.
1) Improved Process Efficiency:
A well-oiled machine is important for any business to succeed. Scratching operations not only saves time and resources but also affects the continuity the business provides to customers. As a new online business owner, implementing modern technologies and tools can greatly help with automating your regular tasks, including utilizing customer management systems, inventory trackers, etc.
For instance, using services such as the FEIN filing assistance can help with administrative processes and allow more time for core business operations. Furthermore, operating more efficiently also means creating a better working environment for staff leading to improved productivity and morale.
2) Cultivating Customer Loyalty:
It is said that customers are the lifeblood of a business, and their loyalty ensures success. Exceptional customer service + building relationships with clients first. Too many business owners just want to find a cheap way of getting customers.
Seek feedback, deal with any issues that arise quickly, and deliver meaningful resolutions to nurture trust and loyalty. Continuing to touch base with your audience via social media, newsletters, and loyalty programs will also keep the connection strong. After all a happy customer is the best way for word-of-mouth marketing and repeat business.
3) Creating a Growth Mindset:
Successful businesses stand out from those that fall by the wayside because they can adopt a new set of practices almost seamlessly. To survive in the market we need an ongoing improvement and remain agile. Stay on top of trends, be okay with changes, and adapt.
Invest in training and development for your employees! Your team needs the tools to do their job. Growth also should be in discovering new areas such as product line extension, market-entry, or finally even finding a strategic partner(s) to grow.
In conclusion, success journeys are based on sturdy infrastructures, operational efficiencies, long-lasting customer relationships, and the ability to scale or grow over time. When you build your business around these cornerstones, not only will it thrive but also be durable during hardship. Adopting tools like FEIN filing help you streamline and set yourself up for success in all that you do. Always remember, to succeed in this cutthroat business world just work ethic and hard work are not enough it’s the vision along with the tireless effort that gets you going!
Last week I shared with you how I set myself up for success when it comes to planning my goals, and I shared with you how my main goal for 2020 is to buy a house! But this week, we’re going to switch things a bit and talk about setting your business goals.
I think that setting goals and developing a plan to achieve them is what sets successful businesses apart from unsuccessful or sedentary ones. Regardless of your business’s age, history, location, industry, or profitability, goal-setting helps you stay focused, motivated, and on track.
Goals prevent stagnancy. I believe goals set the stage for success.
I want to share with you 5 goals you need for your business to have a successful 2020!
1. Increase traffic to your website, blog, and/or social media pages.
The more traffic you get to your platforms, the more opportunity for your sales and customer loyalty to improve. In order to accomplish this traffic increase, you need to first increase the quality and perhaps quantity of your content marketing strategy. Understanding social algorithms and your website SEO, or consulting with a professional who does, is a great first step! Developing a valuable, relatable content strategy for 2020 will help you drive more targeted traffic and build a warmer audience.
2. Delve into new networking opportunities.
If you are not actively networking your business, then you need to set a goal to start. Get yourself and your business in front of more people and start making more genuine connections. This might come in the form of attending conferences, more online networking, sharing your expertise at speaking events, or hosting events yourself. Whatever the case, get outside your comfort zone and start talking about your passions. The more people you know and who know about what you do, the better for your business!
3. Schedule in times of rest.
This might be hard for some, but it can be as simple as dedicating one day of the week where you will not work on your business. It might be as extravagant as planning a couple of weeks in the year where you’ll go on a vacation with your family. Whatever the case, making sure you have time to rest, reduce stress, and get a bit of space from work, this will help you avoid burnout, and it will also help improve your productivity overall. Hopefully you’re passionate about what you do, and you actually enjoy it, but you must be sure to get some downtime where you disconnect from work completely to not get overwhelmed.
4. Perfect your personal brand.
Often when we start a business, we’re focused on gaining clients and starting work, leaving a lot of other important details untouched. We start having some real success, which forces us to leave these details on the sidelines for longer than anticipated. However, there are certain things you should be doing for your business to make sure you stand out from your competition. Branding is one of these things. If you haven’t determined your brand yet, laid out your vision and mission statements, decided on your colors and brand “personality,” then this is the year to do it. Become memorable to your clients. Boost your credibility. Represent your brand for how unique and amazing it is!
5. Increase productivity!
This goal is pretty broad, so you’ll want to break it down into more achievable goals for yourself and your own business needs. Analyze your business and determine places where you’re slacking on productivity. Maybe you need to get more organized to get more done in a day. Maybe you need to automate some processes. Maybe you’d do better to outsource some tasks so you have more time to do what only you can do. Whatever your areas of poor productivity are, identify them and come up with goals to solve the problems.
Dive Deeper into Goal Setting with Goal Setting Bootcamp
I’m releasing my Goal Setting Bootcamp; It contains 4 content filled modules along with a workbook and checklists to help you stay organized. This home study class fits easily into your schedule and there’s no pressure to finish it by a certain date. Simply work on it as your schedule allows. If you do this planning work, you’ll be set in the new year to make massive strides in your business! Click here to get the Goal Setting Bootcamp
Have a great week! Robyn
PS: If you’re ready to dive deep into goal setting and set yourself up for success in 2020, then the Goal Setting Bootcamp is for you. You’ll be guided step by step though the process of making goals that are important to YOU and help you create action plans so your goals will become a reality. Get access here
Choosing a company car doesn’t have to be a difficult and daunting process. In fact, when you have the right research, you will soon find that the whole process is easier than ever.
Always try and Buy Smart
We now live in a world full of economic pressures. Everyone is trying to go green and this should certainly be taken into consideration when you buy your very first company vehicle. If you are going on a long journey then you will be glad when you don’t have to fill up as often, and you may even find that you use way less fuel than expected too.
Choosing the Right Specs
Buying a new company vehicle can be frustrating because there are so many things that you need to take into consideration. This can include the gadgets that come with the car and even its general performance. Either way, the first thing that you need to do is work out which features are important to you. This could include a GPS, a parking sensor or even an electric sunroof.Specs like this can go a long way when it comes to the overall comfort of your team, and the car that you choose will say a lot about your business too.
Don’t Forget to Think Ahead
Some companies will let you buy whatever car you choose outright after a couple of years. If this is the case, then you really do need to think about the future. Will a small car be appropriate if you are going to use it for your own use? Are you going to expand your business any time soon? What about travelling to company events? If you are going to need several big vehicles because your company and your team travel a lot, then it is always a good idea for you to look into abus for sale.
Insurance
When choosing your company car, insurance should always be a consideration. Flashy cars are generally way more expensive to insure when compared to cheaper models. For this reason, try and avoid going for anything too sporty. It’s also a good idea that you try and research the cost of insuring a vehicle before you go out and buy it. Bigger cars or vehicles will be more costly to insure when compared to smaller cars, but that being said, they can transport less people. If you are going to be driving long distances with your entire team, it may actually be cheaper for you to get one larger vehicle instead of several smaller cars.
Budget
Finding out what budget you have is always advantageous. You need to be honest with yourself and you also need to take into account the financial health of your business. Remember that company cars are investments, and this is especially the case if you use them for branding purposes. Every time you take your car out on the road, you will be telling the world who you are, and this is a fantastic way for you to make your company car much more worthwhile.
Utilise the Internet
Buying a car or company vehicle online is great. It gives you so many more options and it also makes it easier for you to find a model that suits your requirements. You do however have to make sure that you don’t buy the car without looking at it first. If you don’t then there could be damages that you don’t know about or you may even find that the car is not in good condition. If you have completed the transaction, then the car is legally yours and this could cause issues for you in the future. A good rule is to treat your company car in the same way as you would your own car. If you think that something is a bad investment then walk away, even if it means delaying your purchase. After all, yourbusiness finances are just as important as your personal finances and the sooner you understand this, the better your financial health will be.
So, there are many things that you need to think about when the time does come for you to choose your company car, but by taking the above into consideration, you can be sure to choose one that is not only suitable for your needs, but also affordable as well. It’s also worth talking to your car dealer to see if they can advise you on the car you need and the specifications that you should be looking at.
Are you a naturally organized person? Did you get that special organizing gene at birth? Lucky you!
Keeping all the aspects of a coaching business organized and running smoothly is difficult at best, especially if you don’t have a system or a plan of what to do when. Even if you have a big picture plan of where you want to be in five years, you need a daily plan to get those admin tasks completed along with your marketing tasks and your content creation. It’s enough to make your head spin, right?
Daily Task List
Creating a plan of action or a daily task list will keep you organized and focused from the moment you sit down to do work. You know exactly what has to get done, without question. You’ll know when you need to write blog posts, when to send emails, when to do your billing, and when to schedule your client calls. I’ve been using Todoist for a little while now and I find it really helpful and easy to work with.
Make Yourself a Client
As much as you want a full coaching calendar, leave some space for yourself to complete your administrative tasks. Running your business is equally as important as caring for your clients, so make your business tasks a priority, including your content creation. Blocking time is a popular way to schedule longer tasks, such as blog post writing or email marketing. Set aside an hour or two, write up those posts or emails, get them scheduled, then move on to the next list item. If you block enough time, eventually you’ll start having two or three (or more!) pieces of content ready to publish at any given time, which will relieve some stress.
Eliminate Writer’s Block with a Content Creation Plan
No more sitting at the computer to write a blog post only to stare at a blank screen with no thoughts. Schedule some time on your calendar to plan out your writing, video recording, or other content creation; not only when you’ll get this done but what topics you’ll discuss. Create an editorial calendar and make note of important topics or themes. Is there a big event coming up in your city or in your niche? Write about it. Interview panelists and speakers. Become an affiliate for those companies sponsoring the event. Are you planning the launch of your signature product? Schedule special content around the launch date.
Outsource Your Content Creation
If creating content isn’t your strength, hire a copywriter to do it for you. But keep in mind, you still need to have a plan or an editorial calendar. This way your writer has firm deadlines to meet and you will have a stress-free outsourcing experience.
Want Some More Help with Planning?
If you’re tired of “flying by the seat of your pants” when it comes to creating a plan, click here to schedule a call with me. It’s all about working smarter, not harder when it comes to creating content and good habits.
