By:
Deirdre Cooke
As the holidays start winding down,
life and business is getting back to “normal”, many people are making personal New
Year's resolutions (i.e. loose weight, be more organized, etc) which are very
common this time of year. In business,
making resolutions is more like goal setting or developing your action plan for
the year. Before you can make reachable business resolutions it is a good idea
to evaluate the past year of your business.
Take the time to reflect on the past year and see where you can focus
your efforts in the 2007.
Ask yourself the following
questions. Take your time and be thorough with your answers.
1) Did your business meet or exceed
its sales goal for 2006? (Or did you increase your sales over 2005?) If so, what were the key factors that helped
you reach this goal? If not, what do you think the key factors are that
prevented you from reaching your goal? Can these things be fixed?
2) In what ways did you market your
business this year? How effective were they?
Have you been consistently promoting your services?
Stick with the methods that worked
well, and consider new ways to promote your company. There are many ways to
promote your company without breaking the bank. Be sure your company web site
is up-to-date and user friendly. Write
and submit articles and press releases to be posted on the Internet for free
exposure. Always ask for referrals from
your best clients. Join local business
organizations and participate networking events. Plan a direct mail campaign using postcards
to increase you name recognition in your target market.
3) What do you think you can do
differently in 2007 to increase your sales and customer base?
It is sometime hard to see the big
picture without help. If you don't
already have a mentor, find one! A mentor can help you see things differently
and offer you suggestions. You can find a mentor and free business counseling
through SCORE at www.score.org (SCORE
"Counselors to America's Small Business" is America's premier source
of free and confidential small business advice for entrepreneurs).
4) Write down your typical daily and
weekly activities (be detailed as possible) and how much time do you spend on
each. What tasks do you spend the most
time on? Are those tasks money making tasks or mundane non-billable tasks? If you spend too much time on non-billable
tasks, do you have someone to delegate those tasks to free up your time?
Being able to do the things you do
best, while someone else takes care of the rest makes you a very smart business
owner. Consider delegating your mundane
non-billable tasks a Virtual Assistant (VA).
What can a VA do? Just about any
administrative task that an in house employee could do, except make your
coffee! Communication is done through email, fax, telephone, IM,
synchronization software, and other modern communication methods. Your VA can help to analyze what tasks to
delegate. Partnering with a VA allows you to be more productive, and as a
result can help you increase your company's bottom line.
5)
Do you take time for yourself and your family this year? When was the
last time you took a vacation?
Plan time for you and your family to
spend time together a way from the business. Mary Kay Ash, founder of the Mary
Kay Cosmetics and one of the most successful female entrepreneurs of all time,
always stressed, “Put God first, Family second and Career third”. Setting priorities. Taking time for yourself
will help rejuvenate you and bring new energy to your business and your
personal life.
Now that
you have reflected on the past year, write down your plan for 2007. Make list of your goals and your plan to
reach them. Be sure to delegate those non-billable tasks. And add time for yourself. Summarize your goals on a “to-do” list. Review your list regularly to be sure you're
staying on track. Share your goals with
your mentor so he/she can help keep you stay focused and have a great year!
About the Author:
Deirdre Cooke is the
owner and founder of Excellent Virtual Office Services, providing Virtual Administrative
Assistance to Small Business Owners, Entrepreneurs, and Real Estate
Professionals. Saving You Time and
Money, so you can Successfully Build Your Business. Deirdre is a Member of Southeastern Virtual
Assistance Group and Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce.
©
2007 Excellent Virtual Office Services, Deirdre Cooke, all rights
reserved. You may print this article for
personal use, or republish it only if it is left unaltered in its entirety with
all links made active. If published
please email the author (Deirdre@ExcellentVirtualOfficeServices.com)
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