I read somewhere that over 80% of New Year’s resolutions are broken before the month of January ends. And I would guess that business related resolutions are being trashed, dashed and forgotten at about the same rate as the standard “lose weight” or “stop smoking” ones (the number one and two most common New Year’s resolutions, by the way.)
So did you make any business promises to yourself this year? Maybe a plan to get all of your business records organized. Or to post every single day on your new business blog and Facebook page and Twitter account. Maybe you told yourself that this would be the year that you would have 10% more customers…every week.
And how’s that going? Okay, I know. It’s hard. But maybe the problem isn’t your determination, it’s your goals. How about, just a week into 2011, you start over with those goals. Here are a few ideas that might make a big difference without taking all year to achieve, or landing you in the corner talking to yourself.
1) Treat your employees better. Sure that’s a big goal, but there are a few simple things you can do, like saying thank you, or resisting the urge to micromanage. I found a great article with 8 simple tips on what NOT to do, whether you have 2 employees or 2,000.
2) Take a chance online. No, this isn’t anything that’s going to get you in trouble with firewalls or adult content filters. This is about your business and the online conversation. If you haven’t tried the social media waters, start small. Try setting up a Facebook page or a simple blog using Blogger. Make a goal of posting a few times a week. Add a few friends. Read a couple of other blogs in your industry. If you’ve made the leap already, try something new. Add some metrics to measure what you’re doing. And if you’re an old pro, do some testing. Try something different, and test it against what you’re already doing.
3) Simplify, simplify, simplify. Thoreau said it a long time ago, and he didn’t have a dozen employees, a complicated set of W-2’s and 1099’s to file, and a health inspector who seems to have been created to make your life miserable. But he was right. Make it easier on yourself — clean out overloaded storage rooms (you really won’t ever need that bicentennial sale sign again. Truly.), unsubscribe from some of those e-mail lists, get rid of the products that just don’t sell, and replace employee files with online employee recordkeeping.
Not so much. Not so hard. Simple. Effective. And trust me, it’s not too late.
