“A goal without a plan is just a dream.” – Antoine de Saint Exupéry
A new year provides your business with new opportunities to grow, innovate, and thrive.
But what’s more important than the opportune moment is your preparation to seize it. It’s not enough to sit on your surfboard waiting – you have to be ready to paddle hard and catch the wave when it comes!
A recent on human capital and its effect on financial performance found that, of the strongly performing companies that were surveyed, 44% showed near-total goal alignment on the managerial level. This suggests that simply setting goals, in-and-of itself, can have a huge positive impact on a business’s productivity.
Don’t let the opportunity of developing your business float by. Get ready now by setting goals for your company and mapping out the necessary steps to achieve them.
5 achievable goals to set for your business this year:
1. Boost Employee Morale
It’s a simple equation: Happy employees = happy company.
Making sure your employees feel appreciated is just as important as making sure that they actually are appreciated. So, how can you keep smiles on your employees’ faces without breaking the bank?
Tips for boosting and maintaining a high sense of employee morale:
- Stock the workplace kitchen with healthy foods – not just chips and instant coffee!
- Keep the workplace clean and comfortable. A tidy work area keeps the mind clear of clutter.
- Offer rewards for reaching goals. A little positive reinforcement never hurt anyone.
- Provide recognition. Bonuses are nice, but a compliments and gratitude last even longer.
- Maintain open lines of communication with your employees so they know that their voices are heard and respected.
As simple as these tips may seem, you shouldn’t underestimate employee morale and its effect on your business’s productivity.
2. Cut Down Expenses
While improving the top line seems like an obvious way to , major bottom line improvements can be made with a little administrative housekeeping. In this age of cutting-edge technology, there are various ways you can cut down on your business expenses:
- Use voice over internet protocol (VoIP) – for more and more companies, the majority of business operations already require internet access to maintain activity, so a landline telephone is made obsolete. Eliminate this expense and sign up for a phone software to use on your computer – or if you own a small business just use your cell phone and .
- Go paperless – for the majority of internal and external correspondences, going completely digital can save you a lot of money. Make email your standard form of communication and store your records on cloud systems, (which can be accessed anywhere and anytime).
- – pay your bills on time and avoid overdue fees. Make sure you receive payments from customers on time by setting a strict and regular collection schedule. Avoid expensive purchases; buy refurbished/used or lease when possible.
3. Get on Social Media
If you’re new to , the prospect of jumping onto a platform may seem like a daunting task. Fear not! We’ve broken it down to four easy steps. Once you’ve gotten social media mastered, you’ll be saying ‘hashtag cha-ching’!
- Pick a platform – no need to get in over your head by trying to juggle a bunch of new platforms, each with a different style. Pick one, practice it, perfect it, and repeat with the next platform.
- Establish your frequency and budget – we don’t want to sound old-fashioned, but try not to spend too much time on your darned smartphone. Your followers will get annoyed if you’re constantly spamming their feeds and posting 15 times a day may not be feasible for your team.
Pro tip: Start by scheduling posts for those times of day that show the highest engagement. - Be consistent – as you continue developing your presence on different social media platforms, be sure to maintain a consistent image between those different channels. This will encourage your existing followers to be consistent in following you between channels, and also provide your potential followers with more chances to come in contact with your business.
- Optimize – no need to reinvent the wheel, see what works and follow suit. Also, make sure that you stay up-to-date with trends so that your followers know you haven’t lost touch.
4. Improve Cash Flow
If your profits are increasing year after year, you can be sure that your business is headed in the right direction. But don’t let your guard down just yet!
Even profitable companies can hit sudden cash flow curbs. For example, if your payables (that is, your debts) are due before your receivables (the money you made from a sale that hasn’t been collected), you’ll soon be all too familiar with cash flow issues.
Keeping your cash flow positive will help you to maintain operations and continue growing your business be it through making new investments, hiring new staff, opening a new location or simply upgrading your equipment.
There are plenty of ways you can and that first vital step is in closely monitoring it. Only then can you move onto making cash flow projections and establish a safety net to fall back on should you ever need it.
5. Give Yourself a Break
Don’t get bogged down at work – we’re only human, after all. According to a recent , nearly 30% of workers admitted that they’ve made a serious mistake at work as a result of being fatigued. Thankfully, there’s a simple solution to workplace exhaustion – take a break!
Set aside some time to get away from work so you can avoid burning out. Pressing pause and changing your surroundings can help you feel rejuvenated.
Did you know that time spent away from a project can also help with productivity and inspiration? One , in particular, showed that simply taking a walk-break boosted creativity in 81% of participants – there’s some food for thought!
The perks of stepping away from your business are sweet, but it’s also necessary to maintain a healthy balance between work and life. Make time for family, friends, and for yourself. Life isn’t all about paying the bills.
Lastly, it’s also good to . Make them feel valued and give them an opportunity to step up to the plate, learn new skills, and prove their worth.
Putting Your Plan Into Action
There you have it – five achievable goals to set yourself for this new fiscal year:
- Make sure your employees are happy
- Minimize your business expenses
- Start getting involved with social media
- Get business funding
- Take a break
Now that you have the tools, it’s time to put them to use. It’s never too early to get yourself prepared for the challenges that lie ahead – seize the day!
Author Bio:
Annabelle is a writer with , dedicated to simplifying and bringing color to complex concepts in the fintech arena. Lending Express is a technology company committed to creating a better world of funding for SMBs. Using technology, the company optimizes SMBs funding odds and matches them with personalized funding solutions in the simplest way possible.
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