New years are always filled with exciting new opportunities, especially when it comes to your business. No one could have predicted the events that unfolded in 2020. Despite this, savvy business leaders know now more than ever that planning and setting goals is a key component in ongoing success.
When we refer to goal setting, we mean SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound) goals. Setting goals is one of the most important tasks you, as a business owner can invest in at the start of a year, regardless of how long your business has been around for. Goals assist you to stay focused and on the pulse, while keeping ahead of the times. They keep you moving forward and set the stage for ongoing success, year after year.
Below are 6x business goals that will assist you in starting 2021 in the best way possible.
- Reduce Ongoing Business Expenses
This is a goal that is fitting for most businesses, especially in a time like now where nothing is certain. As you look at how you can potentially reduce expenses, have a long-term vision as to how these expenses are no longer serving your business. Many businesses for instance have decided that they no longer require large office spaces, as most of their staff are working from home. A small office space that still offers your business a professional presence may be all that you need for now. Perhaps you’ve decided that you would like to look at your business’s footprint and see how you can become more environmentally friendly. This exercise may take time, but it’s time well spent, as by reducing your expenses you’re essentially increasing your bottom line/ profit.
- Ramp Up Your Business’s Productivity
Your level of productivity can directly impact your bottom line, so it’s always a good idea to set a goal to boost not only your productivity, but your team’s too. You can become more productive by eliminating distractions during your work day, improving the way you use business tools, such as email, and by incorporating the use of productivity applications. In this day and age, not using the online systems we have available to us to make our lives easier, is simply what we’d call ignorance. Be willing to change and stay ahead of the times – Your employees will thank you for it.
- Increase Traffic To Your Website or Blog
More website traffic often translates into increased sales and customer loyalty, making this a beneficial goal. There are many ways to get more eyes on your website or blog – Simply start by creating a plan to ramp up your content marketing strategy. Then, once you have relevant and engaging content ready to share on your website or blog, try one of these 4 suggested ways to drive targeted traffic to your website.
- Use Facebook and LinkedIn to showcase your latest blogs/ link to relevant pages that relate to your post
- Link the relevant pages in your newsletter
- On-Page SEO (search engine optimization) to organically enhance your website’s performance
- Get other influential people/ websites to link back to your site
- Complete a SWOT Analysis
SWOT stands for (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) and it’s an incredibly simple, yet powerful tool to help you effectively develop your business strategy for the year.
Strengths and weaknesses are internal to your company – what you have some control over and can potentially change. Examples include your team, service offering, patents and intellectual property.
Opportunities and threats are external – You should ideally be taking advantage of opportunities and protect your business against threats, but you can’t change them, as they are not in your control. Examples include a dreaded pandemic, competitors, price of goods, and customer shopping trends.
Make use of a SWOT analysis to determine what makes your business unique, and find potential new areas to reach your untapped audience.
- Create an Employee Incentive Program
Keeping up the morale while motivating your employees to work hard and take accountability for their work can be a challenge. This is especially true for small businesses that do not always have the resources available to offer financial incentives. The good news is that employee incentives do not necessarily need to be financially driven. For example: Ending work early on a Friday, granting a day off from work, or scheduling a fun team-building activity such as a lunch, pamper day or go carting.
- Work on Your Personal Brand
Many times, especially in small business, success is reliant on the business owner and their ability to stand out in the crowd and build relationships with clients. This is why it’s so important to develop a personal brand. If you haven’t spent time on creating your own brand yet, make it a goal for this year, and boost your credibility at the same time.
See below some pointers on how you can boost your credibility, which we at Cube Workspace take pride in:
- Be consistent in your work and in your business
- Be genuine to your clients and co-workers – don’t over promise and under deliver
- Practice what you preach
- Take accountability for your actions
- Be sincere and respectful towards yourself and others, both in and out of the workspace
Ensure that your goals have a framework, as loosely set goals without structure have the lowest probability of being achieved. Most importantly, make sure your goals are true to yourself and to your business. Ultimately, you’ll find more success going after goals that truly motivate you.
We trust that this article will assist you and your business in setting SMART goals! At Cube Workspace, we look forward to achieving our goals to deliver the best possible experience to our valued Cube family.
