The new year has begun, which means it is time for every business to buckle up & have a serious think about how to drive their business forward. Yes, it’s time to strategize, create goals and envision targets to meet – and most importantly, to reflect on how one can make their business the very best it could be.
So here are 15 things that every business owner should be thinking about in 2015. Let’s work together to bring ourselves, and our businesses, to their full potential!
Use your time wisely
As a business owner, it’s important to learn to delegate. Your time is precious – there may be a number of things calling your attention, but what deserves your individual time and intervention? You need to be focusing on the bigger picture, which is why smaller trivial things should, and need to be, handled by someone that is trained to take care of the daily tasks & routines.
Invest in your training
Our CEO is a big believer in training – with her passion and skills targeted towards digital marketing, she has made it a point to invest in training seminars every year with some of the biggest minds in the world of online marketing. Spending time training yourself not only improves your knowledge, it ensures you are adept at the latest happenings in your industry. What’s more, training yourself tends to inspire you, and everyone around you, to do better.
Find a mentor
Every successful business owner has a mentor – somebody they have learnt from, whom they look up to and aspire towards. If you haven’t yet found someone you connect with as your mentor, get a business coach! It’s important to have such figures around you that push you to continuously improve and outthink yourself.
Have a thinking hour
One of our colleagues shared an interesting story that really inspired us about her childrens school. Every time a child was punished for doing something wrong, they were sent to a thinking corner at the side of the class where they spent 15 minutes in silence, thinking about what they did wrong and how they can avoid doing it again. Namita, our CEO, thought it was a brilliant way of reflecting on your actions. We all get so caught up in our everyday to-do’s that it’s very easy to lose focus on what we’re working towards. Scheduling an hour every week to think back and reflect on your actions and how they are contributing to your goals can help assess your performance and let you determine whether you are actually moving forward.
Read books
Successful people read books. And here’s the real secret – successful people read for self-improvement. Don’t just read anything. Read books on topics that teach you or expand your thinking on topics that interest you. Some people read as many as 5-7 books a week! At our offices, we’ve set up a little book corner full of inspiring reads, and encourage ourselves to read at least one book a week. Take the step – even starting off with one book a month is better than no reading at all!
Exercise
While this is something everyone should be doing, here’s why it has made it in our list for business owners – a healthy body leads to a healthy mind. Exercising not only allows you to clear your mind by stepping away from your phone and computer, it helps recharge your body and energy levels. Plus, it is one of the best methods of relieving stress – something every business owner inevitably faces from time to time while running their corporation.
Build your own advisory board
Being a business owner means you are often the one telling people how things should be done & are advising others on tactics or processes to follow. So who advises you when it comes to your own business and your methods of handling processes? Whether you are a CEO or are a budding entrepreneur, the goal should always be to strive for improvement. Which is why even you, as a business owner, should have trusted friends and advisors around you who can keep you grounded & give you some sound advice.
Devote resources to your employees
The most successful companies realise the importance and value of the people they recruit. At the end of the day, every business should remember that people matter. It is the people who make up your business that define how your business performs. This is why smart business owners treat their employees as their biggest assets – by training them and understanding their goals and scope for growth. Having a dedicated employee that finds personal growth to through their working environment will benefit the growth of the business they work for.. And that business should be yours.
Hire your weaknesses
Even though we’d all like to be experts at everything, the fact is that we are not. Everyone, and every business, has its own strengths and weaknesses. That’s just how it is – and the sooner you stop fighting this fact and simply accept it, the sooner you can outsource your weak spots. Find talented people who fill the gaps that exist because of your weaknesses. For example, if you are poor at organizing, hire an administrative assistant to organize you and your business. The money you spend on hiring the right people is not an expense, but rather, an investment to grow the business.
Invest in content marketing
It’s a trend that has slowly but surely been developing – regular forms of marketing just don’t work as well anymore. While they are definitely needed to support your overall marketing strategy, content marketing has become a necessary pillar in communicating with customers. According to research conducted by CEB and Google the average consumer is over halfway through their decision making process before actually speaking to a vendor – what influences their decision making process during this period is content marketing that is tightly integrated with sales strategy. Businesses that have already adapted to this approach have experienced 27% faster growth in profit, so this is definitely something to add to your business in this new year.
Network
When we say network, it’s not just because it’s a great way to make contacts – networking helps you meet like minded individuals that have similar problems as you do. Often you can create small mastermind groups through the efforts of networking, where a set of similar individuals sit and discuss their problems. The best part about such groups is that it results in having a number of minds contributing towards finding solutions, in addition to opening up new ways of thinking thanks to the people around you.
Be patient
As our mothers have always said, patience is a virtue. Being patient with your business really helps achieve long term goals. It’s easy to want to accomplish a brilliant idea, but then stray off the path when it takes too long to achieve it. Try writing down your goals – make one end goal and start working backwards on mini goals to achieve it. This helps you take those small steps that are needed to get to the big finale.
Have a routine
Routine brings consistency, and consistency brings success. Especially as a business owner, you have the ability to choose when you do what. And with this great freedom comes great responsibility – the responsibility to stick to getting those tasks done in a timely manner, and not procrastinating. Keeping a strict routine that even you have to follow is the best way to ensure your focus stays where it is supposed to, everyday.
Plan for the next day
Take a few minutes every night to plan your upcoming day – think about what you want to accomplish the next day and write down the tasks that need your attention. Not only does this help you keep focused for the next day, it also empties your mind so you can sleep stress-free knowing you have planned your day. By writing down your to-do list the night before, you’ll be able to jump right into your tasks immediately and get far more accomplished than others.
Think big
Finally, think big. We’re firm believers in this mindset. When you aim for the stars and fall short, you still land on some pretty pretty comfortable clouds, right.. Basically, aim high so that you strive for higher. Even if you don’t meet that biggest vision, you’ll still be further along that you would have been if you set a small vision. And don’t worry about how, just worry about what that goal is – if you set your mind and believe in what you want to work towards, the doors and opportunities will present themselves.