If you’re set on making 2023 the year that your business soars to new heights, we are so with you. For some of you that could mean a real focus on growth, setting more ambitious targets and increasing your customer base. For others, it may mean making operational improvements, cutting costs or adding a new product or service to your current offering. Thinking about these things can feel really exciting, and overwhelming at the same time.
That’s why we’ve put together a few starting points for you to jot down and consider for the year ahead. Setting goals is a way for you to keep focused, prioritise and keep the momentum in your business consistent.
Cut unnecessary Spending
You don’t know what you don’t know – we think that’s a pretty fitting saying when it comes to finding ways to reduce your business costs and expenses. Start by looking at where your costs are and decipher which are unavoidable and which you’re able to change or negotiate.
Tool up with tech
Hello, internet. There are now so many affordable online tools that are geared to help you grow and manage various aspects of your business. Whether 2020 is the year you launch your monthly newsletter, start a blog, move over to a more sophisticated invoicing system or expand your team, there are a bunch of useful online platforms available to help you get there.
Get serious about marketing
If you own a business in 2023 there are countless ways to advertise your business and connect with customers online. While it can get a little technical, there are a few really easy ways for you to utilize social media and run simple marketing campaigns yourself – with minimal cost and effort. Get clued up on how you can use social media to market your business or look out for free online courses like this one from Google that can take you through how digital marketing works through a series of online tutorials and video guides.
Make health a priority
When was your last check-up? We’re not talking about cholesterol or BMI, we’re talking about your business health. Now might be the time to start thinking about where your business is at in terms of generating steady income, ensuring you have a good cash flow and managing your stock levels. Go through our business health checklist to see where there are areas you can improve on in 2023.
Be SMART
Having goals is one thing, but without a plan, they’re just thoughts that are easily shuffled over onto next month’s (or next year’s) to-do list. So be SMART about your goals which means making sure they are:
- Specific: Get real, get detailed and set specific objectives you want to achieve.
- Measurable: Assess where you’re at right now, and find a way to use the data you have at your disposal to measure your progress. That could be increasing your Facebook page likes, working out cost reduction percentages or an increase in the number of your customers or newsletter subscribers.
- Achievable: We’d all like to give Elon Musk a run for his money in 2020, but having super unrealistic goals could end up demotivating you. Be ambitious, but realistic.
- Relevant: Whatever your broader business objectives are, your goals need to speak to them, otherwise what’s the point right?
- Time-Bound: Give yourself a set time period to do the things you want to do. This puts a little bit more pressure on you to not let things that you’ve deemed really important, slip to the bottom of the pile. Check-in with where you’re at regularly to ensure you keep your eye on the prize.
