Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions for Businesses

Our top 10 resolutions will help you focus on what’s important to you and your business, whilst maintaining a sensible work-life balance and a state we like to call ‘Business Contentment’.

1. Learn how to delegate and make it a daily habit

We often delude ourselves that it’s easier to do something ourselves rather than teach a staff member the process. That initial time spent transferring knowledge and skill is a powerful investment in leveraging our own time.

2. Fight procrastination

Procrastination is referred to as the ‘thief of time’. The simplest trick in dealing with procrastination is to do the hardest tasks first.

3. Focus on one thing at a time and stop multi-tasking

Recent research indicates that people who constantly multi-task take longer to complete tasks and make more mistakes. Get into a real work zone. Turn off your mobile phone and your email and disconnect from all distractions and possible interruptions for blocks of time. You’ll be amazed at what you achieve.

4. Set realistic goals

Goals should be SMART – Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound.

5. Make business planning a weekly event

Set aside time each week to review, adjust and look forward. Lock these times permanently into your diary or online calendar.

6. Promote your business regularly and consistently

It’s amazing how businesses just expect potential customers to know that they exist. There are plenty of low cost ways to promote your business, so create a simple marketing plan.

7. Learn something new

What you choose to learn may be directly related to your business or completely unrelated. Depending on how you choose to learn, you may meet new and interesting people who may become customers, colleagues or friends.

8. Drop what doesn’t work for you and move on

If a technique, a product or a business relationship isn’t working for you, take stock. Don’t keep investing a lot of energy into trying to make the unworkable work. Move on. Something better will turn up.

9. Give something back to your community

Find a cause that matters to you and give what you can. Serve on a worthwhile committee, be a mentor, volunteer or simply make regular donations to the groups in your community that make the place you live a better one.

10. Put time for you in your calendar

Business owners lead demanding lives. All work and no play is a recipe for mental and physical disaster. If you have trouble freeing up time to do the things you enjoy, write time regularly into your schedule to ‘meet with yourself’ and stick to that commitment. If you won’t invest in yourself, who will?