(Add to Favorites | View All Articles | Resource Directory)
|
|
|
Top Ten Resolves for Building Your Business in 2005
1. Resolve to build a consistent network system. Since referrals are easier to sell, are often more loyal, comparison shop less, spend more and frequently refer others, it makes good sense to develop a solid system for getting referral business. Join a successful networking club in your area or on the internet and give plenty of introductions to other members. Ask your current clients for referrals, make getting referrals a condition of doing new business, give out your business card frequently, develop a networking mindset. It is part of being successful. 2. Resolve to make a plan for developing your business this year. What worked in 2004? What results would you like to duplicate, modify, eliminate or expand in 2005? Become strategic. Study your competition to identify new trends and compelling advertising phrases or techniques that you could tweak slightly and utilize as well. Then by looking at your budget for the whole year, map out the marketing and advertising activity, on a month-by-month basis, that will support the results you want for 2004. 3. Resolve to develop a customer-driven business. What we are looking for in business is customers to purchase our product or service, right? It makes sense to have your business focus on the customer and what he wants and yet many businesses fail because they don't ask. If you want a larger market share, let the customers tell you what to produce or provide. Basic market research will help you determine the products and services with the most likelihood of success. There is no other place to look. 4. Resolve to develop new streams of income and strengthen those you already have. Did you ever think that there may be more streams of income to add to what you already do thereby increasing your bottom line? Perhaps it is a passive income such as selling products on the web or maybe it is packaging your product in a new way. Use your creativity, study other successful businesses and practice thinking "out of the box". 5. Resolve to take control of your business and strengthen your leadership qualities. One of the best ways to take control of your business is to make sure you have written standards in place for every job. This process of developing standards, policies and procedures for every operation in your business, in addition to being good management, is what provides leverage for you to vacation or sell your business one day. Ray Kroc of McDonalds developed his super business without flipping a single burger because he took the time to set standards for how he wanted the job to be done each and every time. As a result, Kroc hired teenagers to run the business with unparalled success. Setting standards and enforcing them will elevate your leadership skills beyond measure. 6. Resolve to target your ideal market and customer. Too many small business owners are working with every entity who cares to do business with them even though it may not be cost-effective. In 2005, decide to focus on the market that would best serve your company in the long-run. Increased customer share (having fewer customers spending more money with you) may be more profit making, simple and satisfying than trying to please many diversified customers. 7. Resolve to consistently generate more leads and sales. Consistent marketing to your target market will produce more overall leads to generate business consistently throughout the year. Eliminate more of the highs and lows of your income by making a commitment to market activity that locates those contacts, appointments and resultant sales, daily and weekly. 8. Resolve to take good care of yourself this year. Business owners work hard. Sometimes they forget to pay attention to their own health or to their families and everyone loses out in the long run. This year, plan to take some time and be with those you love. Everyone will appreciate this resolve. Learn how to have fun?even.if it is uncomfortable and relax. Maintaining balance between business and personal activity is key to long-term success. 9. Resolve to ask for and use the support of others. Get in the habit of asking others for support to bounce off an idea, listen to your goals, share in your success. Consider hiring a coach or asking respected colleagues to be part of an advisory board. Regular meetings will help you be accountable for your activity and you may be surprised at the great ideas that will surface. 10. Resolve to increase my net profit by____% in 2005. Some business owners are afraid to indicate a percentage of growth for fear it may not happen. Consider that it may not happen because you are unwilling to put yourself on the line. Naming a percentage and making a committment to this result will force you to be focused and innovative to discover the solutions that will work. Go for it in 2005?.what's the best that could happen? Gloria Willis, M.S. is a Business Development Consultant for the Center for Business Mastery, a resource for small business in Northern Colorado. Contact: 970-482-0332 for questions and to set up a free consultation. Gloria Willis is a Business Development Consultant and owner of Center for Business Mastery. She works with small business owners to identify specific needs and designs a strategic plan for implementing. Gloria Willis, M.S, has proven results in the areas of: leadership development, sales, marketing , business planning. She is a graduate of the University of Utah, B Coach Systems and Coaches Training Institute.
MORE RESOURCES: News provided by Yahoo! News and Google News Small biz loans down in Crawford County - Bucyrus Telegraph Forum Go big-time with small biz - The Newark Advocate Small biz ready to hire with increased risk appetite: study - Toronto Sun Small Biz: Where's Our Stimulus? - Memphis Daily News Customs at odds with DHS IG over report on small-biz goals - Washington Technology Kagen Holds Roundtable To Hear From Small Biz Owners - Sheboygan News (blog) Small Biz Spotlight: Slide to Play (Pt. 3) - Technorati (blog) Tories pat small biz heads in open source IT procurement pledge - Register |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
The Key To Success - Choose The Right Partners Do you promote yourself as offering prompt, reliable and quality service?Of course - none of us promote ourselves as anything less, and equally we strive to provide this level of service all the time.So what happens when you take your networking to the next level, and start to offer referrals, or even establish partnerships or alliances for certain activities?Whatever you do at this point creates significant impact on your business and personal reputation - potentially positive and also potentially negative. Private Investigator Tactics A Private Investigator is a professional trained in the art of investigations and surveillance. Otherwise known as Private eyes or, these professionals are for hire 24 hours a day 7 days a week. A Look at Small Business Incorporating in Florida The choice to incorporate a small business in Florida has several advantages. Corporations are separate legal entities and, as such, the corporation rather than individual owners pay both the taxes and the liabilities. Why the Over Regulation on the Franchising Model? Franchising is the fastest way to build small businesses, provide jobs, create money flows. Currently the Federal Trade Commission wishes to increase the over regulation on the franchising sector. A Small Business Must Have a Solid Foundation We all know that a building has to have a strong foundation if it is to survive, so, too, a business.There are many planks that support a business but there are four corner-posts that bear the most weight?The four corner-posts are Marketing, Selling, Production and Financial Control. Small Business Owners - They Owe You The Money Why Dont They Pay? Doesn't it frustrate you when you've given good service, sometimes super service, and the customer doesn't pay you?Some of them aren't doing too well and are struggling for cash, but, gee, so are you. In the time they take to pay they could have paid off a little each week and the debt would be gone. Starting a Mobile Auto Detailing Business; Dry Wash or Pressure Wash? Many experienced auto detailing professionals who have started out using a pressure washer rarely use Dry Wash n' Guard. Most would say this is a matter of preference more than anything else. Don't Wait for the Perfect Plan 1. Don't Spend Too Much Time PlanningWhen you are entering a new market, you won't know the hidden problems and challenges you will face. Online Search: Small Businesses Level The Playing Field Seventy percent of US households use the web when shopping locally, and about 25 percent of all searches are looking for local information. As more and more households make the switch to broadband connections, this trend will continue to escalate. QSR Quick Service - Fast Food Restaurants Labor Situation in United States One of the major complaints in the QSR Quick Service-Fast Food Restaurants Industry is the deplorable Labor Situation. In United States teen labor has become somewhat slim on ethical standards, showing up on time, drug use (both recreational and problematic), work ethic and trainability. Preparing to Launch Your Small Business Small business owners often enter their field with great expectations. Unfortunately, reality strikes shortly afterwards. Small Business and Wichita Owning a small business in Wichita, KS might not be a bad idea, job growth is good, housing has rebounded and the aviation manufacturing capital of the world is on an aileron roll. So consumer spending is up and retail and service sectors are doing fine again. Habits will determine your success Habit: A consistent behavior you perform so frequently that it is automatic. For example, if you learned to drive a car with a standard transmission, the first few lessons were pretty jerky while you learned to synchronize the clutch with the accelerator pedal. How To Start a Small Business Not sure how to start a small business? This guide will offer you some useful tips on the basic requirements of starting a small business.Initially, there are two types of businesses available to you, Sole Trader or Partnership. Keeping a Partnership ALIVE and THRIVING What are the best methods for keeping a good business relationship?Once you have a business relationship in place, you need to work on that relationship to keep it intact. As a matter of fact, people nurture their business relationships more than they do their families! The first and most obvious method is to follow up with questions and requests in a timely manner. The ABCs of Fundraising There are many little details that go into making sure your fundraising event is a successful event. The key is to have all your fundraising details laid out in front of you before you even start. Effective Customer Interviews Make Life Much Easier! One of the critical success factors for service-related businesses is our ability to understand a client's needs and requirements. Misunderstandings can lead to loss of repeat business, economic loss, and damage to reputation. How To Cut Expenses And Manage Your Business If you own a small business, you should know that often times it can be the little things, rather than the large expenses, that can eat away at your budget. But many times, small business owners will try and increase their profits by looking around at what larger expenses they can cut. Ever thought of starting a virtual assistant business? If you're organized, smart, capable and willing to work with deadlines, you could start a virtual assistance business and cash in on your skills without having to commit to an employer (you'd be your own boss instead) or the "cube life". A VA (virtual assistant) is basically like an administrative assistant (or whatever duties need to be filled, such as writing, link building etc) that serves in a virtual capacity. Why You Need A Virtual Assistant How much is your time really worth? Is it worth £50 an hour or £100 an hour? YOUR time is most valuable because it is your responsibility to generate new revenue for your business. Doing small and often trivial admin chores yourself does not really add value to your business and the sensible solution is to delegate those less profitable tasks by hiring someone more than capable of carrying them out, but who's hourly rate is somewhat less than your real financial worth.
|
| home | site map | articles |
| © 2006 |