It hit me a few days ago, as I was eyeing some iPad Pros at a well-known shop: we should all buy our business a Christmas present even if it’s just another excuse to buy another present. Having thought about it a bit more I realised that whilst an iPad will be lovely, the top three things on my list of presents for my business in 2019 are:
- Growth
- Security
- Joy
I wonder if you have ever thought about it yourself. Whether you are a business owner or senior manager in a larger organisation, there must be things you wish for your business in 2019. Self employed or not, we all spend so much time at work that we should wish to make it a nicer place for us to be.
If you are hoping for similar gifts to me, you might think that the concept of buying these for yourself a complete nonsense. How can you buy growth and where do they sell security not to talk about joy? All true but as it is nearly Christmas, I would like to remind you of a lovely quote from Eleanor Roosevelt:
‘The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams’
Before you accuse me of having too many sherries way too early, here are a few things you might consider which can affect these elements in your business:
Growth: It’s a big word so why not break it to its components,
- Planning: There will be hundreds of free planning workshop to chose from in January, why don’t you book yourself on one of them or consider signing up with a good coach?
- Skills: Are there any areas, professional, technical or general that could contribute to growth in your business? Consider some training courses for you and the team.
- -Marketing/ lead generation: Creating a good campaign or re-designing your website can make a difference to new sales. To make sure you get results, put together a strategy for your business.
Security: This is a bit misleading because we actually have very little control over what happens around us. However, you can consider the little that you can affect, things like:
- Forecasting: How good are you at analysing your sales pipeline? Many of us lose the will to live when it comes to detail analysis of Excel spreadsheets or CRM reports but getting better at it can do wonders for identifying potential problems in advance.
- Sales Pipeline: There is nothing that affects sales more than a developed pipeline. You should always consider short term as well as long term opportunities to ensure that new sales are flowing
Joy: We all tend to underestimate joy as a real focus. It is often thought of as a by-product of living a full life, but it isn’t necessarily so. For me, the two most important elements of joy are:
- Interest: is your work still interesting and challenging? If not, it might be time to alter what you do and shift things a little.
- People: Are you surrounded by people you enjoy spending time with? Are they doing a good job helping you develop things? If not, it might be something to consider for the New Year
I hope this has given you some food for thought. Here at Your Business Development Team, we want to wish you a merry Christmas and offer you a little present from us: Click here to download a copy of our 13 creative lead generation ideas document.
See you in 2019…