Blog Post

It’s a new year, and if you’ve set yourself some new business goals for the year ahead, you’re not alone. Most businesses set their own ‘resolutions’ to do better in January, but if you really want to succeed, you need to plan for success the right way.

Set realistic, measurable goals

Whether you’re setting a business growth goal or a weight loss goal, the same thing rings true–if you don’t set a SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-based) goal, you’re setting yourself up for trouble. Use a routine to build new habits.

It takes about 21 days for an action to become a habit, so if you want to develop successful habits, set up a realistic routine to incorporate those actions. In other words, if you want to increase your advertising efforts, but never seem to find the time, schedule advertising into your daily routine and commit to working on it every day.

Look for quick wins

Is there something you can do today that will help your business grow tomorrow? Maybe you can start a local advertising campaign for a limited time promotion or give out promotional gifts at a community event. Anything that boosts business and gets your company’s name out in the community is great, and it doesn’t have to be big or costly to achieve.

Get organized

Put your goals in writing and make a plan for achieving them. Having an organized plan of action will make you more like to succeed in achieving your business goals. It will also help you know what your next step is going to be, every step of the way.

Hold yourself accountable

Use your business partners, employees, or even your customers to help keep you accountable. Post your goals somewhere you and the others in your business can see them daily, and help encourage each other to achieve the goals every day. Make sure you monitor your progress and reward yourself for small successes, too! This will help keep you motivated when it seems to be taking forever to see progress.

For more tips and advice on growing your business this year, read the Postcard Portables blog regularly.