Is anyone else still trying to get their head around the fact it’s nearly 2022? It doesn’t seem that long since we were all worried about the Millennium Bug!
Hopefully, with this blog, we can help you with some excellent business goal setting and get you where you want to be to start the year strong.
If you feel you’ve been in firefighting mode for the last few years, take a deep breath, grab a cuppa and check out my top seven essential tasks to do at the beginning of the year.
I hope you find the business goal setting we go through below helpful!
1. Look at trends
Nobody has a crystal ball to predict the future, but some apparent trends and patterns can be used to gauge what will be popular for the foreseeable future. And this should be taken into account when business goal setting. So do your research to find what shat’s fashionable in your industry, niche or within your communities. This is a fantastic way to inform your product or service design, shape your marketing strategy, or help you decide where to concentrate your efforts so you can start the year strong.
For example, if you sell on Etsy, you can use E-rank for trends. Or, if you are in a particular niche, you can set up Google Alerts to keep up with important news and trends in your field.
If you write a blog, check out keyword rankings on Ubersuggest
It’s not just about looking externally, though. What trends have you noticed WITHIN your business over the last few years? For example, are your customers getting younger? Are you getting more word-of-mouth recommendations? Whatever trends you pick up on, it’s worth spending some time on this exercise because once you notice patterns, it’s easier to capitalise on them going forward and business goal setting is much easier.
2. Define success
Close your eyes for a few minutes and imayou’reou’re sitting with a glass of Champagne onYear’sear’s Eve 2022. If the year’s been amazing, what’s happened in your business and your personal life for it to feel like such a successful 12 months?
Once you can visualise where you want to end, it’s much easier to put tangible steps in place to achieve your business goals and take others along for the ride.
Then think about the key performance indicators (KPI) you’ll need to measure, so you can decide if you have been successful at the end of the year. It could be turnover, customer complaints, the number of new clients, or even your working hours! Who doesn’t want to carve out a better work/life balance, hey?!
Defining your vision of success will help you start the year strong and take aligned action when business goal setting.
3. Set realistic goals
After visualising your super fantastic 2022, start working back in 3-month increments to assess what you need to be doing in each quarter and define some SMART targets.
Remember, SMART targets stands for:
Specific – keep your goals clear and narrow, so you can plan effectively.
Measurable – define the metrics that will show if you’re making progress towards your goal or not.
Achievable – make sure your goals can be achieved with the resources you have available (money, time, manpower etc.).
Relevant – your goals should align with your purpose, values and long-term aims.
Time-based – make sure your goals have a definite deadline to avoid procrastination creeping in!
If you want a chat about this to help with your business goal setting, I’m happy to be someone you can bounce your ideas off and get clear on your goals so you can start the year strong. You’re more than welcome to book a 15 min chat with me on the button below.
4. Improve your systems
Are you still doing tasks on spreadsheets that could be done on an app? Do you have systems in place, but they’re so convoluted you work around them? The systems you use in your business should make life simpler… not harder!
The start of the year is a great time to look at the processes and systems you use and decide whether they’re working for you. If not, spend some time looking at what’s out there. The digital world is constantly evolving, so there may be lots of new apps that you’ve been completely oblivious to! For instance, check out Airtable for a new way to use spreadsheets for yourself or with your team
5. Review your networks
Sometimes we’re so focused on building the number of contacts in our networks that we forget to look at the effectiveness of our relationships. Some working relationships are super easy and require little effort, but the people who can help us the most are often harder to reach out to or work with.
Now is a great time to sit down and take stock of how effective your networks are. Which groups, events or people are you spending time with, but aren’t really adding any value to your business? Where are like-minded people hanging out? Who can really help to shape your business this year?
It can be tricky turning down invitations or stepping back from obligations. Believe me, I know the feeling of this! But if you’re not getting any return on your (time) investment, perhaps it’s time to be a bit more selective.
Obviously, Gossip Gals has a fantastic women’s business network, which is great for business contacts, collaborations, business support for women and learning online business and social media skills.
6. Get your finances in order
Hands up, who still hasn’t got around to completing their Self-Assessment tax return?! The deadline is fast approaching, so don’t put it off any longer. It’s time to sit down and get those finances in order.
If you find you’re always scrambling around at this time of year trying to find missing receipts or chase outstanding invoices, remember task number 4? Maybe you need a better system for your financial management! I can recommend a good accountant if you need one.
With this out of the way, you can start the year strong. It’s also really good to reflect on your accounts ready for the start of the new year as it helps you get your business goal setting strengthened based on the past income you can boost your business to the next level in a realistic and achievable way.
7. Audit your website and social media accounts
When was the last time you had a good look through your website? If it’s been a while, then it’s time to check for broken links, inaccurate information and out-of-date blogs! Our website is often the first interaction our prospective customers have with us. They may have found you through your Facebook group or social media, but when they hop over to your website, they are really stepping up to investigate buying from you. So we need to make sure it's up to scratch. Just think what first impression an average website gives versus a polished, stunning one!
The same goes for your social media accounts. What first impression do they give to people? Is it obvious what you do/sell? Make sure you don't forget about your personal profile too. If you're networking in Facebook groups, your profile is the first place people will check before connecting with you. I've done a masterclass on this here. Do your social media accounts paint a coherent message about your values, goals and passions? Are you even hanging out in the right places? If you want a friendly support women's business network, come and join us in Gossip Gals Networking for Women in Business group on Facebook.
It’s time to review that marketing strategy to help keep everything on point this year and ensure you get the greatest return on investment (ROI) for your hard-earned pennies and your all-important time.
Need some extra help?
If you need some extra help running your online business, definitely check out our membership - Social Savvy School and together, we’ll make plans to start the year strong!
Much love,
Emma x