10 New Year’s Resolutions to help grow your business this year 

Many people will have made a New Year’s resolution by now (some may have already binned them, too) but resolutions don’t have to be personal. 
 
Making New Year’s business resolutions can help create realistic and achievable goals for your business to help drive growth and improve your business’ health. 
 
Here are 10 ideas for New Year’s resolutions that you could implement for your business. You don’t have to do them all at once. You could spread them out over the coming weeks or months. You don’t need to consider all of them either, simply pick and choose the most appropriate or the ones that you think your business would benefit from the most. 

1. Create a robust document outlining your business processes. 

Many business owners started their business from scratch, either by themselves or with other people. As the business grows, more staff join the company, which is great. A lot of business owners, however, hold most of the knowledge about the running of the business in their heads, which risks certain processes or activities stalling until they have time to do them themselves. This can be avoided by creating a document containing most of the major procedures in a standardised format with clear instructions. This is especially useful for when you are absent from the business for a time and either can’t be contacted or would prefer not to be. With this document, the business can continue to run smoothly during your absence. It also allows your staff to grow with the business, take on more responsibilities when they’re ready, and feel trusted and appreciated. 
 
At Abaqus, we can help get this information from your head onto paper and create a standardised and easy to understand business process document. 

2. Make financial projections for the new year. 

This will be on many companies’ radars for the new year, but it is always worth mentioning. Reviewing the previous year’s financial information and creating fresh financial projections for the new year will inform you of where your business’ health stands now and help you make important business decisions in the year ahead. Projecting your cash flow will ensure you have a good idea of where you need to be to meet your business expenses and achieve your goals. 
 
At Abaqus, we can help review your previous year’s finances and create a financial projection for the year ahead. 

3. Outsource certain business functions. 

As your business grows, so too does the demand on your time from multiple areas of your business. Basic tasks that didn’t take up much time when you first started have become more complicated and take longer. 
Payroll used to be straightforward when you were just paying yourself, right? The same could be said for filing your taxes, taking care of your accounts, managing your cashflow, and marketing your business. 
Employing someone to do each of these can be very costly and when you pay someone to fill more than one role, you can sometimes find that it is not as effective. 
Outsourcing certain business functions like payroll, accounts, and marketing etc. can save you a lot of time, allowing you to focus on what you’re best at. It can also save you a lot of money – costing a fraction of what it would cost for full-time employees to perform all the necessary roles. You also get the added benefit that the company you outsource to are specialists in their profession with years of experience under their belts and can advise you on the best course of action for your business. 
 
At Abaqus, we provide several accountancy services and office solutions that will help reduce your workload and let you focus on running your business. 

4. Review your sales targets. 

Reviewing your sales targets each year (or even each quarter) is a great way to take stock. It allows you to set realistic and achievable goals that challenge your staff and drive growth for your business. Setting this year’s targets out in a sales plan, with a roadmap of how to achieve them, will help you and your team hit the ground running. 

5. Review your marketing. 

How are your customers finding you? Are you showing up on Google for search terms your target audience are using? Is your social media presence driving traffic to your website? Is your website optimised and performing well? 
Marketing is often overlooked and can be the first service to cut when money is tight, but it is also one of the most effective ways to grow a business. 
 
Review your marketing efforts and refresh your marketing strategy, ready for the year ahead. 

6. Give your office or workspace a spruce up. 

Research has shown that a clean workspace leads to higher productivity. Set aside some time for you and your employees to spend tidying the place up, introduce a clear desk policy, encourage and empower your employees to continue to keep your workplace clean. It will not only reduce safety hazards and risks but will likely help your business run more efficiently. Not to mention the benefit of leaving a better impression on customers and visitors. 

7. Plan your time better. 

This is a very general statement – but it will be different for everyone. Whether you have multiple meetings a day, site visits to attend, calls lined up, or customer visits that need your attention, see if there is a way to better manage your time. Being organised and doing things in the right order can not only save you time but can also reduce your costs. 
A simple change like writing a to-do list before you leave the office can improve your productivity the next day. Even better, write it up in order of priority. As soon as you get to work, you’ll know what you need to do, and which tasks are most important. 
 
At Abaqus, we can help you manage your diary, prioritise your workload, set reminders, plan and organise meetings, and more! 

8. Meet your suppliers. 

Setting up meetings with your suppliers helps them to put a face to your business and can foster a more positive relationship. Having a stronger relationship with your suppliers can help meet urgent or short-notice orders, help you get better rates, and some will even go the extra mile for you when needed. Treat your suppliers like business partners (you rely on them just as much as they rely on you, after all) and try to maintain and improve your relationship. 

9. Review your prices. 

We’ve all heard the phrase “turnover is vanity, profit is sanity” but some businesses don’t like raising their prices for fear of their customers leaving in droves. Undercharging for your products or services is going to hurt you more than a few customers buying elsewhere. 
 
Your cashflow projections for the year will help you judge whether you need to raise your prices and by how much. Many customers even expect price rises with the current economic climate. 
 
At Abaqus, we can help review your business’ finances and help you make the decision on whether you need to raise your prices or not. 

10. Foster a positive working environment. 

This can be done in many ways and how will depend on you, your business, your business model, your budget, and more. 
 
It could be: 
 
offering your staff incentives for meeting targets 
rewarding them with staff benefits (healthcare, discount packages etc.) 
showing your appreciation with quarterly or annual rewards 
organising staff socials and events 
or just being present, talking to your staff, and expressing your appreciation for their efforts in person. 
 
Employees who feel undervalued aren’t as productive or motivated to help your business grow and far more likely to leave. 
Employees that feel appreciated are motivated and feel like they’re part of a team and not just a cog in a machine. They are more likely to stick around, are more productive, and their output is usually much higher too. 
 
We hope you found these 10 ideas for New Year’s Resolutions for businesses helpful. If you would like any help implementing those relating to your finances or office organisation, get in touch, we’d be happy to help! 
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