You might think that the setting of new years resolutions is far too early. However, the reality is that 2019 is only around the corner and so now is the time to be action planning!
Here are four areas to consider:
Try and keep your work area tidy. Only order the minimum supplies you need and do not clutter your desk with any unnecessary items.
Invest some time in forward planning. Start your year with the end of the year in mind. Start your quarter with the end of the quarter in mind. The same applies to your week and your day! What this means is to have a focused daily, weekly, quarterly and annual action plan to ensure you have the right people working on the right things in the right way that will help you achieve your company vision.
Think about the time when you plan your annual family holiday. And consider the time and effort spend on things such as looking through flights, choosing suitable accommodation and thinking about day trips. After all, no one would turn up to the airport and choose a random destination! Choosing a perfect holiday takes weeks and weeks of preparation. A similar approach can be applied to your business. Think about the potential results you could achieve by being organised!
Make an ongoing effort to stay organised. Being organised has many benefits including allowing you to remain focused on your business. Commit to maintaining order each day while always moving forward and reviewing things as necessary.
Learn to work smarter with e-mail. How many of you have your email notifications turned on during the day and get sidetracked when an email pops up? A massive tip with emails is to switch your notifications off so that you can focus on the task you need to be doing. Set times of the day aside to read emails and always plan your day as a priority before you even look at your inbox on a morning.
Are you finding yourself completing routine activities in a long-winded and repetitive way? Make use of versioning and templates to prevent this from occurring. You may also want to consider better organising your desktop filing structure on your PC so that crucial files can be accessed quickly.
Make sure that your pricing and costs are correct. Consider increasing your prices by 3% to increase turnover and profit. Conversely, you may want to reduce direct costs by 3% or more, allowing a more significant margin of profit. Above all, a healthy bank balance can be maintained by collecting money quicker.
Ensure that your product or business is presented in the best possible way. Ensure that all of the advantages of your product or service is emphasised so that sales performance is maximised. Furthermore, work out what is unique about your proposition and how you are different from your competitors. Above all, why should people choose you?
Give yourself and the business the best chance you can of making 2019 a great year by doing your planning now. That way in January you will be prepared to get cracking straight away and hit the ground running. We have presented some hints and tips to make the most of the year ahead. In this post we have mentioned:
