Three years ago, a friend who lives out of town sent me a digital picture frame for a Christmas gift. I remember being very excited about the gift and looked forward to setting it up so my life could truly flash before me. Photos from the last six or more years are digital, making loading them on the little card that comes with the picture frame very easy. But I also have a lot of prints. I could probably set aside a month of my life scanning 24/7 to get all of my prints converted to digital format.
Each year, I look at the digital picture frame – still in its box – and vow that this will be the year I set aside time to set it up. However, before I know it, the year is over, and the frame is still in its box.
I feel a slight twinge of guilt when I look at that present from my friend. But I’m also philosophical. One more year without a digital picture frame flashing images of my friends and family and trips I’ve taken won’t matter that much in the overall scheme of my life.
Grow your business with actions, not good intentions
Let’s face it. Breaking our very personal News Year’s resolutions is a tradition in itself. But when it comes to setting goals for our business, now that’s something I take more seriously. I’ve said it before in some of my blog posts – your business doesn’t grow on good intentions.
It grows because you assess where you are and where you want to establish concrete goals or milestones for getting there each year.
If a new service – a new type of massage or spa treatment – will help grow your business, then you need to get the training to enable you to do offer it.
If you have decided some customers are actually hurting your business because they cost you money in canceled appointments or chronically show up late, it’s probably time to cut the cord.
Have you promised yourself to do more marketing by joining organizations, volunteering, redoing your website, or getting more active in social networks but never seem to find the time? Your competition more than likely is doing some or all of these things and reaping the rewards, so you really can’t delay in boosting your visibility much longer.
Do you need to review all your expenses and set some specific goals for cutting them? Consider what an even five percent less on expenses across the board will mean to your profit.
Take time to plan
Set aside sometime before this year, if you haven’t already, think about next year and what it will take to grow your business. Be realistic. Don’t try to do so much that you can’t possibly reach your goals, and then give up trying. Keep on track by breaking down your goals into specific action steps. Review your plan periodically to make sure you are on track. If you decide to make a detour from your plan, that’s OK as long as it gets you to your goal.
Have a wonderful holiday. I plan to. I’ll probably take lots more pictures, too, and I probably will tell myself this is the year I’m going to tackle that digital picture frame. It’s a good thing that hope springs eternal.