Business trends are always changing and as a business transcription company we are well aware that as our clients grow their business, they face many challenges. As 2018 bids adieu and makes way for 2019, small businesses need to think about how they can overcome their challenges and manage inevitable changes. In other words, businesses would benefit by making meaningful New Year resolutions and by focusing on turning their goals into reality. Here are 6 New Year Resolutions for small businesses in 2019.
- Improve cash flow management: Research from CB Insights shows that the second most common reason businesses fail is cash flow problems. As a business increases investment to increase cash inflow, it also has to think about managing its expenses or limiting its cash outflows. So learning how to manage cash flow is an impactful resolution for small business owners. The goal should be to create more capital to invest back into the business and prevent negative cash flow. Send out invoices promptly, see that customers pay on time, expand your sales market, look for new sources of income, revamp your marketing strategy – there are so many ways to improve cash flow. Think about what will work best for you.
- Grow your digital presence: Just having a brick and mortar store won’t do to keep up with competition. Small businesses need to grow their online presence using the right search engine optimization (SEO) tactics. However, according to Clutch’s 2017 Small Business Survey, small businesses continuously struggle to create and maintain a web presence. The study found that 29% of small businesses don’t have a website. So to get ahead of competition, businesses should resolve to build their digital presence and optimize for mobile and local search. Growing your online presence also means being active on the right social media platform. Starting a business blog is a great idea to connect with your audience.
- Work on truly understanding your customers: Truly understanding your clients/customers is the key to marketing success. To do this, develop empathy for your target audience and express it. Get feedback from your clients. Make sure your website offers a user-friendly experience and provide high-value, personalized content that caters to their needs. Active social listening a great way to gain further insight. By getting to know your customers better, you can offer better products and services, build your brand, and cultivate customer loyalty.
- Step up communication: Communicating effectively can save time, reduce stress, increase productivity, and improve relations with your staff, your customers, vendors, and anybody you interact with. Work on limiting distractions and listen, keep lines of communication open and be responsive, make meetings as productive as possible, and use feedback effectively. Also step up online communication by posting informative content consistently, responding to comments on your posts, and leaving comments on others’ content.
- Manage your information better: Smooth operation of any business depends on being able to track information, data and processes. The best way to do that is to document everything. For instance, digital transcription agencies help businesses document all their activities such as meetings, conference calls, surveys, discussions and much more. This ensures that all information is available in a central location so that it can be accessed by authorized personnel at any time.
- Delegate: It is virtually impossible for small business owners to manage all their responsibilities and activities on their own. Effective delegation can help relieve the burden and allow you to focus on specific tasks that you need to manage on your own. So analyse your needs, explore your options, and delegate tasks based on your business needs. Today, there are two options to choose from: hiring an in-house team or outsourcing to an independent vendor. Business transcription is a task that can be easily outsourced, saving your time, money, and resources.
Making resolutions is easy but keeping them requires a lot of commitment. A www.thebalancesmb.com article offers the following tips to keep your New Year resolutions and turn them into powerful goals:
- Know your goals: You need to identify what you want to achieve through your resolution. This could be just one result, or a combination of things that will help you achieve your ultimate goals.
- Know what action you have to take: Once you are clear about what you want to achieve, you need to think about the action you have to take to reach your goals. You can get expert advice on this if you need to. Each goal should have an action plan.
- Estimate a timeline for each action: Aligning each action with a due date will get things done on time. Schedule necessary time for each activity. Build checkpoints into your plans so that you can evaluate progress and make any changes you need to move forward.
As the year comes to an end, reflect on your experiences, all the ups and downs, and plan for the coming year based on what you learned. Business trends are always changing, so you need to be proactive and flexible to meet any new challenges that may come your way in 2019 and the years ahead.
