Establishing Goals That Will Build Your Business
Now is the time to make those New Year’s resolutions. You’re not the only business owner trying to boost your business with fresh goals. According to a survey conducted by the American Express, 56% of small business owners resolved to be more profitable last year, while 36% were looking to be better bosses, get to know their customers better, and take more personal time for themselves. What would you like to achieve this year?
The best guarantee in accomplishing your business objectives is to set clear resolutions you can use to measure your success. Here are seven guidelines in ensuring that your professional resolutions have sticking power:
1. Be specific
Vague resolutions like, “increase revenue” will give you nothing concrete for which to aim. But when you make specific goals like “increase revenue by $5000,” you not only have a clear target to shoot for, but you also have a standard against which you can measure your progress.
2. Be realistic
Steve Kaczmarski said, “Those who are successful are those who have more realistic goals.” While you may have grand ambitions, setting 10 major goals for one year may be overwhelming in the long run. Select a handful of realistic resolutions to focus on this year, and ensure they’re attainable! You’ll find that succeeding in small ways will help you eventually achieve those larger goals.
3. Write them down
Resolutions that have been memorialized in writing are much more powerful than those you make in your head. As time goes by, you can revisit them regularly and assess your progress.
4. Ensure they don’t conflict with personal goals
If you resolve to grow your business by 50% this year, and then set a personal goal to spend more time with your family, you may find yourself stretched too thin. It’s best to set both personal and professional resolutions together to ensure they don’t conflict.
5. Involve others
Share your business goals with your immediate family; they may be able to help you in ways you hadn’t imagined. And if you have a staff, share your business goals with them as well; they’ll perform much better when they understand your expectations.
6. Be accountable
Your family and staff, upon learning your resolutions, will help you be accountable for them. It’s also important that you take your resolutions seriously as well. If you’re unsure whether or not you’ll pursue your goals, there’s no reason setting them in the first place.
7. Follow-up
Schedule a time in your business calendar to follow-up and assess your progress. June is a good mid-year point at which time you can determine what more needs to be done in order to accomplish your resolutions.
Make Professional Certification Your 2009 Goal
In this day and age of economic uncertainty, business owners don’t want to turn their finances over to just anyone. They feel much more comfortable leaving their accounting to a certified professional: a Professional Bookkeeper (PB).
Set a goal you can easily accomplish this year by enrolling in the Professional Bookkeeper program and earning your PB designation. Not only can you earn valuable certification that will put prospective clients at ease, but you will also learn valuable accounting skills that will help you best serve your small business clients.
Here are just a few things this program enables you to do:
- Master accounting for retail and wholesale businesses
- Determine and establish the accounting method that best fits any given business
- Set up an efficient system for a “ma & pa” manufacturing company
- Track job costs simply and efficiently for a construction company
- Effectively handle flooring for an inventory-financed business
- Confidently consult with business owners on key business issues
- Enter data quickly and accurately
- Prepare payroll like a seasoned pro
- Avoid costly IRS penalties
- Spot and avoid dangerous trends before they become tragedies
- Save a company thousands of dollars in auditing costs
- Start your own bookkeeping and accounting business, using a step-by-step approach
- Acquire clients quickly and cost-effectively
One course will enable you to accomplish all that and more. Talk about a powerful resolution! Take advantage of the New Year and earn valuable certification that will help you advance your accounting practice. Enroll today!
