Use the New Year to grow business

One of the reasons we love (or hate) New Year’s resolution season is because it is a specific point in time that causes us to halt and take inventory of our lives, our businesses and our relationships. Sidnee Peck, Director for the Center for Entrepreneurship provides her readers with tips to take on the New Year from a business perspective.

Sidnee Peck  |  Director, Center for Entrepreneurship

Just like everyone else, I’m wondering how I can take advantage of the “New Year” mindset and perform better in 2015. What tips can you offer?

One of the reasons we love (or hate) New Year’s resolution season is because it is a specific point in time that causes us to halt and take inventory of our lives, our businesses and our relationships. If you’ve been building a business, then there is a chance you’ve been working tirelessly to either find new customers or keep up with your customers’ demands.

This is both fair and normal, but it is not ideal. The ideal scenario is one in which you can prepare for the short-term, immediate needs and then put the majority of your focus into long-term prospects and building a pipeline for strategic growth. So, how can you shift from putting out fires to building a long-term pipeline? Here are some suggestions:

Hire some help.

If you have too much on your plate and don’t get to spend at least 60 percent of your time on core strategic issues, then figure out the main things you can offload and hire someone skilled at those things. It may be a cost to you now, but if you can move your focus to building a pipeline of business, then it will be worth the upfront investment.

Check out websites like Localwork.com to find employees who might be a good fit for your company. If you absolutely cannot hire someone, then you need to cut something. Identify what is not serving you or your company best and remove it. Laser focus will help you move to a more strategic mindset and enable you to grow in the right way, not just for the sake of growth.

Think bigger.

Where are you now, and where do you want to be? Be big and bold in your thinking when it comes to what you hope the business will become. You know your company’s core competencies, and you know what you’re better at than anyone else in the business.

With that knowledge, you can be creative in finding other ways to use those core competencies to reach a new market or to increase your current market penetration. Once you’ve identified some options, begin to explore with potential new customers and use that feedback to shape how you execute. You can use the Business Model Canvas, supporting videos and texts from businessmodelgeneration.com/canvas as tools to explore new options. This will give you the knowledge you need to grow in a deliberate way.

Stop making excuses.

This is the hardest one. It is a true challenge to climb out of the repetitive nature of solving urgent issues that seem to arise regularly and turn your attention to the creation of future revenue and impact. Regardless of the barriers, you must make this decision if you want to see remarkable changes and improvements in your company.

There will always be an excuse to not do something, but this time, get past the excuse, take the risk and make a bold move. Getting a little uncomfortable can be a catalyst to innovation and expansion. If you need some motivation, I recommend reading “The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It” by Michael E. Gerber. The concept of working on your business versus in your business is simple, yet life-altering for many small or new business owners.

Whatever you do this week and beyond to reflect on 2014 and plan for 2015, embrace the failures and hurdles. Be mindful in every moment and celebrate every win along the way. This is supposed to be fun, you know?

First published in The Arizona Republic on December 30, 2014.