As the new year approaches, many entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs are looking to kickstart the year with a bang and hit the ground running, making their mark in the business world.
Just as the New Year is a time for new beginnings in life, it is also a perfect opportunity to plan for the coming business year and start on the right foot.
As a business owner, you may have specific goals and objectives for your company in 2023. But the challenge many times is how you can effectively kickstart them.
In this article, we will be focusing on already existing businesses. We have highlighted specific tips every business should implement to enable a smooth kickstarting of business in 2023 and to ensure a sound and productive year ahead.
The 3 Strategies To Effectively Kickstarting Business in 2023
As a business owner, there are many things to consider and plan for to get your business off to a strong start and set the stage for future success in 2023. To help simplify this process, we put together a list of the top steps to follow to hit the ground running for your business. We have broken these tips into 3 main categories:
- Review
- Plan
- Implement
These three steps we believe are essential for every business to take to ensure a successful year ahead. Let’s take a closer look at each one.
1. Review the previous year
Before you start implementing any changes or new strategies in the new year, it’s important to take a step back and evaluate where your business stands today based on your performance from the previous business year. This includes reviewing the current state of your operations and identifying areas for improvement.
To help achieve this, we recommend answering the following questions below with your team.
- What did we get right in the previous year, and why?
- What did we not get right in the previous year, and why?
- How can we improve on the things we got right?
- How can we avoid repeating the mistakes that were made in the previous year?
- What were the biggest challenges that our business faced in the previous year?
- How did we overcome these challenges?
- What do you think made a difference in helping us overcome these challenges?
Answering these questions with your team will give you valuable insights into the current health status of your business, and also help you identify the areas in which you need to improve, as well as the things that worked well for you. It will help you focus on what’s important and how to make it better in the next year, and it will also ensure that everyone on your team is on the same page moving forward, which makes it easier for everyone to plan together and work towards your goals.
2. Plan for the coming year
Now that you have a good idea of where your business is at and where it needs to go, and you have successfully identified the challenges you faced in the previous year and how to overcome them, it’s time to plan for the coming year. You can do this by carrying out the following activities:
Set SMART and realistic goals for different aspects of your business
Identify the goals that are most important for different aspects of your business – sales, marketing, product development, finances, etc. and then break those goals down into smaller tasks that can be completed within a year.
It is important to set goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. These are known as SMART goals. For example: “We will increase our sales by 20% over the next 12 months” or “All new customers will receive a call from their sales representative within 24 hours after signing up for our service. Learn more about how to set SMART goals in this article “Top goal setting techniques used by top achievers for their businesses“.
Once you have ensured that the goals set are SMART, write them down and put them somewhere you can see them every day, such as on your office wall or in an online calendar. This helps keep you focused on what needs to be done, which makes it easier for you to achieve those goals when the time comes.
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Clearly define your KPIs and OKRs for your goals
Goals are a great way to keep you focused and on track, but they aren’t enough. Once you have set your goals, it’s important to define how you will measure whether they were achieved or not. One good way to achieve this is by defining the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Objectives, and Key Results (OKRs) for each goal.
A KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is a metric that shows how well your goal is being achieved. For example, if one of your goals is to increase sales by 20% over the next 12 months, then one of your KPIs could be “increase in revenue from new customers” or “number of leads generated by our marketing team. An OKR (Objectives and Key Results) on the other hand is a way of defining how you will achieve your goal. An OKR is made up of three parts: Objective, key result, and metric. For example, if one of your goals is to increase sales by 20% over the next 12 months, then one of your OKRs could be “increase the number of qualified leads generated per month by 20%” or “more than 50% increase in revenue from new customers”.
Identify possible challenges and propose a solution
One of the most important things to do when setting goals is to consider what could go wrong and how you will react if it does. These are called “risks” in the business world and they could be anything from not having enough resources to complete the project successfully, getting blocked by someone else’s decision, or even a simple lack of time or resources.
For example, if one of your objectives is to increase sales by 20% over the next 12 months, then one challenge might be that competitors start offering better deals than yours. You could solve this problem by doing something like lowering your prices or improving your product so it’s more attractive than their offerings.
3. Implement the set goals and objectives
Execution and implementation are one of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs and businesses face. It’s easy to set goals and objectives, but it’s not always easy to get them done.
Your goals and objectives are only as good as your ability to execute them, so make sure that you have the right people in place who can help you achieve what needs doing. If you don’t have the resources or time required to do something yourself, then find someone else who does (or hire someone new).
One very effective technique to help with the execution of goals is the GOSPA technique.
While SMART goals help you set clear and specific goals, GOSPA helps you get to work on these goals. GOSPA is an actionable goal-setting technique that stands for Goals, Objectives, Strategies, Priorities, and Activities. It is a technique used by individuals like Brian Tracy, and it is common among top-level executives and managers.
Let us take a deeper look into how this technique can help in the execution and implementation of your goals.
Goals
In the GOSPA technique, G stands for goals. This is the section where you list your SMART goals. For example; “I want to make one million dollars in sales by the end of the year”, “I want to improve my customer satisfaction experience by 60% at the end of Q2”, “I want to have a 25% share of my market by the end of Q4”, etc. These goals are SMART and a good foundation for the next phase of the technique.
Objectives
This section highlights the key objectives, that is, sub-goals that must be accomplished to achieve the SMART goals listed above. For example, your goal is to make a million dollars in sales by the end of the year. Your objectives or sub-goals might first be to make $200,000 in Q1 through ads, $300,000 in Q2 through ads and referrals, etc. Breaking your grand goal into 3-4 objectives per goal will motivate you towards working and achieving the goal.
Strategies
These are the various methods you will employ to accomplish the objectives on the way to your goals. Still on our $1 million in sales, your strategy to achieving this could be to outsource sales in Q1 while you build a strong internal sales team. It could also be to invest more in ads while building a strong referral network from those clients, etc. Different strategies can be employed to achieve a set goal.
Priorities
One problem many founders and businesses make is the problem of focusing and prioritizing. This section addresses this problem by ensuring that you only focus on important activities. Based on your laid down strategy, you identify and make a list of the most important activities based on priority. Apply the Pareto principle (the 80/20 rule). Identify the 20 percent of activities that you can take that will account for 80 percent of your results. Note these activities and follow them sequentially based on priority.
Action
Finally, action! This is one area many entrepreneurs find difficult.
These are the specific day-to-day activities, duties, and details that must be done to implement your strategies, and ultimately achieve your goals. Having broken down your day-to-day activities, begin by working on those priority activities daily, no matter your level of motivation. Work daily to move the needle. Begin with 2 minutes, 5, etc.
The GOSPA technique is a good place to start with the implementation of your goals and it can help you build an even more effective model for your day-to-day activities and how they relate to your goals.
Other Important Activities for Kickstarting Business in 2023
Engage with your customers
Engaging with your customers is one of the most important activities that you can do in your business. It is a key factor for success and it can help you to build strong relationships with your target audience. You need to know what they want and how they feel about your products or services so that you can better understand their needs and wants.
Take time to engage with your customers and make them feel like they’re a part of the process. If you have an email list or social media following, send out surveys or polls to get feedback on what they would like to see from your business. You can also use this opportunity to ask for reviews on any products or services that you’ve already provided.
Build and appreciate your team
Your business is only as strong as the people on your team. You need to make sure that you’re building a strong team that can help you achieve your goals and take on new projects.
Invest in building capacity for your team members, and take time to appreciate them for all that they do for your company. Let them know how much you value them and how much you appreciate their hard work. Give your employees the freedom to be creative and innovative so that they can contribute their ideas to your company’s success.
Improve your online presence
A solid online presence is one of the most crucial components in building a business today, as it gives you a way to market yourself and build credibility before you even have a product or service available for sale. There are several ways that businesses can do this:
- Have an active social media presence on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc.
- Have a website with valuable and relevant content that’s updated regularly.
- Use social media and blogging to drive traffic to your website, generate leads for your business, and increase brand awareness.
- Build an email list so that you can market directly to your customers and build a relationship with them.
- Reach out to influencers in your industry and ask them for advice or to share their thoughts on your business.
Conclusion
The new year is upon us again, and as a business, you have to be prepared to take on whatever comes your way. The new year is an opportunity to review, plan, strategize and execute the best strategy for your business so that you can achieve your goals.
The new year is also a time to take stock of where you are and where you want to be in the next 12 months. Are there areas of improvement that need addressing? Are there things that can be done differently or more efficiently? Are there opportunities that need to be capitalized on? Whatever your situation, the new year is a time to look forward and make the changes necessary to achieve your goals.
Get a free copy of our Cheat Sheet on Developing and Launching a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for Startups and Businesses, to create a better, faster product that your customers love.
Download now to develop and launch a killer MVP for your business and begin recording growth.
