Steve Stone
Owner, CEO
ShuBee®

As 2016 approaches many people are beginning to make new years resolutions from beginning a diet or to get a gym membership, but it is critical for business owners to take the time to sit back and begin planning for the year to come and focus on your business. It is important to look at what was accomplished throughout the year and what you want to accomplish in the coming year. This is a pivotal time for you to be honest with yourself as the business owner.   Keep the following tips in mind going into the New Year.

Setting your culture

What do you want your company to stand for? Culture is the vision, values and practices that will set your company apart from any others. Think Chick-fil-a. They have a culture to treat everyone with honor, dignity and respect. They say “my pleasure”. They are closed on Sunday. All of this tells you who Chick-fil-a is and what they stand for. Setting a culture that will propel growth is not only important to your internal team but your clients as well. They want to know whom they are letting into their homes and businesses. Set your culture and then make sure to LIVE by it.

Setting your lineup

Your team is the backbone of your company. Making sure you have the right people on board to propel your growth is essential. Always be on the lookout for the right people, even when you’re not hiring. If you can see the opportunity in someone you need to make sure there is a spot in the lineup for him or her. Once you start growing you will be too busy to look and could potentially end up with subpar employees because your need is so great that you settle for whoever walks in the door and has the capability to do the job.

Setting your goals

Every great company needs goals. They give you a solid something to reach for and celebrate when you achieve it. You want to increase your equipment sales by 10{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f} next year. You want to add $100,000 in revenue. How are you going to do that? You have to start by figuring out your baseline and then putting a plan in place for your team to increase their individual sales to reach the overall goal. Analyze everything and you will see the next growth opportunity without even having to really look for it. And don’t forget to celebrate wins.

Setting Visible Communication

Every company that is growing exponentially has one thing in common. They work seamlessly by communicating all of the above. In order to get your team members bought into the work they are doing, in order to make them WANT to reach the company goals/objectives you have to communicate. Effective communication can increase company morale, productivity and growth if your team members feel like they are a partner in information sharing and are heard when they speak.

It does not matter how hard you have worked to build your business there will always be room for improvement. What better time to sit down and take the time to look at your company as a whole than the beginning of a new year!