We all need a fresh start sometimes. Whether you’re looking to act on your new year’s business resolutions or just trying to kickstart a new phase of growth, it’s important to take the time to slow down, shift your mindset, and set yourself up for success in the months ahead. Check out our top tips for getting a fresh start whenever you need it.
If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, distracted, or have generally lost your sense of focus, don’t skip this step. When we’re surrounded by clutter and chaos, it’s more difficult for us to stay focused on our goals and work effectively. It’s also just harder to get day-to-day tasks done efficiently when poor organization makes it take longer to find certain items.
To start organizing your office, first clean your space and discard anything unnecessary like old paper scraps and junk mail. Then, tackle your file cabinet and determine which documents you no longer need to keep. If you’re wondering what documents should be shredded, keep an eye out for anything with sensitive information: bank statements, utility bills, expired warranties, etc. Gather up all these documents and bring them to your local PostNet center to be shredded.
Finally, create a new system of organization that will provide you quick and easy access to the items that you use most on a daily basis. Labeling and color-coding are great tools for helping you stick to the system you devise. By devoting this time and effort to your office organization, you’ll reap the benefits for months to come.
After the mad rush of the holidays, the first few weeks of the year tend to be slower for most small businesses. When your phone isn’t ringing off the hook and your shop is empty of customers, switch gears to a different type of work. This is the ideal time to make sure that you’re prepared for business to pick up again.
Start by taking inventory of all your business materials. This could include your business and marketing essentials like business cards, brochures, and flyers, as well as any branded materials you use regularly like custom packaging, invoices, or appointment cards. Take note of how much you have in stock of all these materials, then restock whatever you’re running low on. It’s better to do this now than to wait and run out of something at an inconvenient time!
Planning ahead is another great way to make use of your downtime. By committing to certain goals for the year and making a plan to get there, you’ll be more easily able to keep yourself on track during hectic times. Need some inspiration? Download our free business planning workbook to get started.
Part of your goal setting and business growth planning process should involve your marketing plan for the year ahead. But before you decide on the future of your marketing, it’s important to take a look at the past. Knowing what has and hasn’t worked for you before can inform how you should move forward.
Start your process by listing out everything you did to market your business over the past year: mailers, campaigns, special promotions, email blasts, social media, etc. Wherever possible, gather the physical materials and lay them out. Were there any marketing efforts that worked particularly well? Compare them and think about what they had in common: the type of tactic, a certain offer or promotion, the audience that was targeted, or even the colors and graphics. Think about how you can do more of whatever worked best in the months ahead.
Not sure what worked and what didn’t? That’s okay — you can learn from this too. Before you plan any further marketing campaigns for your business, make a plan for how you can more effectively track the results from your efforts. You might create a special, trackable URL, offer a promotion that can only be claimed by bringing in the ad, or simply train your staff to start asking each and every customer how they heard of you. After implementing these ideas, you’ll have much more data to work off of this time next year.
As a small, locally owned business, we understand the importance of taking advantage of downtime to set ourselves up for the year ahead. Let’s chat about how we can help you start working toward your goals — whether that’s shredding old documents, restocking business essentials, or planning new marketing campaigns.
Stop by your neighborhood PostNet center to get started!
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