With 2018 drawing to a close, it is time to start thinking about the year that is ahead. Hopefully, 2018 was a year of progress for your business and a year that helped you grow towards an even better future. Perhaps 2018 also held a few setbacks and difficulties for your company. No matter what the past year held, the new year can be one of prosperity and success.
As you look forward to 2019 and the new opportunities that it holds, take some time to assess where you are currently and where you are heading. Check out the following six commitments you can make for your business to make 2019 your best year yet.
#1: Improve Staffing As Needed
One area that you can look to improve in the upcoming year is your team. Start by looking at the staff you currently have and assess the health of your team. Do you have enough people to handle your current workload or does your team need to grow in 2019? Do you have employees that are doing an outstanding job who should be promoted to better positions? Perhaps you have some toxic employees that have held you back this past year.
The new year can be an excellent time to work on your staffing needs. Determine if you need to start hiring right away or if you are looking at additions down the road when certain benchmarks are met. While letting people go is never a fun activity, take the time to ensure you have the team you need before you begin hiring more people. Focusing on building a strong team in 2019 will be crucial to your business’ success. The people you hire will be a determining factor in where your business heads.
#2: Innovate With New Marketing Ideas
Did you see a lot of growth in 2018 or was it a lack-luster year for new customer acquisition? Whether you are riding the wave of an excellent past year or you need to refocus your efforts for the year ahead, one area that can always use improvement is your marketing plan. In our fast-paced world, marketing needs to be innovative. If you haven’t assessed the health of your marketing program in a while, now is the time to do so. Make a renewed effort to implement cutting-edge ideas in 2019.
For example, if you have historically spent most of your marketing budget on trade shows and very little in the digital marketing arena, consider testing a new marketing plan in the year ahead. Think critically about where you can best reach your audience and spend a meeting brainstorming with your team about how you can best attain a new portion of your market share in the upcoming year. If you don’t currently have a marketing team, think about the addition of a marketing specialist or utilize the services of a marketing consulting company. Whatever approach you use, ensure that you have a killer marketing plan for 2019.
#3: Implement Local Community Involvement
It can be easy to become so focused on the success of your business that you forget about the role you play in your local community. The reality is that as a business owner, you have an incredible opportunity for making a difference in your community. If you haven’t already implemented community in your business plan, make 2019 the year you do.
Being involved can be as simple as taking part in local food drives for shelters. It could mean sponsoring events that benefit local non-profits you are passionate about. You can also provide a set number of hours for your employees to volunteer each year on the clock. No matter what method you utilize for being involved, the important part is that you give back to your community in some way.
#4: Integrate Your Customer’s Requests
Take time to look back over the past year. Where there certain requests that your customers made of your company? Do you see any trends in ideas that your customers have suggested? Dig into the past year and look for ways you can integrate customer’s requests in the new year. Your customers are an invaluable asset to you. They should be the driving force behind the decisions you make for 2019.
After you determine what requests are viable options, think about a game plan for implementation. Without actionable steps, it is easy for ideas to be left on the back burner and, before you know it, the end of 2019 will be upon you and the ideas will still sit untouched.
#5: Invest In New Financing Options
If the past year left your business in need of some financial help, 2019 might be the year to consider a new form of financing. For example, here at the Commercial Finance Group, we help small businesses who are not a good fit for traditional banking options by allowing them to tap into the power of asset-based lending. If you have been discouraged by your company’s inability to find funding through traditional means, commit to exploring new options in 2019.
Asset-based loans can be the perfect fit for a company who needs an added boost in 2019. They allow you to leverage what you already have while gaining working capital upfront. This solution could be the ideal way for you to improve your growth in 2019 and reach the goals you weren’t able to achieve over the course of the past year. If you are interested in asset-based lending, talk to our team about how it works. We will be happy to assist you in determining if this form of lending is the ideal solution for your company’s next year of business.
#6: Incorporate Self-Care
Finally, running a business is no small feat. You are probably juggling countless activities each day, working to ensure the success of your team as a whole. Tack on the holiday season and you can wind up burned out and fighting serious exhaustion. Make sure that as you transition into the near year, you spend time focusing on your own self-care. Your business can only succeed if you are healthy and capable of leading well. A leader who is running on fumes is not going to be able to make decisions with a clear head.
As 2019 approaches, look for ways you can allow for better self-care. Whether that means actually spending a full day off each week — one where you turn your cell phone off and don’t check emails — or it means taking a weekend each month to get away from everything and retreat to nature, be sure you have a self-care plan for the upcoming year.
Here at the Commercial Finance Group, we’d love to be part of your company’s success in 2019. Please reach out today to learn more about asset-based lending and the options our Atlanta based company can provide for unique funding opportunities.
