There’s something about the beginning of a new year that makes us take stock and rethink our actions; gym memberships have their highest joining rate and diet programs get an influx of new members.
It’s the ideal opportunity for a reset in order to get ourselves back on track – to undo those bad habits that have crept in and make sure you’re getting the most out of your time.
Your business is no exception. Although it’s not spring, this is the time of year when your business will most benefit from a figurative ‘spring clean’.
You’ve got the rush of December behind you, there is hopefully money in the bank, and you may even have had a chance to grab a few days off – if you’re lucky!
So how should your reset take shape?
Starting the process of change
Management expert Brian Tracy, who has been a keynote speaker and business training specialist for more than 30 years, has identified four areas to change.
Now is an opportune time to take his advice onboard.
Tracy breaks it down into four simple key questions:
What should I do more of? – What are the ‘good habits’ you’ve managed to establish in your business that you’d like to do more often or more regularly?
Perhaps you only re-order your best- selling products once per fortnight. Could you step this up to once a week?
After all, the longer a best-seller is out of the store, the more likely you are to miss a sale you might otherwise secure.
What should I do less of? – What still needs to be done, but perhaps could be done by someone else? What are you doing that could be done less often?
A failure to delegate undermines many a good business. Are there tasks you are responsible for that you don’t need to do yourself? For example, could someone else be processing those re-orders?
Could you let a staff member deal with something you don’t need to be doing?
Not only will this free you up to tackle bigger issues, but it will empower another staff member and provide a greater level of job satisfaction.
What should I start doing? – What are the habits you know you should have that aren’t getting done?
You may, for example, have had intentions of getting regular staff training sessions underway but have kept procrastinating.
These sorts of tasks often fall under the category of important, but not urgent.
They are valuable to your business but because they are not pressing – your staff can survive without the training for now – you don’t get around to it.
The end result is a business still functioning, but not succeeding at the level it could.
What should I stop doing? – This can be the toughest question to address, because once made, a habit can be hard to break.
It’s the ideal opportunity for a reset in order to get ourselves back on track – to undo those bad habits that have crept in and make sure you’re getting the most out of your time Do you have regular distractions that are part of your day that aren’t necessary?
One such distraction may be answering your staff’s questions.
It may sound counter-intuitive, but often staff already know the answer to something – they simply need you to give them permission to make their own decisions.
Customer issues are also a case in point. Do your staff come to you with every customer problem or complaint?
Empowering them to resolve matters up to a certain value will eliminate a large percentage of your time spent on unnecessary tasks. It will also make the customer happier as their problem can be resolved more promptly.
As a further bonus, it also allows your staff to feel more in control during what might be an uncomfortable situation and that in turn gives them a sense of resilience and confidence.
Set yourself up for success
If you’re looking for a starting point to make some fresh changes in 2021, then this exercise is a great place to begin.
Once you begin asking yourself these questions, you’ll be surprised how many areas of your business fit into each of the four categories.
Monitoring your daily activity will soon show up where you can start to make meaningful changes.
The small amount of time it will take you to complete this exercise and implement some lasting solutions will be some of the best time you will spend all year.
Don’t procrastinate – get started today!
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