How to Make 2009 Your Best Year Ever
In my experience, now is the perfect time to be thinking about how to improve and grow your business in 2009. It’s time to review your progress during the last 12 months and begin to think strategically about the year ahead.
Did 2008 bring you the success and growth you desired? If not, why?
Many times entrepreneurs spend their every waking moment running the day-to-day operations of their business. Very little time, if any, is designated for thinking and planning.
And yet, 80% of businesses that have a business and marketing plan, and use it, will reach their goals.
Wouldn’t you like to be one of those companies?
In order to ”get there” you first must take the time to figure out where you want your business to be in the next 12 months. Do you have certain revenue goals? Staffing goals? Vacation or number of days you want to be able to take? How much money does your business have to generate in order for your to take out the ”salary’” you desire? How many people do you have to employ, and what skill sets do they need to have in order for you to take time away from the business?
By spending the time now, before the New Year, business owners can ensure that come January 1st, their road ahead is clearly in sight.
Entrepreneurs should also begin strategically thinking about the long-term. These days, that can mean three to five years, but for those business owners who are thinking about retirement, planning now for retirement is essential.
In the world of entrepreneurship ”retirement” is probably the wrong word. In fact, I know of few entrepreneurs that ever retire, but in any case, what do you want to do with your business when you want to go off and do other things?
Whether you’re planning on selling your business, handing it down to Junior, or simply closing its doors, pre-planning is essential for a smooth and effective transition.
By developing and implementing a strategic marketing system and staffing it appropriately, you can cover the bases.
Following are our four favourite reasons to develop a system for your marketing:
1. You get really clear on who you are and why certain prospects should do business with you.
2. You identify areas and markets where the greatest opportunities exist, and develop strategies for capitalizing on them.
3. Your entire team will get a clear shot of the big picture and how it positively impacts them.
4. Your business will show higher profits.
How to Make 2009 Your Best Year Ever - To learn more about this author, visit Liz Walker's Website.
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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