Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. As 2020 draws to a close, it’s important to think about business goals for 2021. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Make Business Resolutions For Success In 2021 That Stick.
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As 2020 is drawing to a close, whatever you were able to make of it, now is the time to think of some resolutions to go into 2021 with and make your business a success. Resolutions are known to be hard to keep, and we will all have met someone who tried and failed to do something new as the calendar switched from December to January.
However, if you’re serious about growing your business, now is the time to create a plan for next year. Call them resolutions if that is something that makes sense for you, or call these ideas the next steps to your business growing and thriving if that sounds better. Whatever you call them, it’s crucial to stick to them. Here’s how to do it.
Make Smaller Resolutions
One of the reasons that resolutions, or plans, fail is that they’re just too big. Although the idea behind them might be excellent, if you start too big you’re going to have difficulty in getting anywhere. You’ll simply overwhelm yourself and set yourself up for failure.
The best way to handle this issue is to look at the overall plan, the plan you would once have thought of as one single resolution, and split it up into smaller parts. Each one of these parts can be a resolution of its own, and you can work through them one by one, getting one right before moving onto the next.
All added up, these resolutions will help you reach your ultimate goal, but you won’t get lost along the way and you won’t start to feel burned out because you’re trying to do too much.
Get More Specific
By making your resolutions smaller, you can also make them more detailed, which will help you to complete them. Vague resolutions and ideas might seem exciting at first, but once you try to follow them through and realize you don’t know where to start or what your end goal is going to be, that excitement can soon fade away.
The more specific you can be, the more likely it is you will achieve your goals and stick to your resolutions to ensure your business is more profitable next year than it is now. For example, you might know that you want an app for your business. Rather than simply having a resolution that you’ll get an app, work out how this is going to happen – will you find an expert to help with app development? What will the app do? When do you want the task completed? Do this for everything you’re planning, and although it might take time, it will be worth it when you realize how much less confusing your plans actually can be.
Write Your Resolutions Down
It might seem a little ‘old fashioned’ to suggest that you should write your resolutions down as you are creating them, but despite the ‘old school’ nature of the process, it’s one that will help you achieve what you want to achieve, so it’s worth doing.
When you write down your goals using a pen and a piece of paper (as opposed to typing them out and saving them on your hard drive where you can’t see them) helps people stay more accountable to their plans, and gives them a higher chance of getting them done. This is a well-known psychological phenomenon, and it is simple to carry out so there is no reason why you shouldn’t do it to help yourself achieve your goals.
The paper with your list of accomplishments to be achieved over the coming 12 months (or whatever timescale you have given yourself) should be left somewhere you can see it every day. The front of the fridge is a good option, or you could stick it next to the bathroom mirror. Perhaps they are even on your ceiling above your bed. Read them every day and you will do more about crossing them off that list.
Make Your Plans Public
Many business owners don’t want to make their plans, goals, resolutions, or whatever you want to call them public. They would rather keep things to themselves because of the fear of failure. Telling everyone you’re planning to do something and then finding that you couldn’t, wouldn’t, or simply didn’t do it at all is embarrassing, and most people won’t want to run that risk. It’s not just business owners either; this is something that can be said of all goals, no matter what they relate to.
Although it can be scary to let people know about your plans, there are several reasons why it’s a good idea. The most important is that you will be held accountable. Because you won’t want to embarrass yourself or let anyone down, and because people will be interested in how you are getting on with your ideas, you will be more likely to do something about your plans. They won’t just stay in your head, as there will need to be some tangible evidence for the results.
Secondly, you’ll be able to get help. If people know what you are trying to achieve, they may be able to offer advice, or perhaps even physical help. You might be able to achieve your goal much more easily because of this.
Have The Next Step Ready
We mentioned right at the start that breaking your major goal down into smaller parts was the best way to get started. It’s crucial, then, that you always know what to do next once you have achieved any particular stage. Finishing one part of your plan and ticking an entire goal off your to-do list (which you should be reading every day) is great, but if you don’t then know what to do next, you may not be able to reach your overall goal at all.
Always have the next thing ready to be started as you’re finishing your current task. You won’t then find yourself at a loss and lose momentum – if this happens it can be very hard to get it back again.
