At a recent retreat with the members of my Smart Women SOAR Elite program, they had a chance to “rate” different aspects of their business on a scale of 1-10 with one being “Nope, never heard of it” and a ten being “Nailed it.” Together, we focused on the areas that are essential to wildly thriving business success. As one member commented, “It’s like keeping a scorecard on your business.” The key to long lasting business growth is to evaluate periodically what’s working, what’s not working and course correct so that you can continue to gain momentum and accomplish those bigger goals.
Here are five areas to assess in your business now so that 2015 can be the year you soar to a new level of success:
- Your Vision and Mission – Is your vision and mission on track for the New Year? You can get off track in your business if you’re vision isn’t laser focused. I refer to this sometimes as “BSOS” or “bright shiny object syndrome.” When new opportunities present themselves, the key is to ask yourself if the new opportunity or new idea relates back to your WHY. Will this opportunity get you closer to your goal? Avoid spinning your wheels on things that don’t get results and opt for a solid plan of action.
- Your Marketing – Are your current marketing strategies working? Your marketing needs to be strategic and should give you clear results you can measure on a regular basis. In the beginning, you do need to “throw spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks” but as your business evolves and expands, you’ll want to hone in on what really works.
- Your Client & Customer Care – Do you have a system for taking great care of your clients? Whether it’s scheduling a new client or on-going client communication, you want to make sure it’s a seamless operation. Client and customer satisfaction are key components to the long-term success of your business.
- Your Cash Flow – Need I say more? Cash flow is the heartbeat of every business. When you love what you do, you can sometimes overlook the “numbers.” There is an old saying, “Follow your passion and the money will come.” I agree with a slightly different spin: “Do what you love and follow the money trail – get passionate about profit.” A business succeeds long-term when it creates a healthy profit. Now is the perfect time to assess which services are attracting the most clients and which products are customer favorites. Start thinking about how you can “highlight” those services and products more in the New Year.
- Your Lifestyle – All work and no play makes you an unhappy woman entrepreneur! Take a good look at where you’re spending the bulk of your time. Consider automating, delegating or even deleting some of the items on your “to-do” list. As your business grows and expands, it will be essential for you to take on the CEO role of your business and bring on support to help you with the day-to-day operations. Make a list of what you can delegate or outsource to an assistant so you can focus on the big picture.
If you're serious about getting bigger and better results in 2015, you may want to grab my new FREE 7 Question Entrepreneurial Assessment to compliment the information I’ve shared here in my article today. 2015 is going to be a banner year for women entrepreneurs who get focused and intentional about their business results. I can’t wait to see what you accomplish.
Anything is possible. Everything is waiting for you.
© 2014 Joy Chudacoff
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