The beginning of a New Year is a great time to sit down to brainstorm and strategize what you’d like to pursue, achieve and change in the next 12 months and beyond. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself! Remember that nothing is set in stone and that you can always adjust and recalibrate along the way. 

Here are a few New Year’s Resolutions for you to set as a business owner.  

Set Some Goals

It’s important to set business goals for the New Year. Establishing these in January helps you to plan out the year ahead and schedule accordingly. This can be overwhelming and daunting, so we recommend setting two kinds of goals:

Attainable Goals

The ones that you know you are pretty likely to achieve. These can be sales targets, hiring X number of new staff members, or getting your products into X amount of new retail spaces. Setting attainable goals is important and feels so good when you get to check them off. 

BIG Goals

These are the goals that you want to achieve but you might not even know how this will be possible at this point. These could be goals such as having your product available nationally or doing triple your annual sales. Setting these big, audacious goals is important! Even though you might not be able to make them happen in the next 12 months, having them on your radar will continue fueling your mission and encourage you to keep going. 

Be sure to include your team in the goal-setting process! Take some time to get together (even virtually) as a team to set some personal goals for the year. This shows your team that you care about their personal well-being and passions. It’s also important to include them in your company goals. Having your team members contribute not only reinforces their value within the organization but may also bring to light some goals for your company that you haven’t thought of or considered attainable! 

If you need help setting goals, we’re here to help! At Women’s Enterprise Centre we can support you with professional business advice and mentoring to help you set – and achieve – those goals. Learn more >>

Expect the Unexpected

If 2020 taught us anything, it was to expect the unexpected! There are a few things we can do to put this lesson into practice. 

Expect curve balls! Your well-thought-out plans may change and you need to learn to roll with it. There is no use overthinking how things “could have, should have or would have” been if things had worked out differently.

Have an ‘emergency plan’ in place. This might look like a backup plan if things go totally sideways on a project, or if you end up needing to take an extended amount of time away from your business. Circumstances change in life and we need to make adjustments accordingly. 

Accept the Help of Others

Asking for and accepting help is something that female entrepreneurs tend to struggle with. We’re here to remind you that there is no harm in asking for help when it is needed or accepting it when it is generously offered to you. 

Whether this is help within your business or in your personal life in order to allow you to focus more on your business, accept the help. This will allow you to better focus on the areas that need your undivided attention while knowing and trusting that other tasks are still being taken care of. 

If accepting any sort of help is challenging for you, start small. Maybe you only receive help once or twice a month to get started. Any amount of support, no matter how big or small can make a huge difference. 

Taking time to plan ahead in the new year will benefit you and your business! And remember that while your entrepreneurial journey is unique you don’t have to go it alone. WeBC is here to support you every step of the way. If you own a business or are thinking of starting one, connect with us for business loans up to $150K, business advice, skills training, mentoring, resources and a supportive community.