What Matters Most to Your Business?

It’s time to stop and think about what’s really important for ultimate success.

It’s the end of the year and time to reflect on your small business… and life.

How did you do?
Did you have a good year?
Were sales up or down?

When you have a quiet moment, and the “holiday rush” comes to an end, take a moment to think about this year and the year to come.

What is really important to you?

Here are a few things to consider…

• Is your business just about making money?

If you are solely in business to make money, that’s fine. But at the end of each year, no matter how much sales increase, you may feel a little empty inside. After all, money cannot provide love.

Look at Jimmy Stewart’s character in the classic movie, “It’s A Wonderful Life.” He spent most of his life dreaming of leaving his small town, traveling around the world and having a great income. And when this didn’t happen, he was miserable. It took an angel to make him realize that during his life, he had really accomplished a lot by helping hundreds of people, raising a happy family and having many friends who loved him dearly.

And this brings me to my next point…

• What are you focusing on?

When you run a business, it’s easy to get caught up in administrative tasks, sales, employee issues, accounting, marketing, PR… the list goes on and on. But if you don’t stop and think about what you are doing on a regular basis, you’ll end up being overwhelmed and not really accomplish anything.

For example, if you are only concerned about making money, are you giving each of your customers the attention they deserve? If you focus on what really matters to them, you’ll provide better products and services… and actually end up increasing sales in the process.

And this goes for your life too. How is your business affecting the time you spend with family and friends, pursuing recreational activities, enjoying hobbies, and more? Remember… life is about much more than making money.

• Keep it simple.

If things are out of control and you wonder where the year went, it’s time to re-evaluate. Write down your goals and what you think will make you happy (and this includes both personal and professional ambitions for the year). And keep it simple. The last thing you need are goals that are overwhelming!

For example, you may write something like this:

What is my goal in 2016?
Spend more time with my family.

How am I going to accomplish this?

Hire someone to help with social-media tasks and copywriting.
Hire a virtual assistant to help with administrative tasks that I don’t need to be doing.
Create a weekly “To Do” list so I know what I need to do and what tasks I can outsource to others to complete.

You can reach your goals. It’s just a matter of thinking about them, writing them down and figuring out what you need to do to accomplish them. The problem is… most of us don’t take the time to stop and think about our lives, and time just flies by!

What will make you successful?

Everyone has their own idea of success. If you want to make a lot of money like most business owners, that’s fine. Just be sure to spend time outside of the office giving to others, pursuing hobbies and personal interests and having fun!

Think about what really matters to you and what will make you happy. Then, write down simple goals and ways to accomplish them. Then, next year at this time, you’ll reflect on what a wonderful year you had and be excited about making new goals for the year to come!

Thank you for reading this. Have a wonderful holiday and Happy New Year!

I wish you all the best, and if there is anything I can do to help, please write to me here.

Author Melanie Rembrandt helps business owners boost sales, awareness and credibility with targeted, content strategy, SEO copywriting and social media. For valuable articles and assistance, contact her and her team at Rembrandt Communications®, LLC, www.rembrandtwrites.com.