business accomplishments Archives | United Western Insurance Brokers

If you’re not in the habit of conducting a business evaluation at the end of every year, you should be! Sitting down to reflect on your business accomplishments and lessons learned is a great way to determine your path for the new year. It can be a crucial part of setting better goals and overcoming future challenges.

It’s also a way to organize and restructure your business if needed. When you recognize your victories, you can create more of them. When you acknowledge your challenges and failures, you can learn how to improve and change what has held your business from success in those areas.

Celebrate Your Big Wins

Doing an evaluation can be daunting, so the best thing to do is to start from the highest point. Pick 3 to 5 moments where your business really customer, outperformed your projections or otherwise shone like a star.

Don’t just think in terms of your whole business either. Make sure you give credit to specific teams who knocked the ball out of the park and praise them for carrying the company forward.

Assess Your Weaknesses

Once you’ve handed out praise for all the great work of the year, it’s time to get honest about areas where you may still be struggling. Which projects didn’t go as planned? Which teams were unable to hit their benchmarks?

It’s also a great chance to get down on the floor and meet with your staff to discuss their concerns. Were there any factors that hindered their progress through the year? Put this information in writing and brainstorm some solutions to be addressed in the new year.

Your team members can be an excellent agent for positive change if you take the time to listen to their thoughts and open the floor to creative solutions.

Set Fresh Goals

The best goals are those that push you just beyond your comfort zone but are totally achievable if you just go the extra mile. Now that you’ve assessed your strengths and weaknesses from the previous year settle on a goal for the new year that builds upon your successes.

Your new goal may require you to address some of the issues that previously popped up before you can achieve it. While you may choose one goal as a singular focus or theme for the new year, it’s also helpful to set milestones and smaller short-term goals that address things like budgets, staffing and other issues you need to overcome along the way.

An end of year assessment is a great way for businesses to slow down and determine whether they’re on the right path.

Instead of forging ahead into the new year blindly, take the time to meet with your team members and get a strong sense of what is working and not working.

Use this information as a tool to help guide you to make productive changes and improvements throughout your company.

Happy New Year from United Western Insurance Brokers. We’re happy to help you access your insurance needs for the upcoming year.

For many people, setting goals is as much of a part of the holiday season as family gatherings and giving thanks. The same is true of businesses, who have an eye on the future while putting the finishing touches on 2017.

While holiday goal-setting often is associated with resolutions, it can run deeper than a desire to lose weight or start a fitness program – especially when it comes to running a business. For one, resolutions may fade quickly, while business goals should involve a detailed plan that’s actionable and trackable.

The following are suggestions for ways to set next year’s goals now for your business or enterprise.

1. Start by eliminating the “shoulds”

Instead of feeling sorry for things you haven’t done this year, focus on what you want to accomplish in the coming year instead. Goals fueled by guilt are less likely to be successful. They’re also more likely to trigger emotional reactions that prompt you to make decisions you normally wouldn’t.

2. Dream it

A great place to begin goal-setting is to consider everything you dream of accomplishing. It doesn’t even have to be overly-realistic, but it is essential to consider every possibility. Write down where you want to be in the future – one year from now, five years, ten years, etc. – and don’t exclude any idea, big or small.

3. Brainstorm

Once you’ve written down your dreams, it’s time for a brainstorming session to further flesh out your plans while also accessing others that may lurk in your sub-conscious.

4. Opt for guidelines

Setting hard and fast rules when setting action steps for your goals is sometimes counter-productive because business owners and individuals often abandon goals when they break the rules early in the process. Instead, set guidelines or policies that may be adjusted if you modify your goal.

5. Focus on today while planning ahead

Break down your goals into smaller chunks so that they don’t seem too overwhelming. You don’t want to lose sight of the big picture. However, taking each goal a step at a time enables you to build momentum and confidence.

6. Possible goals for your business

Here are some goals you can set for your business in the New Year:

• Improving your social media and digital presence

If your website is outdated or your web presence isn’t mobile-friendly, or if you don’t have a content strategy, now’s the time to get started.

• Managing and improving your cash flow more effectively

This is a great goal if you’re a small business owner who experiences dramatic ebbs and flows in your cash flow, or who hasn’t created enough capital to invest back into the business.

• Become a better communicator

A lack of communication is often the reason for misunderstandings among employees, low employee morale, or time wasted in repeating the same message.

• Learn to delegate more

Shifting some of your workload and letting others pick up the slack is crucial if you have so much on your plate that you can’t focus on growing your business.

The bottom line is that now is the best time to set goals for the coming year. By following a plan that’s actionable and includes all of your dreams – big or small – you’ll have a better chance of helping your business become what you’ve always envisioned.

Tag: business accomplishments

Reflecting on your Business: Gratitude, Accomplishments, Takeaways