01/ 12/ 2006
by Tamara E. Holmes
It's natural to look back on the previous year and focus on all of the things you want to change. But if you want to enhance your small business' success, you must also look at all of the things that went right. By focusing on these areas even more in 2006, you can take your business to even greater heights.
While you likely can rattle off your greatest successes pretty easily, chances are there are smaller victories that you may be overlooking. Did you hire an employee in 2005 who proved to be a gem? Did you find an unexpected stream of income by adjusting some of your practices? Think about the last twelve months and write down everything that you believe went well.
Once you have that list, determine which occurrences were one-time gifts, and which ones you can build upon. For example, a one-time gift might be your business' ability to purchase brand-new equipment at rock-bottom prices due to a liquidation sale. However, a success you can build upon can include anything from gaining a new client to adding a new service that has proven to be popular with your customer base.
Don't discard the one-time gifts. You might not be able to build upon them, but you can use the list to remind you of your business' successes, particularly when times become challenging. It's also important to stay in a positive frame of mind. The list can remind you to celebrate the accomplishments you've made despite the disappointments you're bound to have as well.
The occurrences you can build upon should be your blueprint for future success. Look at the items on the list. Some of them can be duplicated. For example, if one your successes was coming up with a new marketing technique that led to greater sales from current customers, try that marketing technique again this year on a greater level.
Other successes might not be able to duplicated, but they represent areas you should focus on. For example, if one of your successes was hiring a great employee, you don't necessarily want to go out and hire another employee. Instead, you want to take some time to figure out how you can arm that current employee with more tools and power to create even more success for your business.
Once you have your list of things that you can build upon, prioritize. Which of your successes did the most to make your business more profitable? Which ones did the most to increase productivity? Those are likely the actions that will bring the most rewards in the coming year as well, and the ones that will make the biggest difference are the ones that you should plan to spend the most time and attention on in 2006.
One of the greatest lessons in business is that you can't do everything, so when you prepare your list, you might find that your list is too long to focus on everything. That's another reason why prioritizing is so important. By determining which things will likely yield the greatest success, you can put others on the back burner until you have time to focus on them later. You may even need to make some changes later in the year, and this list will provide some possibilities, if you're looking for new ideas to try.
The practice of building upon past successes does not have to stop with you. Share the exercise with your employees and ask them to determine their biggest successes of 2005. Then sit down with them and talk about their lists, asking them which of those successes they would like to build upon in the new year. In doing this, you're working with your employees to establish goals that can benefit everyone involved.
It's often said that life is bittersweet with its share of successes and failures. By focusing on the positive side of business, you can create momentum that will catapult your small business into a successful 2006.
