Since personal New Year’s resolutions tend to get all the attention, we thought we’d share a few focused on small business. After all, for most entrepreneurs, the line between personal and business was blurred ages ago! So without further ado, here are a handful of New Year’s resolutions—small business style…. Organize your workspace. Take a look around your workspace. Is it cluttered? Papers everywhere? Post-It notes on every available surface? Excess hardware like old printers? Stacks upon stacks of business cards? Make the resolution to keep your workplace organized and you’ll notice an uptick in productivity. Don’t forget about marketing. Dedicate at least three hours per week to strategy and marketing your business. It’s easy to feel content with the status quo, but growing your business is what it’s all about! Maybe you commit to doing a few blog posts or a company newsletter. Or maybe you make the commitment to have lunch with at least one new prospect per week. Actually commit to keeping up with expenses. We make small business accounting software, so naturally we’ve heard this New Year’s resolution more than a few times. But the thing is, keeping up-to-date with expenses always seems to lose steam—no matter the time of year. That said, it’s important. Nothing ruins a month of awesome progress and momentum like a giant box of disorganized receipts. Make the commitment to keep up with business expenses. (Bonus tip: if you’re reading this post, you’re dangerously close to some simple cloud accounting software that can help you out with this!) Review your customer or client contracts. If you use legal documents with your clients or customers, now is a good time to review them. Maybe your business has grown, or maybe important contact information has changed. The point is, fresh, up-to-date legal documents will help you stay covered. Keep learning. Continuing your education—in any shape or form—is critical to your business’ success. Read a new business book each month. Join a Meetup relevant to your industry. Take a course. Participate in a LinkedIn group. Whatever you do, keep on learning! Call your accountant now. Don’t wait to get in touch with your accountant mere days before taxes are due. You’ll be disorganized and rushed, and your accountant isn’t going to love you for calling last minute. (Actually, they might not even have time to help you out.) Start the tax filing process early and you’ll save everyone a lot of time. Might even save yourself a few bucks too… Give back. Make the commitment to help someone—a customer, an employee, a vendor, whoever—free of charge. Not only is that sort of thing personally rewarding, but as New Year’s resolutions go, you’ll build some good karma. What’s your small business New Year’s resolution? Tweet it at us… and have a happy New Year!
