It’s 2021! Another year, another beginning for everyone especially for entrepreneurs. And January has always been seen as an opportunity to consider our resolutions and goals for the year.
Goal setting is a crucial exercise for everyone. Because without goals and a strategy. One would simply drift along and since 2020 was a time where we simply leaped from one crisis to another, the uncertainty has demotivated us.
But below, we have gathered 15 New Year’s resolution for entrepreneurs to commit to in order to improve their mindset and greatly bring their businesses to the next level.
1. Improve your leadership
Although this sounds kind of vague for a new year’s resolution for entrepreneurs, we need to remember that leadership is an ongoing learning process.
And 2021 will become a testing ground especially more so for startup companies. It will demand a lot from you as the leader since there are plenty of new business challenges, conflicting personalities, and evolving work habits and routine.
To handle this, communication is key for your success. And is also the main issue for the following months.
So how can you improve your communication skills? The answer lies on how one can better balance one’s schedule requests and team agenda. And if you are also good enough at delegating and reporting.
Take this part to learn more about your technique and see if it’s working or not. But don’t forget, you need to commit to the changes that you have decided on and in order to become an inspiring leader.
2. Start setting reasonable deadlines
One of the most common mistakes that entrepreneurs make is giving their colleagues and customers some unrealistic completion dates that just don’t give enough time for other projects to finish.
A lot of people are willing to wait just a tad bit longer for something to be finished. So instead of giving your partners an earlier deadline, just consistently deliver your outputs to your clients in the promised time.
READ ALSO: 4 Valuable Lessons From 2020 That Will Define Digital Marketing Moving Forward
3. Practice Creative Problem-Solving
To run a successful business, you need to be as efficient as possible. And the best way to increase that efficiency is to be as lean as you can when solving your problems.
Don’t focus too much on having a larger budget but rather be creative and take different approaches in building that diverse team and don’t be shy to take advantage of networks and partnerships.
But don’t focus on the word “creative” but rather how you can position yourself to listen and learn from different perspectives from your team, your customers and reviewing old ideas to start new projects.
4. Learn Something New
Another New Year’s resolution for entrepreneurs is that you need to learn to become ambitious. It’s not about being creative and thinking outside the box but more on committing yourself to learn something that you can add to your skills to expand your perspectives.
But how can you juggle managing a business and learning new things? This depends on how you choose to learn. However, in order to manage your time and balance them.
You need to clarify your priorities. This can start with choosing the right classes. Or knowing when you are most productive.
One could also make a daily plan of attack which can help you focus on the most important tasks first and also review the things ahead.
Lastly, you might want to check up on yourself and the trade-offs you are making. See if your business is taking up all of your time and maybe consider taking a leave of absence that may help you recuperate as well as cut out the unnecessary activities.
5. Take Time To Yourself And Improve Your Health
There is no better investment than keeping yourself fit and healthy. And this doesn’t only mean you take care of your body but also your mental health.
Entrepreneurship is plagued with a lot of challenges. And often, you will be facing your self-confidence. The mind is your driving force and without a healthy train of thought, you will find it difficult to be persistent and find motivation to continue your progress.
6. Revive A Project You Have Abandoned
Remember those outlines that you have made last year? It may be time to take a look at those ideas especially if you have nothing else that shows promise for you. Chances are, one of them will be a viable project you can repurpose.
7. Update Your Company Website
It’s a new year, have you already updated your website? This is one of the things that a lot of companies tend to forget. And this can be problematic because when your company website looks exactly the same as it did the first time you published, it will need a lot of updates.
The updates aren’t for simply about how your website looks but also how it functions and its speed in loading content for your visitors. If 2020 has taught us anything, it is that people are turning their eyes into e-commerce and websites are now your brand’s online calling card and profile.
If your website isn’t fully optimized to cater to the needs of your visitors and leads, then you might miss out on a lot of business opportunities.
8. Stop Working Yourself To Death
Business owners are usually workaholics, they tend not to know when to stop working. And that is understandable since there is always something that pulls their attention. But the key to preventing the exhaustion and stress is to set boundaries for oneself.
This means that while there are fires to put out in the business. It is crucial to set a daily cutoff time that won’t take work calls unless it is an emergency.
9. Commit At Least One Hour Per Day For Family
Other than a business owners, you are also a family member. Whether a parent, a son, or daughter, you might have someone you care about. And there is no better time to provide some time for them.
Even if you are single, you should still set aside some time of the day or week to pursue your other hobbies for relaxation.
10. Revisit Your Customer Data
The new year is a great time to take a look at who your customers are and how they have changed over the previous year. You can start by periodically examining your customer’s data which is needed to identify the trends of your market as well as adjust the business model accordingly.
Other helpful things to look at is how your customers are purchasing, especially with their spending amounts, and check your website analytics such as click-through rates and conversion rates.
11. Clean Out The Office
Another new year’s resolution for entrepreneurs is to clean up the office. You’ll find out that cleaning up or redecorating your work space has a very good impact for your mental and emotional state. Not to mention, you can focus more on a very clean area to work on.
12. Touch Base With Old Business Contacts
We all know that no relationship can continue without it being maintained. The resolutions for this year don’t have to be grand, but it will help you out. So try to restore those contacts with your colleagues, partners and mentors whom you haven’t heard from in a while. You never know, you might need their help or vice versa which in turn can become one of your greatest assets.
13. Start Taking Better Of Existing Customers
But don’t forget to also take this time to organize and concentrate on your efforts on the customers that you already have. So instead, focus on reaching new customers that have way more to give for your business.
14. Face Your Fears
Another new year’s resolution for entrepreneurs is to learn how to face your fears. Failing might seem painful that most people don’t seem to risk it.
But it will happen no matter if you try or not. But you can overcome your fear of rejection and claim your own success by preparing for them.
You can do so by naming your fears and acknowledge what’s really going on inside your minds. Be honest of what you are avoiding as knowing what you are afraid of can help lessen how they can surprise you.
Next, you need to welcome rejection. As for each of those problems you acknowledge, write a concrete action that would be the opposite. Since once you learn what you are afraid of. You need to confront them head-on.
Lastly, let the fear guide you but never drive you. If your first reaction is to vomit, go for them immediately. The truth is, fear is an indicator that you are on the right track. And the only way to face the unfamiliar is to change ourselves.
So say yes to all of those problems and welcome the rejection as part of the process and transform it as a tool to guide you to more mastery and success.
15. Start Embracing Technology
There is one more thing entrepreneurs need to do for their business to thrive and that is to start embracing technology.
What entrepreneurs need to learn is that technology is vital in a business’s startup stages and rather than turning away from it. Business leaders and owners should be open-minded on what it can offer you. Technology is good and very much so for businesses since it undeniably creates a lot more opportunities for everyone.
CONCLUSION
We hope we were able to help you out on your entrepreneurial journey. Start implementing them today and see yourself and your business grow! And it’s okay to take it at your own pace, just make sure you are giving it your all and committing to the changes you have in mind.
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