The new year is upon us! With the busy shopping season in the past, the start of the new year is a great time for businesses to reflect on their success in 2018, and use that reflection as the basis for this year’s preparations.
Consider the following four tips for preparing your business for 2019, and think about how they could be implemented at your store.
Give Your Business a Year-End Assessment
Did your business meet its goals in 2018, or did it fall short? The beginning of the year is a great time to do a little self-reflection, and take stock of how your business lined up against its targets. This could require a little paperwork, be it running final revenue numbers or doing a physical inventory count. Regardless of what an assessment looks like for your business, doing so is one of the best ways to get you started on preparing for the new year.
Create SMART 2019 Goals
Once your assessment is done, it’s time to make 2019 goals. One method of goal creation that continues to grow in popularity is the idea of SMART goals – SMART standing for: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. SMART goals are particularly helpful as they allow you to thoroughly think through the goals, and make a plan for how to action them. By taking what you learn from your 2018 assessment and incorporating them into your 2019 goals, you should feel confident in knowing you’ve made strong goals.
Plan For Guaranteed Seasonal Events
Every year there are a number of seasonal events that are guaranteed to happen, and that encourage Canadians to get out of the house and go shopping. Be it Valentines Day, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, or even back to school, these events typically generate a lot of revenue for customer facing businesses. If these seasonal events make an impact to your bottom line, dedicate some time early in the year to make a plan for how you’ll approach these days as they happen.
Don’t Hesitate To Get Payment Ready
As we saw throughout 2018, the world of payment technology is evolving at a rapid rate, as is consumer interest in adopting these technologies. If your business isn’t fully capable of accepting all of the latest payment technologies, the start of the year is a great time to speak to your payment processor about updating your hardware or software.
Source : Moneris
