New Year’s Resolutions for Your Small Business
It’s that time again when people think about what they want to quit doing, start doing, or do better in the next 12 months. As a small business owner, developing such resolutions for your company can help 2017 be your best year ever. Here’s a look at a few to consider:
Get your staff involved in growing your business
Share your vision for the company’s future with team members. They’ll get excited about the part they can play in helping your small business to thrive. Point out ways everyone can contribute, such as networking more and sharing company activities on social media. Send your most outgoing brand ambassadors to industry conferences, job fairs, trade shows, and the like to talk about your awesome small business and why they like working there. And if your employee referral system is weak or nonexistent, resolve to create a strong one. This recruiting method has a proven record of generating a high-quality applicant pool.
Solidify onboarding procedures
Vow to cut down on costly turnover by developing a thorough, consistent onboarding process for new hires. Positive experiences early on at a job can impact the decision to stay, so create a formal plan to assist new hires in feeling welcome among your close-knit staff. Minimizing paperwork, creating a checklist of materials to have ready on someone’s first day, and assigning an office “buddy” can go a long way toward helping a new employee become engaged and productive.
Check yourself out online
If you don’t know what potential customers and employees are learning online about your small business, it’s time to find out. Do a Google search and see what comes up. Read reviews of both your products or services and of how past and present employees rate your workplace. Recreate a job seeker’s experience by getting out your smart phone or tablet and actually looking at what appears when you try to apply for a position with your small business. If you become frustrated or confused, so will others. And if you haven’t updated your website in some time, resolve to jazz it up. Prospective talent loves to see examples of company culture, so consider adding a blog, videos of office events, or profiles of team members.
Make the difficult moves
Finally, if you spent 2016 shying away from some of the uncomfortable tasks that come with being a small business leader, promise to take charge in the new year. Stop agonizing and just terminate that morale-zapping employee who hasn’t heeded your warnings. Hand out those employee satisfaction surveys, even if you fear they may come back with things you don’t want to hear. Deliver negative feedback when necessary instead of hoping problems will go away on their own. When you commit to facing the music, your small business stands a much better chance of reaching the top of the charts.