Ready or not, here it comes! 2019 is almost here, is your business on the line? You still have some time to make resolutions for the new year. There are a few that stick out that you may want to consider first in order to make your 2019 your most successful year yet! Of course, you can look at areas of your business that may be struggling. Perhaps sales are dropping the ball, or marketing isn’t bringing in leads, or maybe dispatch isn’t triaging tickets correctly. Obviously, these things need to be addressed first. However, if your business is in a pretty good spot, consider some of these to get a little extra boost.  

Are you networking? Whether it is within the community, like joining the chamber of commerce meetings or local peer groups, it’s highly recommended to be a part of these things. Businesses that support one another are more likely to be successful. Also, it increases favorability and future customers, in fact, you never know what kind of referrals you may gain. Also, things like this allow you to swap ideas and discover opportunities within your community. Another benefit is being ahead of the game when it comes to local economic trends and policies. Try to find time to attend some of the local events surrounding you. On top of that, you can always join a peer group of similar businesses. This could be locally, or even a Facebook group that you engage with. Once again this can help you with ideas as well as assist in growth and knowledge. It is nice to be able to network with similar business, especially as a busy CEO.   

Next is vendor management. Are you effectively managing your vendors? Are you successfully partnering with them? Vendors can be a backbone to any successful business. Especially if they can assist you in strategizing. Realistically, they are the expert in their product and their knowledge can be beneficial to your business. If you aren’t strategizing with them, pick your top 5 vendor relationships and start doing it. By including them on a strategy session they will be more inclined to help, especially when they acknowledge that it can be beneficial for them as well. Then, of course, all of this is for not, if your vendor management is unorganized. By streamlining this, your business will run smoother, to begin with. 

Connect with your current and potential clients. Start by surveying your current clients. This bit of market research can be helpful in the new year and also capture the interest of future prospects. Interests and opinions can change over the year, so keeping in touch with the wants and needs of your current client base is important for growth. With that being said, connect with your clients on LinkedIn. Social media is a powerful tool that will keep you connected and knowledgeable of what’s on your client’s mind. By doing this you can start to see other connections as well. You never know, future clients could be all over LinkedIn.

By taking advantage of these three things, you will see a difference in your business. These items seem like extra work, but they are worth it in the long run. Make 2019 your year! Get out there and mingle with your community, vendors, and clients.