New Year’s Resolutions, Business-Style

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Setting resolutions before diving headfirst into 2011 can set you up for a successful year.

Tony falls hard for New Year’s resolutions, but of the business persuasion, not the bland, perennial favourites.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a sucker for New Year’s resolutions. I don’t mean the old quit smoking/lose weight/get fit kind that everyone goes through. Rather, they’re for my business(es).

Each year in the week between Christmas and New Year I make my plans for the upcoming year, going through the six functional areas of management (strategy, marketing, operations, finance, IT, and HR) and setting some directions and goals.

And invariably I bootstrap my businesses all over again.

Bootstrapping isn’t starting up, despite what many people think. Rightly, I suppose, because many startups use bootstrapping to get going.

Rather, it’s a methodology of growing a business. Bootstrapping is building a business from scratch and without any outside financing. Today, most small businesses begin as bootstrapped operations.  In a knowledge world, many of them stay there because they’re comfortable doing it and aren’t really aiming at growing too much.

I’m one of them. I really don’t want to be Acme Industries, because I have other goals. But that doesn’t mean I let the businesses slide or founder – at least not most of the time. I still treat them like regular businesses. 

Hence, the year-end review, and plans and resolutions for next year. In fact, I think they’re more important than they are for a larger business because bootstrapping usually means your resources are limited. As a result, it can sometimes be tough. 

So this year I have a few resolutions I’ll share with you.

I resolve to convince Vancouver that in the modern Internet-heavy world, extremely targeted content marketing is the only real solution for businesses that serve other businesses, or B2B as it’s called.

I resolve to help many more mature businesses refresh, revitalize, or reinvent themselves. As change swirls all around us, there seems to be a growing need for it.

I resolve to “avoid the noise” and buckle down on the duller aspects of running a business. Like many operators, I am constantly drawn more to the business’s subject matter (or product) than I am to the business itself.  Since I advise people on this, it might be smart to practice what I preach.

I resolve to enjoy more moments in my business. Sometimes we can get so focused on the problems and the trials of business operation, we forget there are joys as well. So, when I make a desired sale, or produce a fantastic result, I’m going to savour it. I’ll celebrate triumphs more and dwell less on the tragedies.

Lastly, I resolve to make 2011 an exciting and interesting year. Happy New Year, everyone.