I’ve just been to the gym for the first time this year and it was very busy; full of people whose 2016 resolution is to be healthier and fitter. I wonder how many of them will still be going come the Summer? Apparently we waste £37m a year on unused gym memberships! Have you over indulged this Christmas? I certainly have and even if you haven’t you probably know someone whose New Year’s resolution is to get in shape.
Businesses too can take this time of the year as an opportunity to get leaner and healthier.
Think about all of the things your business has “digested” over this past year that didn’t generate healthy sustenance for you, your employees, or your customers—if you cut those things out of your company’s diet and replaced them with healthier options, you could improve your business’s long-term health and success.
For example, if you were carefully watching your company’s key financial performance indicators over this last year, you would know right away which “foods” sustained your company’s income stream over the long-term, and which created a sharp spike before plummeting into a crash and burn.
Here are some tips for improving the health of your company in 2016:
- Compare your current financial health to what you thought you were going to do (your budget and forecast), what you did last month, and what you did last year during the same period. Any health nut will tell you how important it is to have goals, track those goals, and adjust along the way for optimum performance.
- It’s important to have a long-term marketing strategy that includes solid customer research, benchmarks, and goals. Create a budget and plan that maintains the health of your organisation over the long haul. The goal is to develop and track a marketing plan that keeps customers flowing into your business on a regular basis.
- Exercising and eating healthy are not always easy to do. It takes time, perseverance, and commitment to achieve your big goals. It’s the same for your business. So start off the year by outlining a plan for sustainable growth, be sure your entire company is aware of your plan, implement it, track it, adjust it where needed, and most importantly celebrate your wins!
Best of luck to you and your business in 2016.
Written by Kevin Begley for the South Warrington News.
