We are firm believers here at CLS that planning, structure and strategy all help you achieve all you can dream, so we’re big on goal setting and resolutions. We’ve gone around the office and here are the top tips and advice to keep in mind on which resolutions you should make (and keep for the new year ahead).
- Set Your Business Goals
Thinking back to when you first developed your business, you probably had several business goals in place. For businesses to achieve their best, it’s important to constantly evolve and improve, and the starting place with this is setting new goals each year. Your goals could be as simple as holding more regular meetings to improve productivity and morale, or more big-picture goals like expanding your business in some way. Whichever it is, be sure to set your goals early at the start of the year, write them down and develop ways in which you can work towards them throughout the year in your day to day operations. This will ensure you’re always on top of our goals and they’re being improved upon bit by bit. Some easy ways to do this might be to have a yearly wrap with your team to discuss the highs and lows of the year and together come up with the key things the business needs to improve upon or wants to grow in. From this list you can easily come up with some goals for how you will achieve this and delegate tasks to others to help reach that final successful outcome.
- It’s Time to Update and Refresh
Around this time is the perfect period to start thinking about how you can update and refresh your business for a nice fresh start to the year. Moving into the New Year means moving into another journey for your business, whether you have just started or you’ve been trading for years already. What better way to engage with your customers and make your business shine than by adding some new life to your socials and your business itself. Some great ways to refresh is through your branding, either using a new and fresh colour scheme or new graphics, getting some professional photos taken for your business, or revising the layout of your socials. Our design team at CLS are the best at developing new designs to make your business pop both online and in store. From developing new menus ready for print, to social media squares and banners for your email marketing campaigns. Get in touch with us today to set a plan for how you can update and refresh your business this new year.
- Make The Most Out Of The Holidays and Seasons
A great resolution for you this year is to really make the most out of the holidays and seasons. With day-to-day trading being more or less the same each week, significant changes of times in the year are a great way to offer something fresh, new and exciting to your customers. Holidays or special occasions like Australia Day, Valentines Day, Melbourne Cup, Christmas and New Years are the perfect opportunity for you to encourage customers to celebrate with you in a variety of ways. This may be by planning special events, offering up select promotions and special offers, using themed branding in your socials, developing an exclusive set or seasonal menu and more. By making the most out of the holidays and seasons, you’re able to engage with your customers further and encourage them to see your business as current and engaging.
- Be More Creative
There’s no doubt about it that by the end of the year sometimes we’re just too tired to be creative. The start of the year is no excuse however! Make the most out of a fresh start by setting a New Year’s resolution to be more creative in all aspects of your business. Whilst it can be hard to think of new and fresh ideas all the time, we’re here to help. It can be tricky figuring out how exactly to be creative and what that means, but the easiest way to start setting some goals is to see where your business can improve to make you stand out from the crowd and from yourself too! Coming up with new creative ideas can be as simple as trialling a new event for your venue to engage more customers, such as a trivia night or weekday karaoke, or for a retailer you could develop new ideas such as trialling new products or bundles and offers for your customers. Gaining feedback from your customers will also help you with being more creative, by seeing what they engage with most and building your ideas from this. At CLS we’re packed full of creatives ready to unleash all their ideas onto you, just say the word! Contact us now for more information.
- Engage With Your Customers
2022 was an amazing year for businesses finally kicking back up again, with us all eager now more than ever to get out and experience the world again after the last few years of lockdowns. This 2023, make your resolution to keep the good times rolling by continuing to engage with your customers and develop new ways to involve them in your business each and every day. Your customers are the heart of your business so it’s important to develop new ways to engage with them and show your appreciation. You can engage with potential, current and past customers in a variety of ways such as encouraging them to take photos of their experience at your venue or the products they purchase from you, writing and sharing reviews online, sending out surveys, or personally asking for feedback – overall, just making them really feel like they count to you and your business. Some great, simple ways to show your appreciation for your customers could be to offer special promotions after their purchases, throwing in small gifts/extras into their orders like tester products, developing membership or loyalty programs with perks, or even using your social media to encourage engagement further such through things such as giveaways or competitions.
This list is not all-inclusive, and the key with a New Year’s resolution is to first set one and stick with it. No matter your resolution, make sure that it is clear and achievable. Don’t forget to ask for help if your New Year’s resolution involves areas of your business that you are still learning, are not your strong suit, or you just generally find it hard. The team at Creative Little Soul are here to help, with Founder Chrissy Symeonakis offering strategy sessions to help you bring your business to its absolute best in 2023. If you’d like to find out more or book in, email chrissy@creativelittlesoul.com.au and take the first important steps investing in yourself and your business for the new year ahead.
