Categories: Advice

Make Your New Year’s Small Biz Resolution Count!

It’s that time of year again. Time to make your New Year’s resolution, or resolutions. Most of us make the usual resolutions, to lose weight, save money or go to church more frequently. Personal growth goals are certainly a great idea. However, what about resolutions you can make for your business? Taking a step back and evaluating your 2011 performance can help you move successfully forward into 2012. Here are a few tips to get you started.

Start up!
If you have been thinking about starting a business, or starting another business, now is a great time to do so! Business typically picks up a great deal during the first of the year. Use this momentum to help you realize your dream of owning a small business. Take time during your holiday vacation to create a business plan. Talk to friends and other entrepreneurs who have gone through the process to help you get started. When you’re ready, give MyCorporation a call. We can help you incorporate your business making your entrepreneurial dream a reality!

Go back to your business plan
When you first created your business, no doubt you had a business plan outlining company policies and goals you hoped to achieve. Take a minute and go back over your plan in the New Year. Have you accomplished the things you set out to accomplish? Is your business operating on a day-to-day basis in the way in which you intended it to? Your business plan is really the skeleton, the bones, of your business. If you have broken, or missing parts, you can’t hope you function successfully. Give your business a thorough once over to ensure things are functioning properly.

Focus
After reviewing your business plan, take a moment to focus. Think back over the past year. Ask yourself what worked and what didn’t? Are there certain policies that have become outdated? Are all of your employees performing to company standards? Is your business fulfilling its purpose? Are you doing everything you can in your role, whether it is owner or employee, to contribute to the success of the business? Focus on the other pieces of the business, outside of the business plan, and assess what is working and what isn’t. Staying in tune with the day-to-day happenings of the company will help you stay on track.

Look Ahead
Now that you have reviewed the inner workings of your business, take time to create new goals. How do you want your firm to grow this year? What new accounting or billing strategies are on the market that can help your business? What are your new hiring needs? Make a list of goals you hope to achieve each quarter, and by this time next year. Think of the business as a train, always moving forward.

This year, consider making a new years resolution for your small business. Whether it be starting your first business, or maintaining a current one, give your start up some love! Happy New Year from all of us here at MyCorporation!

Deborah Sweeney

Deborah Sweeney is an advocate for protecting personal and business assets for business owners and entrepreneurs. With extensive experience in the field of corporate and intellectual property law, Deborah provides insightful commentary on the benefits of incorporation and trademark registration. Education: Deborah received her Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration degrees from Pepperdine University, and has served as an adjunct professor at the University of West Los Angeles and San Fernando School of Law in corporate and intellectual property law. Experience: After becoming a partner at LA-based law firm, Michel & Robinson, she became an in-house attorney for MyCorporation, formerly a division in Intuit. She took the company private in 2009 and after 10 years of entrepreneurship sold the company to Deluxe Corporation. Deborah is also well-recognized for her written work online as a contributing writer with some of the top business and entrepreneurial blogging sites including Forbes, Business Insider, SCORE, and Fox Business, among others. Fun facts/Other pursuits: Originally from Southern California, Deborah enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons, Benjamin and Christopher, and practicing Pilates. Deborah believes in the importance of family and credits the entrepreneurial business model for giving her the flexibility to enjoy both a career and motherhood. Deborah, and MyCorporation, have previously been honored by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal’s List of the Valley’s Largest Women-Owned Businesses in 2012. MyCorporation received the Stevie Award for Best Women-Owned Business in 2011.