Set your 2012 business goals

One of the marvelous things about owning a business is the opportunity to set your own goals. The holidays are a great time for this exercise because nearly everyone steps away from their routines during this period, even if it’s only to enjoy a family gathering. And the break in routine is what tends to jog loose new ideas, not structured brainstorming assignments.

So if you run a business, you might consider letting the last weeks of the year become your annual planning period for the next 12 months. To make the most of the process, equip yourself with a notepad, voice recorder or electronic gadget to capture your ideas for a week or two. Then schedule a couple of hours with yourself to sort through the ideas and put them in some kind of order.

Your last step will be to assign the best ideas and goals to the 2012 calendar, with monthly or quarterly benchmarks to keep you on track. Meetings with outside advisers or internal teams are another way to stay accountable.

To get you started, here are some ideas almost any small business could put on a goal list.

Facilities

• If home-based, check that the current physical setup is working for you.

• If virtual, confirm that all needed systems are operating smoothly.

• If you use a physical location outside the home, determine which upgrades might be needed for the coming year.

• In all cases, review your business location to confirm that it's still the best choice.

Technology

• Review hardware, software and cloud systems to be sure they're adequate.

• Determine new things you need to learn, including social media.

• Set goals for upgrades and improvements to stay ahead of the curve.

Troubleshooting

• Review or purchase insurance policies.

• Confirm your most important records and contacts are backed up off site.

• Establish a savings/investment plan for the business (if you don't have one).

Product/service mix

• Review current product/service mix to decide if anything should be dropped.

• Identify lagging products and services, to determine what might give them a jump-start.

• Consider new packages and combinations of existing products and services.

New product/service development

• Consider the products or services you've wanted to add; is this the year?

• Make a plan for developing new items or for fast-tracking those that have stalled.

Key customers

• Review the past year to see who has done the most business with you.

• Determine which products or services they might need in the next year; if possible, have conversations with them to lock in buying decisions.

• Identify rewards and incentives for those customers; don't forget holiday greetings or gifts.

Dropped customers

• Review your customer list to see which ones faded away without being noticed; try to determine what happened.

• Make a plan for winning these customers back.

New customers

• Identify the customer groups you'd like to add to your client base.

• Create a plan for reaching those customers, including incentives for buying from you.

Staffing

• Review staffing levels and decide if you can bring anyone on board.

• Consider current employees, to confirm that the right people are in the right positions.

• Think about skills to strengthen in key employees, including yourself.

Contractors and vendors

• Review the professionals who serve your company; how are they doing?

• Schedule conversations with those who need to improve their rates or service to you.

• Reward or thank all who have helped your company succeed this year.

Cash flow and expenses

• Review payment processing times, costs and systems to create the shortest possible turnaround on payments to your company with the least possible cost to you.

• Review all expense categories to see where costs can be cut without affecting service.

• Clean up processes or systems that affect cash flow, such as invoicing and deposits.

Whew. Are you tired yet? I haven’t even touched marketing, website management or publicity. The fact is, there are more things on a business owner’s to-do list than could ever be covered in a column. Luckily, not all of them have to be done each year; they just need to be thought about so you can reduce the number of surprises later.