Starting the Year Off Right: The Small Business Owner Guide

Preparing your business for another year

1. Evaluate business performance in the previous year

The start of a new year offers an opportunity to small business owners to take a good look at their company. Due to all the unique situations and scenarios associated with day-to-day business management, there’s really no perfect guide to running a business.

Here’s where the past can help shape the future, there’s nothing like learning from your experiences and using them to help you adapt! This is why, at the start of this year, you should consider sitting down for at least an hour and really thinking about your performance in the previous year.

Think about the obvious connections in business, sales, revenues and costs. But also dig deeper into customer relations, employee relations, life-work balance, etc. This will help you tremendously when it comes to forming the specific goals and plans for this year.

2. Set up SMART goals

We’ve talked about the importance of evaluating past years performance in order to accurately plan for the future. Without goals, there would be difficulty in analyzing progress in your business. Planning for the year should take the form of that are SMART.

Specific

Your goal should be clear, and as specific as you can make it. It’s been found that specific goals have a greater probability of being achieved, so keep that in mind!

Measurable

In order to be able to measure progress towards goal completion, you should strive to make your goal measurable. Doing so will allow you to verify whether or not you are on track to reach your goal throughout the year!

Attainable/Achievable

Making sure your goal is attainable and achievable is essential to prevent being overwhelmed throughout the year. When brainstorming and writing down your goals, ensure that your business realistically has the capacity to achieve the goals. Don’t set a goal that’s going to make you feel like you’re getting nowhere when really its just unrealistic for the timeline.

Relevant

Of course, you should set goals that are relevant to your business and its success. More specifically, set goals that are in line with your business vision!

Time-bound

It’s been said that a goal without a deadline is nothing but a dream. Setting timelines for each and every one of your goals is so important to maintain accountability and focus in achieving the goal. It’s okay to set short- AND long-term goals for your business, in can be extremely beneficial. Think about setting overarching goals for the entire year, but also consider smaller deadlines, maybe on a monthly or even weekly basis, in order to work towards your long-term year goal.

4. Tracking daily tasks

Time management is something many people struggle with, but it’s also something that is absolutely vital for maintaining a good work-life balance while growing your business. Consider really dedicating some time to researching some time management skills that work for you! Finding some will serve as an asset to

5. Delegate tasks – focus on managing your business

One of the lessons we have learned throughout our own small business experience is the importance of delegating tasks. Not everything needs or should be done by a business owner/manager. Delegating tasks allows for the focus of a small business owner or manager to be on the overarching responsibilities of a business.

Although at first you may think that doing a job yourself may be saving yourself some extra costs, your time is valuable! So really, you’re spending just as much or more than you would if you contracted someone else to do the work!

6. Reach out to your clients to welcome them into the new year

And last, but not least, reach out to your clients and let them know you’re thinking of them as the new year begins! It’s always nice to show appreciation for their support!

Are Magnetic Calendars Successful?

The simple answer, yes. Without a question, promoting your company with a useful

personalized calendar magnet is a great way to place your advertisement where your consumer will be able to see it on a regular basis. Its no surprise that personalized calendar magnets are one of our most popular items. Not only are they extremely successful, but they are also affordable in bulk quantities!

Calendar magnets can deliver your marketing message in a way that you're proud to put your name behind, and proud to hand out to clients and prospects.

So the big question is: "Should I use magnetic calendars to promote my business?"

The answer is yes, for a couple reasons:

It's marketing that sticks around. Unlike pape, it is not easily lost, torn, or thrown away.

It's practical, easy, and affordable. Clients will love the handy calendar, and you'll love the year-long impressions!

Suggestions on how to get the most from your magnets calendars:

Make magnetic calendars the anchor of your annual marketing plan.

You should be in contact with your clients and prospects. Magnetic calendars are the top-selling personal promotional magnet among for business. Start your annual marketing plan by mailing magnetic calendars to everyone on your list.

Always choose personalized for the most polished business image.

You can't accomplish your marketing goals if you present a poor business image. Always print your personalized information on the magnet in a high quality way.

Share with local businesses.

Try to get them to a high traffic place. Local business will sometimes agree to keep your marketing materials in their location, this could help promote your business in a low-cost way.

Civic Groups

Service and volunteer organizations such as Rotary, Soroptimist, Chamber of Commerce and many others are unique settings to share your custom calendar magnets.

Community events

Find local community events to maximize visibility of your business!! Magnetic calendars are a great hand-out to bring to markets, festivals and events. They're portable and handy!

All About Marketing: Business Cards

Picking the right business card can be tricky, especially if you’re barely starting off. There are so many options out there: different business card sizes, different business card materials, different business card stock thickness, colors, additional uses, and so much more.

So today, we’ve decided to make all that just a little less complicated! Here are 8 things to keep in mind when deciding on your professional business cards:

- Choose the impression you want to give

- Choose the correct size and shape for you

- Maintain simplicity

- Maintain consistency across your business

- Place important information in the best location

- Use something special to make it memorable

- Make your business card useful

- To facilitate things further, talks to a professional!

How to: A good business card

1. Choose the impression you want to give

There is no doubt, first impressions are very important. You should keep in mind that the first impression that a potential customer has of your business is most likely your business card. It tells your company story at a glance. Think about the way you work, are you no-nonsense and to the point? Are you carefree, playful and creative? Try to get your business card to be a glimpse into what it would be like to work with you.

2. Choose the correct size and shape for you

Let’s cover the basics: size and shape. The most commonly used business card is a 3.5” x 2”, which is the typical rectangular business card. You can change it up by choosing your business card to be vertical instead of horizontal in order to stand out. But you have many other options. Round business cards are a thing, and they can be quite memorable! Keep in mind that they may be less convenient to carry around. But if you’re willing to trade away some comfort for memorability, think about switching up the sizes and shapes to give yourself some uniqueness!

3. Maintain simplicity

Keep in mind that a business card is supposed to contain the most important information so that the client knows who you are, how to reach you, and how you can help them! The business card should remain quite simple since there isn’t really much space on business cards. White space on the business card (areas where there isn’t anything going on) can be very beneficial to not overwhelm the client and keep them focused on the critical information.

4. Maintain consistency across your business

Try your best to make it so that your business card design matches with all other marketing materials and promotional locations such as your website and social media. You want to make it easy for customers to recognize your business. The best way to do this is maintain consistency across your business.

5. Place important information in the best location

The front is the best place for the most important information. We talked about first impressions starting with a business card. Well if we dig deeper, the first impression of a business card is the front of it! This is where you should add what the client needs to know and the back should be supplemental or decorative. A good tip to figure out how you should organize your business card is to consider your own behavior when someone hands you their business card!

6. Use something special to make it memorable

Changing the shape of your business card is sure to make it memorable. But if you prefer a more traditional shape and size, you can always embellish! You can add a sparkling foil finish, use eco-friendly kraft materials, or add raised foil. These are just a couple of options!

7. Make your business card useful

If you make your business card something that is useful, potential customers are more likely to hold on to it! For example, if you run a bakery maybe you can put a simple recipe on the back of your business cards. Or if you run an auto service business, you can add how often one should change their oil and why. Another good option is to make your business card a magnet, that way if you have a business that offers recurring services (plumbing, pet groomer, hairdresser, etc.), you’ll make it easy for your customer to place it where they’ll be most likely to see it and can refer back to it: their fridge.

8. To facilitate things further, talks to a professional!

Talking to a graphic designer is a great way to get your business cards done so they look professional, without hours of research on your part. Because it’s what they do, a simple conversation may be all that is needed for them to create the perfect business card design. Furthermore, they know what resolution is needed to print a business card. Having a pixelated logo with hard to read text is the last thing you’d want after spending so much time working hard to get your business cards to your liking.