1. Stay in front of customers and prospects. A
critical lesson of 2009 is that each and every
customer is important. That means calling,
emailing, visiting, listening. Increase your
marketing efforts — whether online,
word-of-mouth, at trade shows. Make yourself
continually visible to your customers.
2. Exploit your strengths. One of the most
important lessons I learned in 2009 is that
successful people concentrate more on their
strengths than worry about their weaknesses. In
2010, examine what gives you a true competitive
advantage, what makes you special. Build your
business in ways that leverages your strengths
as much as possible.
3. Seize opportunities. The recession of the
last couple of years left your competitors
weakened, your customers looking for change,
great employees willing to work for less.
As the economy improves (hopefully!),
aggressively go after new business before new
competitors emerge. Now is the time to be bold!
4. Go to the cloud. Switch more of your business
applications to be Internet-based — rather than
based on a server or desktop. Yes, there's
usually a monthly charge, but there's continual
upgrades at no extra charge, backup/security (if
you choose a highly reliable provider), and
access anywhere there's an Internet connection.
5. Learn more about social networking. Social
networking is the hot new thing. Much is hype;
some is realistic. Learn enough about these to
see whether it's worth your time and money to
develop a social networking strategy for your
particular business. Create a profile on
LinkedIn, start a Facebook page, check out
Twitter. These may not be appropriate for your
business, but you should know what they're about
before just dismissing them out of hand.
6. Start an e-mail newsletter if you don't
already have one. Send it out more frequently if
you do. Make sure there's always something of
value to the reader — otherwise it's going
straight to their junk email box.
7. Put more money away for retirement.
Overwhelmingly, entrepreneurs depend primarily
on their businesses to fund their retirement.
They intend to sell their company — or keep
working forever. The year 2009 showed that the
value and security of a company can drop
precipitously, and relying entirely on your
business for long-term security may not be
realistic. You need other money — and other
investments — than just the value and cash flow
of your business. Maximize your retirement
contributions every year.
8. Get greener. Every year, I make a personal
promise to lessen my impact on the environment.
What can I do for my office? Turn off all
equipment over night and on weekends. Use both
sides when printing (often the "duplex" setting
in your print set-up). Reduce unnecessary car
trips. Encourage the use of public
transportation. We now compost at the office,
thanks to Anne Marie.
9. Get closer to a banker and reduce debt. Most
businesses (especially growing companies) use
some form of debt to run their businesses.
Without my line-of-credit, I'd have a much
smaller company. But most of us also rely on
credit cards. In 2009, credit card companies
significantly raised interest rates — some as
high as 29%! Take a good, hard look at your
debt. Find better — lower rate — financing
methods and reduce total debt.
10. Backup, backup, backup. Last, but not least,
make sure your data and documents are secure.
The unexpected happens. Find an easy, reliable
way to regularly back up your data.
Finally, remember what truly matters. In 2009, I
lost a very close friend, and others developed
life-threatening illnesses. On the other hand,
my office manager and administrative assistant
each had much-wanted babies. Make 2010 a year of
gratitude for health and happiness. Do your part
to increase the world's supply of joy and
opportunity. And have a happy, healthy,
prosperous and peaceful new year.
Rhonda Abrams is president of The Planning Shop,
publisher of books for entrepreneurs. Her newest
book is Successful Marketing: Secrets &
Strategies. Register for Rhonda's free business
tips at www.PlanningShop.com. For an index of
her columns, click here. Twitter:
twitter.com/RhondaAbrams. Copyright Rhonda
Abrams 2009.
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