Six ways to make your business better in 2017

Consider them New Year’s Resolutions for your company. You want it to grow, you want it to be more successful, and you want your hard work to pay off with higher profits. Here’s a short list of things you can start doing today.

1. 

   Your company logo on an adult league ball team shows you care about fun, teamwork and community spirit

   Be more visible in your community
   In winter, that might mean getting involved with the Winter Carnival, or as a volunteer shoveling snow at seniors’ homes, or putting your name forward to join the board of your Business Improvement Association. Come the spring, maybe sponsor a local ball team; next winter, make it a youth hockey team. Being a visible member of your community will not only do good things for others, but it will be appreciated by those around you. Today they are your neighbors; tomorrow they could be your customers.

2. Set your goals and get help to reach them
   You can’t be all things to all people, so prioritizing and recognizing your strengths and weaknesses is critical if you are to have success. Do you need to focus on a particular type of work that is more profitable than others? Do you need to formalize and systematize your jobs so your employees and sub-trade hires know what’s expected? Need help with that? Find a business coach or business coaching group to help. As one of our RenoFocus attendees told us after deciding to use a local coaching network, “I stopped dreaming about success and started working hard towards being successful.”

3. Improve your corporate marketing by increasing impact
   Is it time to review your company image? Maybe your logo was designed 10 year ago by a buddy in high school? Perhaps it’s time to get a new, attractive image, and projecting it consistently on your vehicles, your site signage, and on your company website. (You do have a web site, don’t you?). Start an informative blog that shows how knowledgeable and skilled your team is. Develop a process to promptly follow up on, and qualify, sales leads that come in over the phone or through emails.

4. 

   Can’t get done what you do best because of paperwork? Delegate responsibilities to your employees!

   Motivate your staff by delegating responsibilities
   Sit down with your employees to map out a plan for them to take on more responsibilities. Chances are they’re keen to do more and have some great ideas to make the business, and their role in it, grow. The side benefit is that delegating will give you more time to do what you’re good at, be that selling a prospect on the next job or organizing job and material delivery schedules.

5. Make local connections for that ‘Next Great Hire’
   Where will you find that next hire, the one who will be able to take some load off your shoulders? Develop a relationship with your local high school’s or
   

   High school shop classes with construction programs are where you can connect with the next generation of motivated skilled trades

   community college’s shop class. Get involved in their construction and carpentry programs, and be at ground level to identify the talented kids who want to work in the trades in your area. Maybe contact one of the many organisations that can connect you with Canadian Forces veterans looking for careers in construction. Their discipline and training could be real assets to your business this year.

6. Look after yourself and your family
   At the end of the day, you do this job to provide for those you care about. Be sure you develop a workload that does not require 18 hours a day, but instead allows you to look after your health, both physically and emotionally. Know and recognize your limits. Take time with your family. They’re the ones who care most about you, and the ones you depend on at the end of a busy day.

follow John on Twitter @john_bleasby