The new year brings a fresh start and marks an opportunity for personal and professional growth. While many make overly ambitious, hard to achieve goals only to give them up by the end of January, we are reflecting on how this new year can be used to maximize business growth for our Legacy community members. In this blog post we will outline some important steps to maximizing business potential and achieving work-life balance.
Growing Your Business
Invest in Promotion
It’s understandably common for marketing and promotion to fall to the bottom of the to-do list behind more urgent needs. This, however, is often a sure way to stunt your business growth. Having an online presence through a website and social media is an important aspect of business growth in our modern world. If keeping up with this is too taxing for you or your current personnel, hiring a designated marketing specialist is a worthy investment for the new year.
Set Realistic, Attainable, & Measurable Goals
New Year's resolutions often get a bad reputation because many people set lofty goals that are simply too difficult to achieve. When setting your goals it is better to set smaller, attainable goals rather than large ones. Take some time to really think about what it is you hope to achieve, how much you can realistically get done in a year, and set a timeline with measurable outcomes. Rather than setting the goal of gaining 300 new customers, losing 50 pounds, and hiking Mount Everest by the end of the year, try to break this down. For example, you could start by aiming to gain 2 new customers per week, swapping your late night junk food snacks for a healthier alternative, and going for a 2 mile hike each week for the first 6 weeks of the year. If you’re able to achieve that then you can increase your weekly goals, or if you’re not meeting those goals then you can reassess and set more realistic ones. By breaking down our resolutions and regularly reassessing, we are setting ourselves up for success.
Delegate & Outsource
Every business owner wears many different hats and is often doing the work of several people. While this is a natural part of running a business, it’s important to know when you are maximizing your potential and when you are at risk of doing too much. Let us be the first to tell you that it is A-Okay to delegate and outsource! There are certain hats that no one can wear except for you, but don’t be afraid to pass off the duties that can be done by someone else. Legacy Office Centers, Inc. has this built into our community by offering administrative assistants on both our floors that can assist with mail delivery, phone answering, secretarial services, and so much more. We know that sometimes you just need a little bit of extra help. By doing so you are reducing your own workload and you’re able to invest that extra time into doing what you’re best at.
Share Your Success
There’s a saying that goes “If we don’t celebrate our success, it won’t celebrate us.” While it is good to remain humble, it’s important to share our successes! If you and your team have put in the time and energy to achieve an important goal then you deserve to share that success, whether it’s with your friends, family, work team, or business partners. It’s easy to have expectations and take success for granted, but by taking the time to celebrate what you have accomplished you can give yourself and those around you a powerful boost of morale.
Expand Your Business Network
The infamous critical pillar of growing your business: networking! We have a whole separate blog post about the importance of building your business network as well as how to go about expanding your network, which we encourage you to check out here. Again, here at Legacy Office Centers we know how important this is which is why we host and promote several on-site weekly networking events that are open to all members of our community.
Check in Regularly
When it comes to achieving your goals, it’s important not to feel discouraged when we fall short. If we view this as failure, we are harming ourselves. If we look at this as an opportunity to learn and reassess our goals, then we cannot possibly fail! Give yourself and your team grace. Check in as frequently as you regularly are able to and don’t be afraid to adjust your goals. Achieving small goals will take you farther than trying for big goals and giving up if you don’t achieve them.
Work-Life Balance
Schedule Time for Yourself
When we say schedule time for yourself, we mean put it in your calendar! Treat it as though it were a meeting with an important client. This is a time where you do whatever you need to in order to rest, relax, and reset. The long holiday season often makes people feel as though they need to hit the ground running in the new year. While it is good to be ambitious and to push yourself, it is arguably more important to set aside time for you. By doing so you will be maximizing your own ability to go above and beyond in the year ahead.
Pick Up a New Hobby
In the interest of taking time for yourself and finding a good work-life balance, the new year is the perfect time to pick up a new hobby! Whether it’s something that gets you moving, clears your mind, or perhaps a skill you’ve always wanted to develop but haven’t ever gotten around to, taking the time to develop a new hobby can be extremely fulfilling. Bonus points if it’s a hobby that could potentially be useful to growing your business (but definitely not necessary).
Set Boundaries & Make a Plan to Avoid Burnout
Hopefully the holiday season was full of rest and relaxation, and many find themselves ready to hit the ground running in the new year! But think about the past year. Have you ever found yourself feeling hopelessly tired and stressed out by the daily duties of running your business? Well, you may have experienced burnout. This is an all too common occurrence for many hard-working individuals and it can be a very difficult thing to work through. The best way to tackle feeling burnt out is to stop it before it even happens. By setting healthy boundaries and preparing a plan for what to do when it all feels like just a little but too much you can keep yourself going all year round. Work-life boundaries will vary from person to person. For you it might mean turning your work phone off after hours, not meeting with clients on weekends, or setting realistic expectations for your team as to when you are reachable. Evaluate your weekly schedule, set some firm boundaries, and make sure to enforce them! Of course everyone has different work schedules and work requirements, but your first priority should be to take care of yourself so that you can take care of your business.
Be Forgiving of the Bad Days
Everyone has bad days. That goes for you, your clients, and your business partners. Although it can be difficult, this year try to be just a little bit more gracious and forgiving. Know that it is not the bad day that defines us, but how we chose to use it as an opportunity for growth and learning. If you have several bad days then maybe you need to take a step back, reevaluate what is and isn’t working, and come up with a game plan to make your next day just a little bit better.
Give Back to the Community
One thing that Legacy Office Centers, Inc. holds near and dear to our heart is giving back to the greater San Antonio community. While this can count for brownie points that may result in new customers, we find that the joy of giving back is sufficient in and of itself. By sharing the fruit of your success with the community around you, you will build a community that supports you and your business. We encourage you to get your whole team involved whether it’s volunteering your time, hosting a toy or food drive, donating to a local cause, or hosting a fundraiser. If you regularly engage with your local community you will also build a work environment that fosters love for the community.