New Year Resolutions

We may as well face it, 2011 is as good as over. If you are not implementing an existing plan now, it's probably too late to start.

This means there is no excuse not to cast the eye further afield and start setting some goals for the the end of 2012. If you are glad to be seeing the back of this year, what should you be celebrating this time next year?

For many of our clients, across a spectrum of sectors, this has been a year of restructuring and reassessment. Products, business models and marketing plans have been tweaked and in some cases re-invented. There have been a variety of reasons for this including the tail of the GFC, threats of a new GFC, the strong Aussie dollar and changes in technology, especially the mobile online space. Some may see this as a step back, or sideways, but overall I believe many businesses are in a better position, or at least know what a better position looks like, than twelve months ago. And hopefully, this means we can get a clean start to Q3.

So let's start looking at our goals for 2012 and listing them down. As a starting point we suggest developing at least three goals for each of these categories:

• Sales. What can you do that will strengthen your relationships with customers, both business and consumer?

• Marketing. What can you do that will make your consumers aware of your products or services and feel passionately about them?

• Products. What can you do to your product portfolio that will both fulfill the purpose of your business and give you the maximum return?

• People. How can you ensure your staff, suppliers, partners and customers are inspired and empowered to achieve the ambitions of your business.

The next step is to start rating and prioritising these goals:

• If successfully implemented, what outcomes would they achieve? Are these outcomes financial or structural?

• What would be required to achieve them? What business strengths will you need? Are those strengths extant or will there need to be an investment?

• What will you need to do more of? Who is going to do that and with what?

• What will you need to do differently? What barriers exist and will there be unintended consequences?

By comparing the outcomes to the difficulties, you will probably identify a few goals that stand out. A good innovation is one that will give you a financial return. A great innovation will give your business a real competitive advantage.

And who knows, there's still a few weeks left in 2011, maybe you can squeeze in one more project and have something to celebrate!