7 Timely Tips For Planning A Successful New Year

By Richard Delahaye, Senior Director of Marketing, Barracuda MSP

Be sure to follow these best practices when setting your 2019 business goals.

As with any great endeavor, you can’t expect to grow your business without a strong plan in place. Perhaps you want to add new products, services, or business lines to the mix. Maybe  you are trying to tap into new markets, or maybe you want to sell more to existing customers.

You probably have some ideas, but until you codify and turn those thoughts into a concrete business plan, you aren’t likely to hit the milestones you’ve envisioned. Before you scribble down revenue goals and present them to your team, keep these business best practices in mind:

1. Keep it simple. You might need more detailed documents for specific projects, but for your overall business strategy, you should be able to confine your plan to a single sheet. Keeping your plan high-level will make it easier for your staff to understand it  and will give you more clear-cut guidance when evaluating new opportunities or other business decisions. You should be able to ask yourself “Why are we doing this?” about any given activity and if you can’t find the answer with a quick skim, you might want to reconsider.
    
2. Define or refine the vision for the business. This needs to include not only your priorities moving forward, but also the values you want the company to demonstrate. How do you want your customers to see you? What is your approach to customer service or vendor relationships?