Start Right & Finish Strong
The Seattle Seahawks are known for finishing strong. However, they’re also known for starting slow, digging a deep hole, and taking the first half to get going. A theme heading into the 2020 off-season is this: Start Right, Finish Strong. Going into a new year, this is good advice for our companies as well.
Start Right
3 things to get off to a good start
- Take a look back at last year:
- What is one thing you did really well last year?
- What is one thing that really needs improvement?
- Have a plan for this year:
- Where do you want your business to be at the end of this year? Revenue, number of customers, customer reviews, new products or services, etc.
- What is one area of your business that you want to improve?
- Measure it: If that improvement can be measured numerically, write that number down, either as a percentage improvement or an actual number. For example, we want to increase sales by 20% this year OR we want to have 10 additional new customers each month.
- Brainstorm it: Get your team together and come up with ideas to improve that area and achieve the goal. This does a few things for your business:
- You’ll get a wider variety of ideas.
- Your team is more likely to buy into the solution if they had a hand in formulating the plan.
- Write it down: Something magical happens when you commit to a plan in writing. It becomes real. You now have something to refer back to each month. Your plan doesn’t need to be a manifesto, in fact, some of the best business plans are simple one-page documents that capture the basics.
- Review your plan each month:
- Now that you have a written plan, pick a day each month and schedule a meeting to review the plan and how you’re doing against it.
Finish Strong
1 thing to know about finishing strong
Team for the Win – As a business owner or manager, maintaining focus on specific areas of your business throughout the year can be difficult, especially if you haven’t shared your plan with your team. You may lack the time and energy to constantly focus on all areas of your business. This is where your team comes in. If you’ve included your team in the planning and monthly review process, and let them take ownership of specific areas, then they usually provide the energy and motivation it takes to finish strong. Your team will motivate each other, and you, to finish the year strong.
