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New Year’s Resolutions for Small Business Owners

At PADGETT BUSINESS SERVICES®, we’re excited about the beginning of a new year and the sense of promise it brings.

Like many people at this time of year, you’ve probably made a list, at least mentally, of a few resolutions for 2013. As a small business owner, however, it’s an excellent idea to also write down a solid list of business resolutions for the coming year.

Drawing on business consultants and business writers from across the internet, we’ve compiled a list of resolutions that will entrepreneurs would be wise to make – and keep – throughout 2013.

• Be Positive, Always – In every endeavor, assume success rather than failure. As simple as this sounds, it’s a critical posture to take. As the leader of your enterprise, it’s up to you to set a positive tone and a positive example for your team. Establishing a company culture of optimism will help you weather the inevitable setbacks and discouragements along the way.
• Make a Priority of Prioritizing – Your time is your business’s most valuable resource. Resolve to spend it wisely on the most vital tasks – the ones that are most strategically important for your company’s ongoing success.
• Focus on Customers First – Keeping your customers and their changing needs foremost in mind will help you make the kinds of decisions that lead to current success, positive change and future growth.
• Be Persistent, Tenacious and Committed – These traits can be summed up with the old-fashioned term “stick-to-it-iveness.” Whatever you call it, successful entrepreneurs will tell you that this quality often trumps someone else’s superior education, higher intelligence or better financing.
• Recognize The Choices You Have – Actually, you should identify choices that exist and actively strive to create more of them. Having a range of options to choose from – even if you never wind up needing to use them – can eliminate feelings of constraint that could lead to fear, discouragement or despair.
• Make the Tough Choices When Necessary – As a leader, making the big choices is what you do. Decisive leadership, as long as it comes from a position of respect and fairness, earns respect every time, both from within your organization and from without.
• Seek Out Mentors – No matter how much you know, you can’t possibly know it all. Seek out the opinions, ideas and perspectives of others whose experience is greater or different than your own. Resolve to mentor others as well. You’ll learn from those relationships, too.

Focusing your efforts on those things that are truly important to the success of your enterprise is easier when you have a trusted partner to take good care of the details. For more than 40 years, PADGETT BUSINESS SERVICES® has been just such a partner for small business owners in all kinds of industries. Our “Small Biz Pros” serve their small business communities from more than 400 offices all over the United States and Canada. Let PADGETT handle your company’s bookkeeping, tax preparation, financial planning, payroll and financial reporting needs.