What are your business goals for 2023?

Happy New Year! 2023 is here with its fresh start and blank slate. Many of us set personal resolutions to get healthier, travel more, save more money, spend more meaningful time with others or a host of other promises. But what about setting resolutions for our business?

If you did that in 2022, congratulations! Now is a great time to reflect on those goals to see what you have achieved. However, for those that did not, it’s not too late. There’s no time like the present.

A valuable tool that can be used at any point within your business is a SWOT Analysis. This framework is used to evaluate your business by examining its internal Strengths and Weaknesses and its external Opportunities and Threats. This can be extremely useful for strategic planning and determining the business’s competitive advantage (or disadvantage) in the marketplace.

There are examples all over the internet with suggestions for completing this type of analysis. It can be completed as an overall picture of the entire business or dialed down to a specific objective such as marketing or employee retention.

Once the SWOT Analysis is complete, I suggest establishing SMART goals—ones that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely. For example, if your goal is to increase your social media presence, a SMART Plan may look something like this:

1. SPECIFIC – Increase social media reach and engagement by 30% over a six-month period on all platforms by completing an online course on social media marketing.

2. MEASURABLE – Growth of 30% in reach and engagement.

3. ACHIEVABLE – Complete an online course that allows for flexibility and implement the lessons learned into the business social media marketing strategy.

4. REALISTIC – As part of the overall marketing strategy, post social media of high importance.

5. TIMELY – Within six months, reach and engagement will have increased.

This example may not be for everyone, but you get the general idea of establishing a SMART plan for goal achievement. They will be specific to your goals and your business.

I have listed some questions below to help jumpstart brain flow about potential goals.

1. Expansion:

a. Shop: Have you outgrown your current location, or do you want to switch from mobile to stationary? Are you primarily flat glass with low overhead but keep referring your automotive away to competitors? Do you lease your location and have a desire to own your own space?
b. Employees: Are you a solopreneur with dreams of hiring? Is your current team maxed out and needing assistance?
c. Services: Are there areas that you can diversify to become more competitive? Or are you stretched so thin that you need to cut back on certain services offered in order to focus on the most lucrative?

2. Sales:

a. Did you set sales goals for 2022? If so, were they achieved or missed? If not, what’s stopping you from doing it for 2023-2024?

3. Visibility:

a. Online: How is your social media presence? Google listing and ranking? Is your webpage up-to-date, relevant and professional? Are there areas you can add to improve search traffic, such as blogging?
b. Locally: Are you prominent in your community? Do you give back and support non-profits? Are you networking? Are you advertising?
c. Nationally: Are you connected with tinters across the nation? The world? Do you have a great relationship with your manufacturer? Have you joined any national groups focused on the window film trade?

4. Culture

a. How is your company culture? Are there areas where you can improve? Are you able to attract, hire and retain new employees? Can you improve in your leadership?

A key to business success is setting and achieving goals. Many business owners get so bogged down in the day-to-day transactions that they do not take time to plan a clear and concise path for growth. If this resonates with you, it’s not too late to start. By following the suggestions above, you can set up a plan for success and make 2023 the best year yet.