We mentioned that we are going to have some awesome guest bloggers this year on the Horseshoe blog. Amy Kalinchuk, the Soap Crone, graced us with her wisdom last year and will continue to bestow business wisdom upon us a few times a month! We’re happy to welcome Amy back. Check out her fabulous ideas below to help your business grow this year!
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Last year around this time, I was doing taxes. Retail taxes were due on January 20th, so January is the time that I discover exactly how much my gross sales were for the previous year.
Last year, I was so very disappointed.
The total was just not worth it. It was not enough to keep the business going. I had to make a tough decision: increase sales or quit. That was it. It was the bottom line—our sales were not enough to make the effort of making soap, making lotion, creating labels, packaging everything, packing and unpacking the car, sitting out in the weather, etc. etc.
Why go on and on? You understand. You do this, too.
So I made my decision last year, that in 2011 our business would grow. I sat down with a notebook, and wrote down goals. They were very specific, achievable, and more important than anything, they were MEASURABLE. Every three months, when I did my retail taxes, I revisited my goals, and wrote about progress toward them in the notebook. If we were falling behind, I took action. I made phone calls, I did online marketing, I made lists for my husband to complete. All of my efforts were focused on the goals I had written down. And do you know what the result was?
Our gross sales for 2011 INCREASED BY 80% OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
80%. That’s nearly double the sales. Goal-setting is powerful stuff. Clearly, having a focus point is better than having no focus at all. You must write down your goals, and commit to their progress.
Ready to grow your business? Here is how to get started.
1. Acquire a notebook. Any old spiral notebook will do—just make sure you mark it as your business notebook and put it in a safe place. Yes, you can do this on the computer—I don’t care. Just make a file and name it “Business Goals 2012,” or some such thing.
2. Decide what you want. Write that statement down. For example: “Sales will increase 100% this year, based on last year.”
3. Write down specific, achievable, measurable goals that will help you to reach the big one. It is important that your goal have all three elements. Here is an example of one of mine from last year: Soapcrone.com will acquire 6 private label clients by the end of 2011. It is specific (private label for the soap business), achievable (only 6 clients! That’s one every two months), and measurable (I can count to six, right?).
4. Make sure your goals are based around your big goal. My goals for the business were strictly financial. Marketing goals are valid, too. It’s up to you where your focus lies for your business, but make sure your smaller goals all work toward meeting the big goal.
5. Revisit your progress toward your goals every three months. Take action at that time to move forward on them, or re-write them if you have already achieved them! You can do that, you know.
6. Celebrate your success! You work hard for your business. You should be able to reap its rewards. Go buy that new pair of shoes, now that you finally have the cash.
I wonder—what are your goals for 2012? Let’s talk about it.
Amy Kalinchuk is the soap crone at www.soapcrone.com, and the publisher at www.crafte-revolution.com. Her goals this year will be loftier than last year. Count on it.
