Why Business Owners Should Be Careful With New Year's Resolutions
If you are considering making major changes to how you do business, don't include them in your New Year's resolution.
I am not a fan of New Year's resolutions. But I understand the symbolism of starting a new year with a clean slate.
According to Statista, a data analytics company, saving more money, working out more, and eating healthier are usually the top 3 goals on New Year's resolutions.
As a small business owner, you probably have a long to-do list of projects you pledge to complete. Often, these are tasks you couldn't find time to do, like finishing your bookkeeping on time or writing your newsletters earlier. If things like these fill your New Year's resolution, breathe a sigh of relief; your company is probably safe.
What concerns me most is when entrepreneurs suddenly start making all those strategic decisions they had been putting off for several months just because they included them in their New Year's resolution.
If you are considering digitizing your workflow, starting on social media, shifting your sales focus, splitting your company, buying a competitor, or anything that significantly impacts how you do business, don't add them to your New Year's resolution.
These strategic decisions require careful preparation, thorough analysis, and financial modeling. Skipping these steps could cost you a lot of money and even put your company at risk.
In hindsight, many small business owners probably regret the moments in which they rushed to implement a strategic decision without a proper business case, even though minor improvements to the status quo would have been the best solution.
Here is my entrepreneurial advice: If you need to make a New Year's resolution and are looking for items to add, you may want to pledge to prepare a thorough business case before making a decision that will significantly change your company.
