We are on the home stretch of Q1, 2023! I know you wanted to kick-off your entire 2023 in the best way possible.
How are you feeling? Bummed? Frustrated? Unsure? Proud? Accomplished?
Regardless of the feeling (and especially if you’re on the bummed side of the feeling scale), now is the time to do a Q1 assessment to ensure you end the quarter and transition to Q2 on a high note.
Keep reading to gain some strategic – and easy – tips to help you stay on track with your Q1 goals. I’m going to give you straightforward suggestions for each of the 5 primary business categories: Finances, Operations, Personal Management, Marketing, and Products & Services.
Finances
At this point in 2023, you should be roughly 20-25% of your financial goal for the year. Are you there?
Here’s how to go after the low hanging fruit if you need to get some quick money in:
- Remind past clients/customers of your offerings.
- Highlight anything new in your offerings.
- Follow up with those who’ve expressed past interest.
- Improve an existing product or service, and relaunch it.
- Assess whether it’s time for a price increase.
Choose one or two of these options to make progress to meet or exceed your Q1 financial goals!
Operations
What’s one of your operations goals for this year? I know, I know! Sometimes operational goals can seem boring or tedious, right?!
Give yourself a goal to work on one action a week that will help you move toward that goal. Here’s an example:
Your goal is to make more time for your genius work. You want to find a new tech tool or app you can utilize to save you time.
Make a list of smaller action steps you can complete, then proceed with a target to complete one action step each week until your goal is accomplished.
- Research 3-5 apps
- Create a quick comparison list (ease of use, cost, maintenance, etc) and rank your options
- Test out your #1 app for a week
- Review the time saved and app functionality before committing to it
- Celebrate the time you’ve saved and rock out on your genius work
Before you know it, you’ll be ready to implement your much needed operational goal, without being overwhelmed!
Personal Management
You may already know that I advocate for self-care as part of your personal management strategy. As you are taking time to check in on your Q1 progress, don’t forget to do a self-care check in!
Recently, I’ve been planning my self-care (PT, massage, stretch, vitamin IV) a month in advance. Planning in advance ensures I actually take time for self-care and that I get appointments that work for my schedule.
Once I have the time scheduled, I treat it like any other business appointment. After all, self-care is part of personal management.
Marketing
Are you talking TO your ideal customer/client?
Speak “their” language when sharing about their challenges and the results you provide.
Take a few minutes to think about your marketing messages. How confident are you when talking to your ideal customer/client? Here are some questions to assess your current state:
- Can you describe your ideal customer/client? Who are they? Where do they live, work, shop? How do they find you?
- What is your ideal customer/client’s biggest challenge? Why do they need your products or services? How are you uniquely qualified with a solution?
- With those answers in mind, do you have your ideal client front and center in your marketing?
Maybe you are already rocking marketing to your ideal customer. Great work! Still, think about areas you could improve to stay ahead of marketing trends and reach more of your ideal customers.
If answering the questions above was difficult, you need to gain clarity in order to improve your marketing. Market research conversations are a wonderful way to do that! They help you understand your target audience:
- who they are
- what motivates them to buy a product or service
- what makes them loyal clients
Take the time to meet with your prospects to learn more about them. It will be worth your time in spades.
Products and Services
We all know business is never static. Ongoing market research conversations help you understand the factors that affect the appeal of your products and services.
Holding these conversations regularly will not only help you tailor your marketing message, it will also increasing your sales by:
- pinpointing new opportunities
- discovering what makes your offerings more attractive
- understanding current trends and changing client preferences
My work is all about helping small business owners take those brilliant, but often scattered, business development ideas and streamline them into plans, systems, and habits that create immediate and long-term success. If you are overwhelmed with overcoming your business challenges, contact me today to set up a complimentary discovery session.
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