15 January 2016

New Year's advice businesses can ignore

The dawning of the New Year is a soothsayer's favourite time. The Internet is awash with helpful tips for small business owners. What should we make of the annual flood of articles prescribing New Year’s resolutions to business owners? Here’s some advice.

It’s hard to go wrong with the easily achievable resolutions offered by the Business federations and Advisors, which suggest that the New Year is a good time for routine maintenance. It shouldn’t take much time to make sure insurance coverage, corporate records, or employee documents are up to date. You might as well schedule a dental cleaning and get an oil change while you’re at it.

Meanwhile, it’s a good idea to rethink your website, or conduct a cybersecurity audit, but keep perspective. You won’t suddenly have more time to increase your social media presence when the calendar turns. It’s worth noting that many of the experts dispensing resolutions at this time of year are entrepreneurs hoping to promote their services. Research has shown that January is actually the worst month to try to change your behaviour. (You’d be better off in August.)

The point isn’t to ignore the need to work on your business, but that there’s no reason to turn your resolutions into a list of tasks you don’t have time or money to complete. One wise piece of input seemed useful?

"Reaffirm customer-friendly values. Operate with a lot of integrity, treat people right and keep my prices reasonable."

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