The new year brings a time for reflection, goal setting, and new opportunities. For your business, it’s an ideal time to look back on the year and build a strategy for new growth based on your wins and losses.
“A period of reflection and strategizing is really important to sustainable growth in business,” explains Marcus Hutsen, Business Development Manager of Patriot Coolers. “The New Year is an opportunity to review the past year and prepare for the upcoming one.”
You can raise capital and unlock business growth opportunities this New Year by following these 11 tips from business experts!
1. Review Last Year’s Consumer Data
Reviewing the numbers is more than an accountant’s job. As you strategize for a successful year of growth, it’s crucial to look back on consumer data from the past year to better understand the trends in your business.
“A growth mindset is wise for many businesses, but it’s nothing without a strong foundation and backing in data,” states Erin Banta, Co-Founder and CEO of Pepper Home. “You should know your consumer’s behavior better than you know your own if you want to see real growth in your business.”
Align your New Year strategy with consumer behavior throughout the past year. What products gained the most traction? What avenues of engagement were most successful for bringing in new customers? Reviewing these numbers can set you up for success in the year to come.
2. Realign With Your Business Goals
Before building new pathways of growth for your business, take the time to look back at where you started. By realigning with your initial business goals, you can choose the best path for growth that is most on track for your business trajectory.
“It can be easy to get stuck in the clouds, dreaming up ideals of what your business could become,” explains Cody Candee, Founder and CEO of Bounce. “You should constantly and consistently be checking back in on your initial goals and motives for your business before starting new projects.”
By referencing back to your initial business goals and mission, you can make sure to avoid options that are not right for your business. Not every growth opportunity is right for your company or customers; make sure you move with clarity by realigning with your initial business goals.
3. Gain Insights Into Consumer Value
Consumer value is the value assigned to your products or services by the consumer. You can gain insights into consumer value through surveys, social media, and sales data.
“To be an authentically customer-centric organization, it is essential that you deliver real, measurable customer value at every interaction,” expressed Jim Berryhill, chairman of the board and co-founder of DecisionLink, “That means customer value is something you must prioritize and measure throughout your ranks.”
Make sure your business offerings are aligned with consumer value by building an effective feedback loop and taking into account what consumers value most about your business.
4. Network With Successful Expanders in Your Field
Networking is essential to business success. Not only does it create a foundation of support around you, but it can also be especially expansive when you have connections with people who are seeing the success you want in your own venture.
“You can only grow your business as big as you can dream it,” shares Leroy Hite, Founder and CEO of Cutting Edge Firewood, a company that offers different types of firewood products and services. “Having people in your corner who are experiencing the success you want shows your subconscious that success is possible for you, too.”
Network with successful expanders in your field to unlock new growth opportunities for you and your business.
5. Know Your Competitors
To key in on a growth strategy, it’s important to know who your competitors are, why they’re successful, and what makes you stand out.
“Business growth is all about knowing your market and your niche,” explains Michael Klein, CEO of Herbaly. “What makes people choose your business over your competitors? That is where you should be investing in growth.”
When you invest time in researching your competitors, you can build a stronger strategy for growth by understanding your own niche and place in the market. By having a strong understanding of your competitors, you can better understand your own business.
6. Consider Introducing AI for Automation
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a useful tool for automating mundane and time-consuming processes. Consider introducing AI into your business to automate repetitive work and free up your employees’ time for more engaging endeavors.
“Automating systems and processes is a great way to encourage creativity in your employees because it frees up their time to work on more important things than building spreadsheets and responding to emails,” explains Jonathan Zacharias, Founder of GR0.
Integrating AI can create new avenues for growth in your company. Automation systems can scale up your business and offer needed support to your team.
7. Stay on Top of Digital Marketing Trends
Digital marketing is the cornerstone of consumer outreach. In order to raise capital and grow your business in the new year, you should be reaching out to new consumers across multiple platforms.
“Marketing’s job is never done. It’s about perpetual motion. We must continue to innovate every day,” shares Beth Comstock, Former CMO and Vice Chair of GE.
By staying on top of digital marketing trends, you can stand out among the crowd and bring in new clients from a wide range of backgrounds. Consider partnering with content creators, expanding to include smaller social platforms, and creating targeted ads to bring in new growth opportunities.
8. Integrate a Healthy Work-Life Balance
A healthy, happy team is a productive one. Integrating a healthy work-life balance into your company culture by offering flexible PTO, hybrid work options, or even a four-day work-week can widen your team’s capacity for growth.
“Having a culture of work-life balance shows your employees that you value them as people and trust them to do their work,” says Dakota McDaniels, Chief Product Officer of Pluto, an AI stock trading platform. “This type of culture has been shown to increase productivity and employee satisfaction.”
You can engage in more growth opportunities when your team has the capacity to show up to work well-rested and focused. A healthy work-life balance is integral to a successful company culture.
9. Get Feedback From Your Employees
As you grow and scale your business, make sure to check back in with your employees. Your employees are the backbone of your business, and their feedback and contribution can help you scale in a way that is realistic and aligned with your team’s capacity.
“It’s not uncommon for leaders to dream up growth strategies that aren’t realistic with the capacity of the team you have at hand,” cautions Athan Didaskalou, Co-Founder of July, a company offering the best carry on luggage for your travel endeavors. “Make sure your employees are part of the conversation, too, as you push towards business growth.”
Getting feedback from your employees can be a great way to figure out the goals and strengths of your business for the new year. Your employees tend to work more directly with consumers and can offer valuable insights into what is and isn’t working in your business strategy.
10. Fill the Holes in Your Strategy
As you plan for growth in the new year, make sure to review your strategy as a whole and sus out the weak links.
“Before you grow and scale in one aspect of your business, say the variety of products you offer, it’s important to make sure the other aspects of your business have a strong foundation to hold space for that growth,” states Asker A Ahmed, Director of iProcess Global Research.
Taking a holistic approach to business growth can help you build a stronger foundation that can survive the ups and downs of business. Take a look at what is and isn’t working for your team right now before introducing new strategies or ideas.
11. Celebrate Your Wins
As you enter the new year, make sure to take time to look back on the past year and celebrate your wins. It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and let the successes pass you by, but taking a moment to celebrate how far you’ve come can be great for building a successful strategy moving forward. Plus, it feels good to celebrate yourself!
“Taking the time to celebrate the successes and wins of your team is so important for morale and sets up a great system for encouraging future success,” says Joseph Antoun, MD, PHD, MPP, and CEO of Prolon, a company known for their revolutionary fasting mimicking diet technology.
As you gear up for increased capital and growth in the new year, take a beat and celebrate the wins you’ve had thus far.
Grow Your Business With a Strong Strategy
As you enter the new year, take time to review your business strategy and make plans to unlock new growth. What successes have you had this year? What new opportunities would you like to see in the year to come?
Scale up your business and raise capital by investing time into reflecting and realigning with your business strategy this New Year.
