Yes we are a month in and the snow is trying to melt, but the show must go on right? Well as you are sitting with your team in your corporate office you may be feeling a little scattered as a CEO while your team runs around chasing rabbits. Here are some tips to regain your focus on your New Year’s resolution…growing your business!

1. Strategic Planning: Nobody succeeds unless they have a vision of what they hope to achieve, what impact they want. A three point strategic plan with goals that are achievable in three months will allow you to concentrate your efforts on the top priorities of your business. Make sure you assign a champion for each of your three priority areas and ask for a weekly/bi-weekly update accordingly.

2. Cash Flow: Your company will hit many rough spots unless you have a good cash flow. I don’t mean a loan or equity investment. I am referring to a small asset pool of cash that can be used to ensure payroll runs smooth or you can drop the credit card balance to zero while you are waiting for a client to pay the last invoice. The better handle you have with a contingency cash flow the less stressed you will find yourself on a week to week basis.

3. Customer service: When was the last time you checked in with some of your key customers? What about new customers that just subscribed? People always love to hear from the CEO and it can be as simple as asking the question: Is our product making life easier? Is there any way we can improve our customer service with you? Lose the customers and guess what…no business.

4. New product line: I have seen a number of companies that invest considerable amount of money into an old product line in order to refresh it up to today’s standards. Sometimes however, this money may be better spent in developing a second product line. With the diversification of products comes the opportunity to see which products perform better and sometimes, a product just needs to stay the way it is with a trusted customer that likes it the way it is.

5. Team satisfaction: Check in privately with each of your team members. Does the work still excite them? Have they been working overtime with very few breaks? Your employee/contractor/co-founder’s mental health is important for your business. Make them a coffee or order in lunch and take a break. Either of these will give everyone a chance to reflect on the great work to date, and the road ahead.

I hope these tips work for you. If you are keen for more ways to improve your business, check out my Three day Company Check-UP! at www.buildingbetterpractice.com