Mags Boland , CEO Bofin Consultancy

13 TIPS TO PROGRESS YOUR BUSINESS IN 2022

Mags Boland Murphy, CEO at Bofin Consultancy, writes:

2022 has well and truly dawned and I hope that every business owner/manager/professional reading this is getting through the new year with their positive pants on and a sharp focus for the year ahead!

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1. REVIEW, REFRESH, REENERGISE

First things first, take time to review where you are at, what was accomplished in 2021? Take stock of what was done and what you need to do going forward. Look at new ways of doing things, how can you refresh your business?

Reenergise not just the business but you as a professional individual. Take time to consider, “How can I breathe fresh air into my business moving forward?”

When I do this, I honestly get excited about driving onward positively in a focused and committed manner for success.

2. KNOW YOUR NUMBERS

The numbers in your business should not just relate to money and cash flow. There are other numbers you need to know in your business. i.e. your costs, the length of time it takes for the customer to receive your product or service, the amount of time you spend on customer service, the number of visitors to your website monthly, number of enquiries received, and so on.

All of the numbers matter.

3. DEFINE YOUR GOALS

We all need to have goals in and for our business, it helps to keep us focused on the prize, so to speak. What are your goals for the coming year?

Again, this is not just about revenue goals. Do you want to develop a new product or service? Do you want to enter a new market for export? Do you want to grow your team? Do you want to develop your online presence?

Your annual business journey and goals should be reviewed monthly to keep you accountable and on track.

4. PRIORITISE YOUR BUSINESS CULTURE

I have always considered the culture in a business a powerful and valuable asset - if it is positive.

Why is culture valuable, you may ask? The culture of/in your business can either positively or negatively affect staff retention, customer service, sales, and revenue, so this makes it immensely

valuable in my opinion.

One thing that has come out of the pandemic is that the employee now seeks balance and it is not all about financial remuneration.

“Throughout the pandemic, businesses have been dealing with the “Great Resignation” as workers are quitting their jobs at record-high rates. One of the reasons for this is that people are changing their definitions of what they consider a healthy worklife balance and what they want in a company culture.” Forbes 2021.

5. KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS, LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS

Do you know who your client/customer is? I mean, do you really know them? Where do they come from? What do they do? What age profile are they? Where do you find them?

Take time to do a profile brief on your ideal client/customer. It will open your eyes again and help to refresh your approach and create new innovative sales and marketing. These are key today and tomorrow to help you reach more of your ideal clients and recharge revenue and sustain consistent cash flow. Show me a business who doesn’t need this.

So much has changed for us all in the last two years and this is true for our customers as well. Their needs, wants, and expectations have changed and we need to listen to them. At the end of the day, they are the folks who purchase our products and services.

I believe that we can and should take time to learn from our clients and customers. Personally, I think the day I stop learning is the day I will close the doors.

Listen to your clients, accept the positive and the less-thanpositive feedback - it is valuable. Interact with your customers and really learn from them. Customers/clients can help you to identify what is working/not working, what trends are happening, and what influencing factors are impacting on purchase decisions … and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

6. NEW TRENDS IN YOUR SECTOR

Now more than ever, it is important that we, as business owners, are aware and informed of the trends in our sector(s) and marketplace. The pandemic and Covid-19 has changed our marketplace forever and it is not all negative. It has changed how customers/clients purchase, how we interact, how we communicate, and what influences our decisions.

So, stay aware and informed. We need to be able to roll with the changes as they occur. If we do not know about them, how can we roll with them?

7. EMBRACE TECH

I am not a tech lover but I do know and recognise its value. Technology really is our friend and I believe we just need to learn and engage with the “how-to” piece which enables us to understand and use tech effectively in our lives and in our businesses.

For instance, we have been using remote access systems for over nine years in my business, well before Covid-19 hit our shores. I had to engage with tech to learn the “how to” of applying it to benefit my life and my business. When the pandemic hit, it made a difference, let me tell you. Over the years, we have engaged tech in a variety of ways in the business.

Every business needs to ask how technology can improve/help you and your business to move forward.

8. DON’T FORGET THE VALUE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE

Positive and engaging customer service is invaluable in business. Can you and your team serve your customers more effectively? What needs to happen for your customer service to be even better? It is all about small things when it comes to building better customer service.

The return on time and training investment associated with sustaining/improving customer service is return customers/ clients, repeat custom, positive brand awareness, business growth, and new opportunity development.

9. THINK YOUR MARKETING THROUGH

Too many times I have seen marketing initiatives and plans thrown together with limited thought for the customer/client, the products/services, or the message delivered.

Your marketing activity needs to be simple, engaging, and real. It needs to connect with your ideal customers/clients.

Right now, today, the customers/clients we want to engage with can see through the rubbish, they are exhausted from the “noise”, and they want clear communication and value.

11. STAY FLEXIBLE AND CONSISTENT

I have learned (the hard way at times) that consistency is key to success. This is true in every area of our lives, personal, sport, and business.

Stay flexible and recognise that it is completely okay for your plan to change at times - and at times it will need to. Also, you as a business owner need to stay flexible too, taking time to breathe outside of your business. Have an activity, hobby, interest that is not related to your business. Believe me when I say we all need it, it keeps us healthy mentally and physically. Our businesses are nothing without us in them.

12. OFFER FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING

As I mentioned earlier, we have been using online and remote access systems for nine years and this has really positively influenced how we work and also benefited our business.

The best businesses have devoted teams of hard-working employees. Whether you employ a dozen workers or just one or two, boost business performance in 2022 by changing the way you relate to staff.

Even if you can’t afford to give top employees a much-deserved raise, increase their satisfaction and loyalty by offering more job flexibility. For example, you could let them work more convenient hours or enable them to log in from home. While companies are often hesitant about hiring remote workers, a recent Stanford study shows that telecommuters regularly put in a full day’s work or more and are less likely to be distracted than their in-office peers.

13. MAKE A PLAN AND DRIVE ON

“Plan” can be a four-letter word that many just do not want to hear. When you build a house, you need to have or create a plan. Why do you need one? Simply put, if the house does not have a strong foundation, it will not settle and stand strong. The same applies to your business.

The successful business owners of this world dedicate time to setting out a simple plan to help them to take action, achieve their goals, and succeed.

A plan keeps us accountable and on track with focus and commitment. A plan needs to be a working reference file, it keeps us on track to the destination we want to reach.

I will sign off by quoting one of the key influences in my life ... “Drive on and give it welly”, ladies and gents. We owe it to ourselves, to our customers, and to our colleagues to give it socks as we sustain our businesses and recover from the Covid-19 challenge.

10. DIVERSIFY AND VENTURE INTO NEW SPACES

We trade in a global space. Look at how and where you can diversify. Are there new markets worth considering? If you take leaps of faith into new markets, then please exercise due diligence and assess how viable a specific market is for your business.

Do not be defined by your physical location. Look if or where you could take your product or service. What do you need to do this?

MAGS BOLAND MURPHY

CEO at Bofin Consultancy. - Enabling & Supporting Business Success since 2010.

Email: mags@bofinconsultancy.comLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/magsbolandmurphy

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