Whether you want to accomplish one or all ten of these business New Year Resolutions in 2020, the time and resources spent in improving your organization will be well-invested.

10 Business New Year Resolutions You Should Make for Continuous Improvement in 2020

Don’t be complacent! These ten Business New Year Resolutions can help you maintain momentum by producing continual improvements in your organization.

Kaizen is a Japanese word meaning, “good change.” In reference to a business or professional workplace, it carries the idea of making continuous improvements throughout any and all business processes in order to constantly become more profitable, more efficient, or achieve other goals. Specifically, Edward Deming is credited with introduction of a management philosophy built around the idea of continuous improvement as he led the economic rebuilding efforts in post-World War II Japan.

Since that time, many organizations in the US and across the world have not only adopted the idea of continuous improvement into their management and operating practices; some have even created formal programs to incentivize and reward staff for contribution and implementation of ideas. As it pertains to professional development or a business, it might help to view the making of Business New Year Resolutions as part of a continual improvement effort.

Continuous Improvement – 10 Business New Year Resolutions Will Make Your Organization Better this Year

1. Write a New Year Vision Statement

Your organization may already have a corporate vision statement that reflects how it will grow and impact the world over the long term – but what about this year? By identifying “where” your business is now and writing a vision statement that reflects where you want it to be at year’s end, it will make it easier to identify the strategies that will take you there.

2. Write a New Year Mission Statement

While a vision statement specifies an end-goal, a mission statement lays out how you will get there. Usually it speaks to values that underlie the way customers are served, major target audiences that will be reached, and the products or services that will be delivered. Check out nine great mission statements in this hubspot.com blog article.

3. Break Down Internal Barriers

Internal departments or individuals with competing agendas can slow or stall organizational growth. Transparency and shared goals can help to keep everyone on the same page.

4. Eliminate Drag

The classic business leadership book titled Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers: Developing Change-Driving People and Organizations may be two decades old, but it is no less relevant today and we endorse it as a great read for any business owner or leader. Whether you need to cut ties with a vendor or employee who isn’t performing up to par, eliminate obsolescent processes, products or services, or even reset the organizational chart – make this year the year that you stop doing anything else simply because “it’s the way we’ve always done things.”

5. Reach a New Demographic

Without thoughtful, continuous evolution that allows you to reach a broader demographic, it’s possible that over time your prospective customer base may shrink. You may be able to reach a new demographic this year by adding a new product or service to your line-up or creating new variations on the items you already offer.

6. Boost Profits

They say that there are two constants: death and taxes. To that list we would add a third, and that is cost increases. No matter the type of organization, chances are that one or more of the major costs that impact your business will be going up this year. Whether achieved through improving efficiencies, cutting costs or raising prices, it’s important that you find ways to boost profits in the New Year so that you will have more capital to reinvest in order to grow your business.

7. Communicate More, and More Effectively

Once upon a time companies could write letters, place ads, send direct mail, dial the phone or visit people in person. Today you can still do all those things, and a whole lot more. Make this year the year that you master the art of marketing communication when it comes to your most important stakeholders; such as prospects, customers, vendors, investors and staff.

8. Secure Growth Financing

You might be able to get by on current revenues, but do you have any capital left over to invest in growing your business? Whether you seek out a line of credit, secure a bank business loan, bring in additional investment money or turn to working capital financing options designed to expedite cash flow, like receivables invoice factoring or a real estate commission advance, it’s important to identify how your business will free up working capital it needs to grow in the New Year.

9. Adopt a Partnership Mentality

Whether it’s the vendors and suppliers you choose to work with or the way that you work as a vendor or supplier to other organizations, adopting a win-win partnership mentality is crucial. Evaluate your list – and you selection process – in order to ensure that you are working with vendors and suppliers who are just as (if not more) committed to helping you grow your business than merely selling to you. Don’t be afraid to come out and ask your vendors and suppliers to tell you, specifically, why you should choose to do business with them vs. other options.

10. Set Goals and Measures

It’s easy to get so caught up in the day to day of running a business or completing assigned tasks that you lose sight of why you’re doing what you’re doing in the first place. As you pursue your vision for the New Year, set specific goals that will pursued, decide how and when you will measure your progress, and if need be, assign responsibility for both.

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Did you make business New Year Resolutions? The cash flow financing tools at Corsa Finance could be the ideal tool you need to achieve them! Get a free, no-risk proposal for invoice factoring or commission advance financing today:

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