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Q: How can you turn a business resolution into a reality this quarter?
1. Delegate aspects of the resolution
Break the resolution down into various tasks that you can share amongst the team, delegating those areas that others want to champion. The reality of resolution accomplishment only comes when everyone wants and wills it to happen. Give them the tools and the responsibility, and it will get done. — Angela Ruth, Calendar
2. Break it up into smaller tasks Inline
Goal setting is common practice but follow-through is rare. The most effective way to get your resolution to become reality is to break down the goals into smaller, trackable metrics. These small goals will provide small wins and give sustained momentum. The team and their manager will be able to track progress and keep the team motivated as they clear benchmarks. — Curt Revelette, Jonathan’s Grille
3. Share it with your team
The most important part of any business is your team. Make sure you’re always sharing your vision and resolutions with them. Once you’re all on the same page, come up with a plan as a team. Then when you’re done planning, just ask everyone: How do we do this in a third of the time? Also, talk about worst-case scenarios and make sure you’re all prepared to take on anything that may get in the way! — Adelaida Diaz-Roa, Nomo FOMO
4. Take advantage of the holiday season
People are more apt to spend money during the holiday season. You just need to give them a reason to spend their money with you! Create direct and digital marketing campaigns that not only appeal to your customers’ wants and needs, but also toward their generosity. Think of what type of products and/or services you sell that would make a great gift. — Derek Broman, Discount Enterprises LLC deguns.net
5. Create a step-by-step plan and relentlessly execute it
The key to achieving anything is creating a plan in which progress can be measured every day. By creating a plan, you are creating a roadmap where you can see how each action you take gets you closer to your goal. This is important, as it allows you to get back on track if you start losing focus. Once you have a plan, surround yourself with great people, celebrate the small wins, and keep moving. — Alejandro Rioja, Flux Chargers
6. Lower your expectations
Just make more realistic resolutions within that time frame because a quarter is not that long of a time. It’s three months, which means there is a limited amount you can actually bring to fruition. Lowering your expectations is not bad; it just enables you to more likely hit some type of target, which you can build on in the next quarter. — Murray Newlands, Sighted
7. Define success in concrete terms
Be careful to avoid open-ended generalities when you choose your resolution. If you are never going to see the finish line, you put yourself at a greater risk of distraction or simply giving up along the way. For example, “grow brand awareness” leaves too much undefined. “Increase traditional media impressions by 100 percent,” on the other hand, gives you a very clear goal toward which to work. — Ryan Wilson, FiveFifty
8. Don’t set goals
Entrepreneurship is a marathon. The most important thing is to make progress every day. Learn from yesterday’s mistakes and forgive yourself. Setting too many resolutions and goals often leads to underachievement or demoralization. — Amishi Takalkar, NAILBITER
9. Destroy your excuses
Create a list of reasons why you think you won’t be able to turn your business resolution in to a reality. Figure out ways to overcome those barriers ahead of time. This way, when you encounter them, you will have solutions ready to combat the headwinds. — Artem Maskov, DEVTRIBE INC
10. Use a project management tool
We like to use tools to help us break down goals into smaller, more manageable tasks. Lately, we’ve been using Asana as our go-to project management tool. We’re able to write the individual tasks for the whole team to see and assign them to the appropriate person. — Jared Atchison, WPForms
11. Prototype it
See if you can find a way to test the idea quickly, cheaply, and small scale. Doing some form of prototyping teaches you so much about the thing you’re trying to accomplish and will either validate your idea or tell you to rethink it. And after a prototype, you’ll have a much clearer picture of how to execute at a larger scale. — Ben Lee, Neon Roots