New Year’s Resolutions For Your Company

It’s already 2015, but does it feel like your workplace is stuck in the past? Some signs to clue you in: your inventory is still printed on index cards; your video promotions play the same ’90s jingle; and your employee culture is diving into its own brand of mid-life crisis.

As they all say, with the New Year comes new beginnings. Taken into the context of your business, 2015 may be a good time to change and shake things up a bit. Here are some of my takeaways for a good new year’s resolution:

What is up: The company. Before you plan on changing everything in sight, you have to understand where you are, and what works. Know which aspect of your company is keeping it alive, and what is bringing it down. Do the words in your slogan still mean the same thing as you originally intended, or has pop culture referenced it to mean something vulgar? Where are you now in the market? Where are your products in the product life cycle? Understand how people view your company, your products and services, and why they view them as such.

It also helps to review your company’s performance for the past years and understand the decisions and strategies that worked well. Maybe there are things from the past that can help you, like how to respond to your clients in certain situations. Only when you understand these will you know which areas to improve in your system.

What is hip: The consumers. Defining your position in the market is one thing, but understanding the market is another. Everyone’s tastes and preferences change over time, and you, as provider of satisfaction for the people’s needs, must know how to keep up with them. Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest market trends in your industry. How are your competitors doing?

It’s not just about being aware of the things people are into these days. For example, we all know that people are into healthy living now, but “healthy living” does not necessarily equate to your ampalaya-based food idea being a hit. It could mean people are getting into certain exercises, less fat/less sugar in their food, and consuming more fiber.

Know the difference between trends and fads. It is better to assimilate a long-term trend than to incur losses just to adjust for a short-term fad. While there are some seemingly transient fads that may turn out to be permanent trends, it’s still better to spend time and effort trying to sort things out. Your chances of success will be much higher when you “classify” the change.

What is far out: The change. Beyond market trends that may be ephemeral, maybe you can come up with real innovations for your product. If you think you are not yet ready for the big league, maybe you can spend this year for research and preparation before the implementation. Headhunting and training can be your project for this year. You can conduct surveys with your existing clients, benchmark from the competitors, or even make a full-blown strategy paper for the company. Then you can effect the change that will make you outdo the competition this year.

*Originally published by the Manila Bulletin. C-4, Sunday, January 18, 2015. Written by Ruben Anlacan, Jr. (President, BusinessCoach, Inc.) All rights reserved. May not be reproduced or copied without express written permission of the copyright holders.