I talked to a mom the other day who was really excited about the kiddos going back to school. She said the start of a new school year for a parent is a lot like the start of a new calendar year for the rest of the world. By the time the kids finally go back to school, mom and dad are frazzled and tired. They’ve had enough of watching cartoons and mediating arguments about Pokemon and iPads. Their bank accounts are drained because they’ve just spent hundreds of dollars on school clothes and supplies. They’re ready to turn over a new leaf and have some time back to themselves. For many parents, it’s as simple as having the luxury of showering without someone knocking on the door screaming, “Bobby ate the last Pop-Tart!” One particular mom even makes resolutions, like going to the gym and spending more time on hobbies to keep herself from going bonkers.
I got to thinking that many of us have “New Year” dates for our businesses. Some of us go by the calendar year and others go by fiscal years or even quarters. What better time to revisit goals and re-evaluate progress so you can make changes – or resolutions of sorts – to better your business.
Here are a few easy ideas.
Resolve to clean up that desktop! I’m talking about both your physical desktop and your digital one. If you have a jumbled mess of files you downloaded, blog posts you wanted to read later, emails you just can’t remember what it was you were going to do with, pictures your friend sent you of your kids playing soccer, and sales reports, clean it up! Get it where it needs to go and organize it. Having a fresh start is liberating. You can even take it a step further and Google “desktop wallpaper icon organization” to come up with a bunch of free downloadable wallpapers that will divide your screen up into sections. You simply drag your icons where you want them. It makes it easy to find what you need and looks so fresh and clean!
Skim the fat. Many people like to go on a diet for the new calendar year. A business New Year might include skimming the fat from your budget. Taking a closer look at your budget, you’ll likely find it contains things you really don’t need. When you trim the fat from your budget, you’ll make your bottom line bigger. So take a look at everything you spend in a month and decide what you can ditch. Hey, then you can use that extra money to hire yourself a virtual assistant!
Hire a virtual assistant! You knew it was going there, right? When you hire a side kick, you’re making a CEO decision to put your business on top of the pile. Having an assistant to take care of things you’re not good at or simply have no time for gives you the time and energy to focus on the things that will help your business grow and expand in the “new year.”
Ready to refresh and renew? Pick a date! Let’s talk about how a virtual assistant can help your business get a new start.
Yours in the adventure,
Angie
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