9: Choosing A Word Of The Year For Your Small Business Can Improve Your Success This Year.
Happy New Year! In today’s episode, we talk about the importance of choosing a word of the year for your small business. Unlike setting a New Year’s resolution, this word will help you focus on exactly where you want your business to go this year. You should apply your word to EVERYTHING you do in your business. Apply it to your sales, your purchases, your marketing, your employees, your new business ideas…the list could go on and on. We are going over the 4 steps for you to successfully choose the word that will bring your small business the most success. I have a free gift to help you get started that is geared specifically toward small businesses, so listen in and let’s get started choosing your small business word of the year.
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Show Notes:
Choosing your word of the year…many people do this for themselves personally, and it works. It keeps them focused throughout the year, but choosing a word of the year for your business…does that even make sense? Oh ya, it is important and I’m going to walk you through how you can choose your businesses word of the year and how you can use it to impact the success of your businesses this year…
Welcome Back…and Happy New Year! I want to mention that this episode is sponsored by Strategic Bookkeeping Academy. If you are looking for additional help with doing your own bookkeeping, Strategic Bookkeeping Academy has just opened enrollment in their Bookkeeping Basics course. Not only does this course help you create confidence & clarity in doing your own bookkeeping, it walks you through 4 modules which include Set-Up, Organization, Tracking Money In & Out and Maximizing Your Results so that you can create timely and accurate financial information to make smart business decisions. This course also includes a community of like-minded small business owners just like you and weekly office hours for you to ask your business and bookkeeping questions to an accountant and get your answers quickly so you can keep moving forward. To learn more, go to FinancialAdventure.com/BookkeepingBasics. Enrollment is only open for a limited time to ensure the students enrolled in the course are receiving exceptional support.
I hope your 2021 has gotten off to an amazing start. I am always fascinated by how a new year can give you feeling of having a clean slate and get you thinking about what your resolutions for the new year will be. You often hear about people setting the same types of New Year’s resolutions…they want to exercise more, they want to lose weight, they want to get organized, they want to save money. You get the idea; you might have been there yourself – or maybe you are even contemplating these same resolutions right now. I think it’s great to set a New Year’s resolution, but I have a real hard time with people not sticking to them. They say, of the people that make a New Year’s resolution…only about 10% actually keep them for more than a few months. That’s right, 10%. How is that helping them throughout the year?
Then came along the word of the year. When I first started hearing about this, I thought really? Just pick one word for the year and you’re good? Sounds pretty simple right? It actually is. You take that one word and use it as a guiding principle to help you focus on all your actions throughout the year. It’s not a hard and fast rule. You can use it as a filter to decide what you do or don’t want in your life.
So, what are some of the most common “words of the year”? Focus, Growth, Organization, Balance, Simplify, Happiness, Intentional, and Gratitude these are all great words. Do any of these words feel like they would be a good fit for your personally?
I think when we reflect on ourselves personally, it’s pretty straight forward what we need to focus on. Take for instance if you are a busy parent. You try to juggle your work, family life and your personal needs, but you know you ALWAYS put your needs as the last thing to take care of. Sure, you get everything handled that needs to be done, but how do you feel about yourself? Are you really taking care of yourself? Does this sound familiar? Can you relate? I know I can, and I totally get it. Maybe your word of the year would be “balance”. With this as your word of the year, you could easily take each and every situation that comes up throughout the year and ask yourself…Is this creating the balance I need in my life? Do I feel good about the time that I am spending with my family, work and myself? Then, when you start to feel that you are lacking in one area, or out of balance, you are more focused to work at bringing it all in “balance” again. Just one word, and you use it throughout the year.
What a great idea! But you are probably asking…Chris, what does this even have to do with my business and being successful?
Well, why not take that same thought process and decide what your word of the year is going to be for your business. When you do this, much like you would do for your personal life, you would take that one word and apply it to EVERYTHING you do in your business. Apply it to your sales, your purchases, your marketing, your employees, your new business ideas…the list could go on and on. What you will want to do is make sure anything you are doing in your business either aligns with or follows your thoughts on your word of the year.
Do I have your creative mind started yet? You’re probably starting to think about a lot of words that could relate to your business. That’s great! Are you wondering how in the world you are going to pick JUST ONE WORD? Well, that’s why you are here. I’m going to walk you through a process that you can select that one word that will help your business succeed throughout this year.
First of all, you want to take a moment to think about you and your business. Reflect on what you’d like to see in your business this year and what went well. Also look at what you would like to see LESS of in your business, or what you’d like to change. Think about…what is the direction you want to see your business go? Or, what improvements do you want to make in your business? How do you want to end this year? How do I want to feel about my business? Yes, that’s right, we’re talking about your small business goals. If you already have goals set for your business this year, awesome, this is going to help you out tremendously. If you don’t have any goals set for your business…now might be a great time to think about a couple and get them on your radar. Do you have a certain sales number you are reaching for? Do you have a new product or service you want to launch? Are you hoping to cut costs in a certain area? You get the idea. Oh, and just a side note…when you are creating goals for your business, make sure you are setting “SMART” goals. To be effective, they should be: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely.
Next, brainstorm. That’s right. Grab your favorite notebook and just start writing down any word that you feel applies to your business. Don’t feel bad about writing a word that seems silly or you feel uncomfortable with, just write them all down. Are you having a hard time brainstorming? Don’t worry, I have a cool New Year’s gift for you that will list a bunch of words to get you started.
Once you have this list ready to go, you are going to need to trim it down. I know, you did such a good job brainstorming and now I’m telling you need to trim it down? Yes, I am…but I also want you to keep this list you worked so hard to create, because it will give you a good start next year when you choose your NEW word of the year for your business. You are going to want to trim your list down to 2 or 3 words. You may start to see a theme with the words you selected. These are the words that you feel align with your goals, they align with how you feel the direction of your business should go and how it aligns with you personally. Do any of them make you feel excited or scared? Sometimes the ones that scare you can be the most valuable.
I want you to try out your words for a few days. Just like trying on a new pair of jeans. If you don’t like the way they feel, you won’t wear them, so I want to make sure the word you choose feels good with you so you can utilize it in your small business to its fullest capacity. You may notice that your words are very similar, making it even harder to choose, but there is no hurry to pick your word, I just want to make sure you are being mindful when you do make your decision. Trust your gut here. This word will be your mantra to help guide your business decisions throughout the year. Are you committed to your word? Will you do whatever it takes to implement this word in your small business daily?
Lastly, and this might seem silly, but print your word out or paint it on your office wall. Just do something so you will visually SEE your word each and every day. You may also want to share your word with your family, friends and even your employees. They can all help keep you accountable.
Now that you have your word of the year for your business, let’s see how you can apply it to your small business. Create a plan that you will use to make sure you are following through with your word of the year for your business. Ask yourself: How do I want to implement my word throughout the year? What will I start or stop doing to make sure my word is my guide? What are the actions I need to make to be sure I am focused on my word?
Congratulations!! I am so proud you have made the decision to choose a word of the year for your business. I know you will keep this word front and center and it will guide you throughout the year to reach your desired outcomes. Be laser focused and do not letting anything that doesn’t align with your word get in your way this year.
Oh, yes, and I mentioned earlier that I have a special New Year’s gift for you. If you head over to FinancialAdventure.com/Word, you can grab my Small Business Word Of The Year Guide to walk you step by step through choosing the best word of the year for your small business. This guide is tailored especially for small businesses and can be a great resource for you to ensure you follow through with choosing your word. Grab it today at FinancialAdventure.com/Word. Please share your word with me…I’d love to hear what your business word of the year is. Jump into our Facebook community and let me know which small business word of the year you choose.
This episode is sponsored by Strategic Bookkeeping Academy. If you are looking for additional help with doing your own bookkeeping, Strategic Bookkeeping Academy has just opened enrollment in their Bookkeeping Basics course. Not only does this course help you create confidence & clarity in doing your own bookkeeping, it walks you through 4 modules which include Set-Up, Organization, Tracking Money In & Out and Maximizing Your Results so that you can create timely and accurate financial information to make smart business decisions. This course also includes a community of like-minded small business owners just like you and weekly office hours for you to ask your business and bookkeeping questions to an accountant and get your answers quickly so you can keep moving forward. To learn more, go to FinancialAdventure.com/BookkeepingBasics. Enrollment is only open for a limited time to ensure the students enrolled in the course are receiving exceptional support.
And, you know I’m going to ask…what’s at least one thing you will take away from this episode that will help your business succeed and grow your bottom line? If you need some accountability, join our PRIVATE Facebook community and post your action item, we’d love to support you.
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