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3 New Year’s Resolutions Worth Keeping

For many people, the New Year’s resolutions you were so set on January 1st are beginning to fade. The gyms are already less crowded, and you find yourself swiping that credit card more than you should.

If you are a small business owner, here are three essential New Year’s resolutions you shouldn’t give up on:

1. Focus on the big picture

As a small business owner or manager, it’s easy to get bogged down in the day to day details of running your business. When you run a small business and are in charge of payroll, or office supplies, you might lose sight of the larger goals of the company, and only focus on one day to the next.

Use last year’s metrics to identify short term and long term goals for 2014. Identify the necessary steps to meet those goals, and a suitable timeline for achieving them. Don’t get overwhelmed if things don’t always go according to plan—reevaluate the steps and timeline as appropriate.

2. Make customer service a priority

Without happy customers, you have no business. Repeat that. Not everyone you come across in the business world—or in everyday life for that matter—is going to be easy to pleasant to deal with. But it’s important to retain the perspective that whoever is buying your product or using your service is keeping the business afloat, paying your bills, and ultimately providing your livelihood. Go out of your way to engage your customers and develop relationships rather than treat their business as transactions.

3. Increase efficiency and productivity

Between multiple email accounts, social media platforms, and mobile technology, it’s no wonder we all tend to be distracted by the very technology meant to increase our productivity. Beware of your technology habits- keep the good and ditch the bad.

Manage your time. If you have tasks that you always put off, aren’t good at, or just hate doing, delegate when possible. Plan your schedule at the beginning of the week, setting aside chunks of time devoted to various projects or goals.

With some focus and planning, you can make this your best year yet. Best of luck to your business in 2014!

Published: January 29, 2014
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Toffer Grant

Realizing that banks and card issuers were not serving the development of prepaid debit card services for small and mid-sized companies, Toffer Grant founded PEX Card to help SMBs maximize the efficiency of their financial operations. His career in the prepaid card industry began in 2000 at Clarity Payment Solutions, a leading venture-backed platform company servicing the budding prepaid industry. Toffer focused on customized check to card payment conversions for large brand corporate clients and grew a high value reseller network for the company. Over six years, he initiated 65 prepaid card programs in consumer, corporate and emerging verticals of the prepaid card industry. Toffer saw the company grow from a tech startup to life in a large public company after acquisition by TSYS in 2004. Follow Toffer on LinkedIn and PexCard on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.