Getting Your Business Ready for 2020

We are in the last quarter of the year.

November is the most important month for any business looking to hit the next year on the front foot.

As a business, how are you planning out your 2020 in advance?

This is that time of the year when forward and smart thinking businesses  roll up their sleeves and map out the entire 2020 campaign.

Implementation of your #Vision2020 should start January 1st 2020.

If you are still trying to figure it out, These should be your focus points;

• Sales Target
• Partnerships and Alliances
• Finance and Budgeting
• Marketing
• Social media
• Content plan
• Events and conferences

Sales – Setting your sales goals/target early is very important to the survival of your business in 2020. If you have a goal and know where you’re trying to reach in 2020, you can focus all your efforts on finding the best and most efficient route to get there. Without a clear destination, you risk rambling along, wasting time and missing opportunities. Sales goals can be; Bring in 9% more revenue each month, Reduce customer acquisition costs by 15% in Q1 etc.

Partnerships – Businesses decide to form strategic business alliances for many reasons. One of the most important benefits includes developing more effective and efficient business processes in the company, expansion into the new markets, and gaining a competitive advantage in the market.

Partnerships can be horizontal or vertical. Have you drawn out a plan on the types of businesses to partner with for the new year?

Finance and Budgeting – Budgeting plays an important role to achieve the objectives of business by utilizing available resources efficiently. Revenue forecast is the first step in a firm’s budget process, then you have manpower, material, monthly cash requirements, fixed cost and the pro forma financial statements. Ultimately, the closer you stick to your budget, the more progress you will make on your financial plan.

Marketing – Do you take a good and honest look at your team’s marketing strategy every year? … A marketing plan clearly outlines your business objectives and the marketing strategies and tactics you plan to use to achieve them.

Your annual marketing plan is the all-important benchmark for your marketing goals for 2020.

Social Media – Social media is like a garden: If you start out with a plan, tend to it, use the right tools, and periodically clear out the junk, your business will have a thriving social media presence; if you don’t, your social media efforts will wither and die—just like an untended garden. ·

Succeeding on social media is hard these days. But with a well researched social media plan, you can build a real following and possibly covert leads to clients.

Create a social media strategy plan for 2020 now.

Philanthropy – To some business leaders, philanthropy may seem like an “extra” or something you engage in only if there is sufficient time, money, and interest to do so. But, When a company builds itself around a greater mission of doing good, It infuses that passion into their products, services, employees, customers, and shareholders.

Content – Drawing up an annual schedule might seem time-consuming, but there are a number of simple, effective ways to bulk-out a marketing strategy while ensuring that it caters to the specific needs of your business. Use seasonality to your advantage, Dig deeper into your industry, Try and find buried topics of conversation, get your content out there through the various channels.

It is very important to create a content plan that reflects the patterns and behaviours of your target industry.

Events and conferences – These are really valuable ways to expand your knowledge, learn from the success of others, get new clients and tell others about your business.

Plan ahead of time on the type of conferences and networking events your team will like to participate.

2020 won’t work out too well for you if you haven’t fixed the issues that held your team back in 2019.

Have you done yours? What focus area do you need help with?