What are your 3 aims in your business next year?

[MrsMargoLeadbetter]

Was just thinking about next year. I (marketing freelancer) will be getting back to it after mat leave. I was thinking I need to identify 3 aims for the business.

1. Be brave enough to focus on my niche market. Have dabbled in SME clients but they don't work as well as my niche sector. So that means business development which scares me but the end results will be worth it.

2. Produce more content. I want to blog twice a week. Content brings so many benefits (profile, sharing, demonstrating expertise).

3. Try to work less but earn more. Again be brave enough to stick to my top day rate. I have a target of 50 days at my top day rate.

Anyone else when to share what they want to achieve?

Ooh good thread.

1. Finish and publish my 2 e-books (containing information which I currently give free to most of my clients, and which I know they pass on to other people!)

2. Develop a new niche with 2 colleagues (niche area needs more instant response than I can supply consistently)

3. Make better use of existing media links.

Happy 2014 everyone.

Great idea, I think my 3 would be:

1.) Take a more consistent approach to business development (rather than doing it ad hoc when I panic I don't have enough work coming in!)

2.) Get better at setting boundaries between work and home. So that work stuff impinges less on my 'free' time, and also I need to be more protective of my work time so I don't end up doing home/child stuff during work hours. (Should be easier to achieve later in the year when youngest starts school).

3.) Have a bit more confidence in myself and my abilities - been self-employed for almost 2 years so have already proved I can do this (and this links very closely with Margot's no.3 about being brave enough to charge what I think I should).

Interesting thread!

I agree with going niche and charging more. Both of these things have worked well for me. I also find it hard to separate work from home , more in terms of working more hours than I'd like

1. Take some genuine time off when new baby arrives, even if just 2-3 weeks
2. Ditch the lower quality work for exclusively higher quality (I do a weird mixture of top end and high st work atm)
3. Quote quote quote. Get the quotes right and keep clients better informed about fees. I find they can swallow the higher quotes better when they really need you than when you've done the job.

Mine are:

• Significantly increase traffic to website through content marketing and 'link earning'/pr/influencer outreach
• Improve productivity through scheduling and focusing more on priorities
• Being smarter about how I work... I also have that problem of not setting limits, which negatively impacts on both me and my family life

All easier said than done!

ooh good thread

1. find one other top notch client - at the moment I have most of my eggs in one basket, which is actually working fine but I'm aware it's a risk.
2. properly explore sub-contracting - to decide if that is the way for me to expand my business (instead of me just going 'eek, no, no-one can do it as well as me' and essentially creating my own glass ceiling for my earning power)
3. use my down time effectively to work on my creative work instead of pissing it away playing on the internet which links to 3b) get up one hour earlier every day and write the book. Just write it. One hour at a time.

Increase income. Like others above concentrate on the niche work for high paid customers. Market more.

Great thread

1. Allocate specific time every week to work on my business (is currently a hobby business which I put little to no time into around family life and my pt employed work)

2. get better at client relations (I can sometimes take too long to reply to emails etc)

3. develop my skills so I am more confident when with clients

Great stuff, thanks for sharing.

Sounds like we all want extra confidence. Can 2014 be the year!?!?

Hi, great post. My 3 aims (all of which are variations of same theme) are:

1. Focus on my existing client. They are fab & stop thinking the grass is greener. (Mrs Margo - they have doubled my rate so I've doubled my childcare. Am extremely happy!)

1. Unless said client drops me, don't get another client in 2014 & stop wasting time thinking about potential new clients. My existing client (now, after recent negotiations) satisfies all my current career aspirations, I'm not ready to increase my hours (& stress levels) & I want to enjoy my pre-schoolers next year.

1. Totally get to grips with the business side of things. My accounts etc. Use 2014 to really understand how business/freelancing works etc so that once I'm ready to take on more clients (probably 2015 onwards), my business will be running smoothly & I'm organised & in control.

Right, roll on 2014 now please ...

Mine are:

1. Finish writing/formatting the 3 books I have on the go ATM, and get them published.
2. Devote regular time to updating my blog and social media each week, and comment/share more content to build my web presence.
3. Sell the 150 copies of my first paperback book that arrived yesterday (I presold a further 52, but they come under this year's sales so don't count for next year's.

Excellent thread!

1. Take some proper time off with new baby, although it wont be much, try to prepare for it so I don't have to loose a lot of revenue.

1. Spend a portion of each day, 20 minutes is the goal, on tidying and organizing tools/materials, stock, or paperwork.

1. Try to be more realistic about time and how long things will take instead of being overly optimistic to please, and then falling short!

I could go on, I want to improve in so many ways this year :-)

Nova, am v interested in your first goal as I have the same. I worked immediately upon release from hospital after my last baby was born (now 2) and remember feeling that if I had another I'd try and take more time off. But now I'm pregnant again (and due in May) I'm already worrying about my income dropping off!

Do you work full time?

I do work full time yes, maybe more than full time! I don't count the hours, but it's more than 40 a week. I've sent you a PM.

This is interesting. I don't have goals - for next year, or 5 years, or 10 years. I feel that I achieved many of my goals and now I'm here, I don't like it much, it's unsustainable, and mostly badly paid. I need to reassess dramatically, and my hand may be forced by my two main clients changing how they operate anyhow. I can't decide if that is a good or very scary thing.

Freelancenewbie - would you mind saying what you do, your posts sound like what I should be saying in my own head!

Oh good thread, will be nice to focus on three goals...let me think:

1. Maintain current clients and create at least three more regular clients.

2. Write and complete current book by June and set up another book commission for 2015.

3. Earn twice what I did last year (crossing fingers for this one!).

1. Get a paying stable long term client
2. Write a paper
3. Get enough work to full 3 days/week consistently

Really its all about 3 and 1 and 2 are how I want to get there.

1. Overhaul my website- improve product pages, add more content and pictures to increase visual appeal.

2. Increase sales of my product. For this I need to get brave, send emails, contact businesses, network and (eep) go out into real life and take my stuff to shops. This is something that I really don't like/don't feel I'm very good at, but if I don't do it no-one else will!

3. Blog regularly, but also use Social Media properly and efficiently- (don't faff around on Facebook pretending it's work!)

Good thread so I'm going to jump in too:

1. Get on top of admin and make sure all my files have everything in them they should have.

1. Stop worrying about getting in new work and don't be afraid to turn work away. I'm earning enough and I'm getting enough referrals to keep it growing gently.

1. It would be really nice to have a clear to do list - where I've done everything that I can do and people aren't waiting on stuff from me.

Oh and 4. Redo my website.

Hello

Thought I'd resurrect this thread, as it was a year ago. Not sure if it will appear in 'I am on' if you have name changed...but anyway thought it might be useful for those of us that posted.

So my 3 aims for '14 were:

1. Focus on my niche
2. Produce more content
3. Charge my day rate, aim for 50 days at day rate.

I did achieve 1) and I did do more day rate work (3) not sure if I reached 50 but near enough. Content production (2) stayed the same, but I did start my e-news once I got back into work after mat leave, so I feel that was better than nothing.

In 2015 I want to:

1. Have a proper business development plan & activity - I have dropped a regular low paying client, so my 'safety net' is gone but my earning potential is now better but only if I find new opps!

2. Re-do my website, it is 4 years old and is starting to look a bit dated and the copy was written when I was starting out, so reflects what I thought I'd be doing instead of what I am actually doing.

3. Plan my client workload much more effectively. I need to ensure I allow time in my schedule for proofreading (which is a weakness) and also not to expect to do a days work in a day. I find it hard to concentrate on one thing all day, it would be better to stretch it across 2 days if I can.

What about you? Did you achieve what you wanted in '14? And/or what do you hope to achieve in '15?

MML

I didn't realise this was a zombie thread! starting reading then saw my own post! Sobering!

So my three goals were

1. diversify clients - done and very successfully actually
2. explore subcontracting properly - also done, and actually it's not for me but I can at least say that from a position of knowledge now so - done
3. use downtime for creative work/write the book - big fat fail

So this year:

1. find a way to sustain creativity to actually produce more creative (unpaid) work, whether that's a course or a writing group or whatever
2. with a view to diversifying slightly and taking a post grad this year or next, produce more content in the new field
3. continue to find new clients at good rates.
4. get excited again. I'm in a rut but realistically, going back to employment is not an option, so I need to zuzz it up a bit for myself.

I realise that's 4!!

Love this thread - and so strange to see my post on this last year (freelancenewbie). I can't believe how fast 2014 whizzed by!

So my aims last year were to stick with my main client & to get to grips with the business side of things. I didn't stick with my main client in the end as it tipped the balance the wrong way & I got too stressed. So instead, I kept the client giving me less work & I'm much happier for it. I did however get to grips with the business side of things - my accounts etc - and feel quite empowered by how much I taught myself last year (as stressful as it was - and had I had the budget, I think it would have been easier to outsource but never mind!)

So, for 2015, my aims are:

1. Stick with my client. Don't go looking for more until September when DD starts school.

1. Enjoy my time with DD before she starts school!

1. Be much more organised this year re. accounts and HMRC.

oh...and I've decided that I am no longer a freelance newbie - hence the new name! Two years in, business is still going & I no longer feel like such a novice!

Good thread. I need to be more focussed with my non-billable hours.

1. Read the articles, reports and blogs I know I should.
2. Plan my own blogging / tweeting etc more strategically
3. Be willing to spend money on key events/trainings.

It's all about staying on top of my sector and keeping my expertise moving forward to keep my work fresh.

Thanks for giving me a prompt to articulate this.

I can't believe this was a year ago!

My goals were:

1. Take some genuine time off when new baby arrives, even if just 2-3 weeks FAIL

1. Ditch the lower quality work for exclusively higher quality (I do a weird mixture of top end and high st work atm)

I have taken on an assistant to do the lower end stuff so I can concentrate in high end, so win win

1. Quote quote quote. Get the quotes right and keep clients better informed about fees. I find they can swallow the higher quotes better when they really need you than when you've done the job

Probably not as good as I could be.

It was a mental year both personally and professionally and I increased my income by around 50% but at the expense of my sanity.

This year

1. Get referrals from certain big firms
2. Take time to market all year
3. Sustain income