What are your 3 business aims for 2016?

[MrsMargoLeadbetter]

Hello

A few of us contributed to this thread about this time last year.

So how did you do? And what are your aims for 2016?

So me in 2015:

1. I did do more of my niche work, but I also secured a well paying SME client - so shows you aims are only guidance!

2. I didn't produce more content, in fact I produced less :( however I also posted a few guest blogs which I think is better than my own in a way and helps me reach a new audience.

3. Well, I worked a lot less in the first 6 months but not in a good way (ie not enough work & money) but then the 2nd half has been manic. So money is ok overall, but I didn't achieve any work/life balance in the later half.

So, 2016:

1. Working smarter. I (marketing freelancer) am a complete perfectionist, which means things take longer than they should. I want to ease up a tiny bit on that, to enable me to have a better worklife/balance. I am sure my 90% will be good enough for clients.

2. Take a breath before I spend money. When I am busy I go into panic mode and chuck money & resource at 'the problem' which has meant I have wasted money this year. I want to try to avoid that.

3. Do more direct business development. I have managed to avoid it, as generally something has come along but I need a healthier approach to pipelining.

So, what about you?

Hey! I only set up in November but going well so far. I have a few though.

1. by the end of 2016, I would like to be confidently turning over £1.5k per month with regular clients

2. To generally be more efficient, better, and savvy so I'm spending my billable time more wisely and am better value for money for my clients.

3. To study for and complete 3 specific exams to enable me to offer a slightly larger variety of services.

4. If I have a chance get a website up and running :-)

Well I am only starting to trade on Monday but I already have 2 / 3 clients lined up. My 3 aims are:

1. To use my local contacts and become the first port of call in the area for what I do.

1. To be open about offering other services and not to restrict myself to a narrow portfolio (I do have a lot of varied experience).

1. To be organised and methodical about invoicing /credit control, social media postings and other marketing activity.

Confused im a bookkeeper if you'd like some tips about invoicing and credit control

Thanks Crazy that's really kind of you - but bookkeeping is actually one of the things I will be offering! I'm just conscious of that old problem, you know: the electrician's house is always the one that needs rewiring but the electrician is always too busy to do it! I just need to make sure I dedicate some regular time to my own admin.

I'm not trading....just yet. But I just hope I can get off the ground and support my family.

Hi everyone
I recently joined mumsnet, I am normally lurking on style and beauty. So glad to have found this topic as I love to chat about business!

I only started my business a few months ago in 2016 my aims are

1. To build up more clients for the call handling side of my business.

2. Do more networking both online and face to face.

3. Work on content marketing. Am planning on making videos to upload to my blog.

My 2015 post was....

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

---------

In terms of my 2015 goals, I have failed at (1) and realised its not achievable or desirable. I've marketed but not consistently, but I don't think that matters so much. Importantly, I sustained my income having taken on my assistant so I'm pleased with that. Her income trebled.

2016 goals

1. Don't let income drop despite having baby
2. Attend marketing event monthly
3. Organise the smaller matters to be more efficient

Really, I want to say obtain 3-4 new significant matters but I don't have control over that. I'll be 38 this year and feel I'm reaching my peak years. Some of my matters reflect that but not enough of them, so I'm working on that. If I don't 'make it' now, I won't.

I didn't do this last year as I've only just come across but as I'm at the stage of looking at how I can grow my business in the next year it seems like a good idea to join in. So:

1. Double subscriptions. My main product is a subscription of a frequent order of my product and to have a stable income I need to double the number of subscribers

2. Outsource parts of the business. I really struggle with marketing and content (ironically this is what I did before starting my own business but I got really burned out which is why I quit and probably why I can't face doing it now!).

3. Do more events to raise my profile.

4. Try to figure out how the hell you manage to maintain a business with a newborn around. I'll find out the hard way in July...

For context whilst I am self employed due to my industry I employed 17 other people in a long established business so I have some big goals for this year

1. hit the £1million turnover
2. increase my bonded clients through a 'club' scheme by 25%
3. continue to make my business more niche by exploiting the differences between us and our competitors.

Great responses so far. Sounds like lots of ppl have had good years, but maybe not planned that way!

Lone you win the income target comp! Great to hear you are setting your sights high. I will hopefully finish this financial year £10K above my last employed salary which I feel is an important benchmark and not bad considering I have had a baby mid freelancing.

And for me:

(1) Increase sales by 30% against 2015

(2) Work smarter, not harder. Automate, delegate, eliminate with automated email campaigns, IT systems, processes, systemitising. Also, saying 'no' more... as it's about the 20% that delivers 80% of the results.

(3) Build a team of excellent people - using more (and better fit) freelancers last year made a significant difference, particularly with pay-per-click, design and with virtual assistance type work.

Just to add, I'm hoping to get pregnant with #2 this year, hence why I'm very focused on 2 & 3!!

I didn't join in on the last thread but, for 2016:

1. Stop procrastinating during the day. (Less daytime navel-gazing would get me pretty much on 9-5 hours and leave time to develop new ideas into viable projects.)

1. Be more organised and develop a better system for simultaneous projects.

1. Refresh my portfolio with current and quality work to attract more of the higher paying clients.

My business aims are

1. To apply to sell my scented candles on Not On The High Street.
2. To develop a candle making kit
3. To apply to go to the Country Living fair.

fingers crossed it all works out

Bump

I can’t see that we did a 2017 post so here’s to 2018!

——————————————————————

My 2015 post was....

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

---------

In terms of my 2015 goals, I have failed at (1) and realised its not achievable or desirable. I've marketed but not consistently, but I don't think that matters so much. Importantly, I sustained my income having taken on my assistant so I'm pleased with that. Her income trebled.

2016 goals

1. Don't let income drop despite having baby
2. Attend marketing event monthly
3. Organise the smaller matters to be more efficient

Really, I want to say obtain 3-4 new significant matters but I don't have control over that. I'll be 38 this year and feel I'm reaching my peak years. Some of my matters reflect that but not enough of them, so I'm working on that. If I don't 'make it' now, I won't.

—————————————————

2016/17 ended up being a bit mental. I took on 3 new assistants but lost one just before Christmas. I have worked harder and longer hours than I ever knew was possible (12-14 hours at my desk) despite have 4 kids aged 1, 3, 5 and 7. It’s very nearly broken me. I’ll be 40 in 2018 and my business goals are:

1. Trust my gut and don’t take on the clients I know will be a headache
2. No more shitty ‘I’ll pay you at the emd’ Jobs...currently owed 750k in those...and I get burnt every fucking time
3. Be better at having time for the clients who pay and who need support

Bump!

Aim to keep as I am but increase earnings by £20 through better efficiencies and greater experience.

Put a k after that 20!