The start of the year is a perfect time to take some time to self-reflect and evaluate goals and decisions from the previous year.  I’m sure most of you have started to do this with your business as well, but have you put any of these plans into action?  Probably not.  It’s officially 2009 so why not start the year off right by initiating some of your Business New Year’s Resolutions!  If you didn’t make any, here are some starters to get your business started in an upward climb to more success!

• Clean Out Your Email. This is the perfect opportunity to clean up your Inbox, sort your email out into folders, consolidate, delete, and organize all of your messages.  Start 2009 off by creating one large folder that is labeled 2008 and drop all of your folders into that single folder.  Then create all new folders for 2009 according to your projects and job needs.

• Communicate and Listen. Take the time to listen to your colleagues and employees.  Times are tough, taking a few moments to really listen to those you work with can go a long way.  If you have people working under you, make sure to listen to their needs and try to accommodate those that are similar across the board.  Not the boss?  Make sure to clearly communicate your needs in the work environment.

• Plan. Planning and timing are everything.  Make sure to take a look at your business and employee needs, then take the next step and plan out your time frame, budgeting needs, and a plan of action to meet the requirements of the necessary alterations and further advancement of the business.  Having a clear timed out plan will enable you to create deadlines and prioritize accordingly.

• Vacation. Start planning your vacation now.  As it gets closer to the warmer months, people start placing last minute requests for vacation.  Having a calendar with vacation black out dates (dates which due to business are not allowed for vacation) can help you organize time frames for which vacation can be taken.  Also, planning now, will allow your request to be processed first, which given the first come first serve theory, will help ensure you get the specific dates you’d like off.

• Reward. This is a great time to set up rewards for outstanding performance within your team.  Creating mini-contests and other ways of rewarding your staff is a great way to motivate your team and get results.  Rewards don’t have to be monetary, use things like a longer lunch period for a week, leaving work early for a day or even earning paid days off, are great incentives that are usually more appealing than a monetary reward.

• Save. Encourage saving within your team.  With the economy shrinking more before it grows, you can help ease some of the stress of your team by giving suggestions and ways to save.  Sending out an email with saving tips, creating a saving plan within your financial department in which your team may opt into to save additional money, or planning a seminar for your employees teaching them money management techniques.

Most importantly make sure you plan and take action, the sooner the better.  You can’t go wrong with planning out for your business.  Have your marketing team put together the most affordable techniques, have your sales team work together to create a sales strategy that has, throughout the years, proven to work, and set yourself up for success!  Having a defeatest attitude does nothing to help your business, your team, or yourself!  Happy New Year!