New Years Resolutions for Your Business

Woman in business have lots of outside distractions and obligations, for those of us who work from home these distractions are more demanding and more urgent. With the New Year upon us it is time to start thinking about resolutions and how to improve business for 2008.

There are a few things I want to challenge all business women to do, especially those in direct sales working from home. First write down both personal and business goals for 2008, make sure you write them down. A goal that is NOT written down is a wish, not a goal. By writing down your goals you have focused yourself instead of going down tangent after tangent. It is so easy to get off course and add things that do not benefit your main goals. Now that you know the outcome you want write down how you are going to get there. This becomes your business plan, it can be that simple.

Business plans can be a simple plan on how to attain your goals and other times it can be a complicated 50 page document with financial statements and projections. Which you will need depends more upon who is going to read it, if you are going to keep it as a road map then simple will be sufficent. If you are looking for investors or a bank loan then you will be needing a much more indepth complex document. Every business needs a business plan, even direct sales reps who sell something here and there need a business plan.

What you will need in your business plan will depend on what type of business and plan you need, but there are some basic items. You will need to identify what your core business is, that which makes you money. Many women spend too much time doing things that don't make them money and not enough time doing stuff that will. By outlining what your core business is it will enable you to ask, "is what I am doing now going to lead to me making money?" If not, then re think what you are doing and find resources that can help you. You will need to identify what your experience is and strengths are. By knowing your strengths you will understand what you are good at and be able to structure your business to your strengths. You will need to identify your weaknesses. By knowing your strengths you will be able to identify what resources you need to find. A business plan is a tool to focus yourself and understand your business and what you need to do.

If you have made the decision to start a business, if you have invested money into it, why not take it seriously enough to succeed? There will always be distractions, especially when you work from home, what matters is how you manage them. By sitting down and writing a business plan outlining your goals, how you will achieve them, your core business, your strengths, and your weaknesses, you will have a road map to succeed.