Four 'New Financial Year' Resolutions For Your Business

As the end of December rolls around each year, most of us take some time to reflect on the year that we're leaving behind and set some goals for the new one. While the new financial year certainly lacks the hype, champagne pops and midnight smooches of its calendar equivalent, it’s still a great opportunity to pause and use the same principles of reflection and resolution. Here's four tips to set you and your business up for a successful  New Financial Year. 

1. Success Starts With You - how to habit hack. 
​Owning a business has never been easy but in the constantly connected, 24/7, global environment that we operate in today, ensuring you prioritise your well-being is not only vitally  important  but also incredibly challenging. 

The key to creating a lifestyle that supports you and has you waking ready to take on the world rather than cowering under the doona is creating good habits. We are basically the sum of our habits formed over time and with the demands of running a business its not hard to form ones that aren't really helping us. 

Our brain actually seeks to optimise and this little routine-maker, habit-former brain of ours is truly amazing. But of course, it doesn’t necessarily mean it knows how to differentiate helpful patterns from unhelpful ones. This means that it easily forms other habits like over-working, comfort eating, chronic worry, procrastination, staying up late, distracted desk-time, and my personal favourite -  the lure of a wine to wash away the end of a hard day. 

So the good news is we have an awesome piece of automation tucked up in that noggin' of ours. The challenge is consciously creating helpful habits to creative a positive 'Lifestyle Loop' (see below) that builds on each habit for success.

An example of a Negative  Lifestyle Loop
Wine at the end of the day to cope with stress> Poor sleep> Wake tired, don't exercise > Lacking motivation and direction to prioritise work> Eating sugary foods to keep going> Overwhelmed  and working late  >  No sense of achievement > Wine to wind down at end of day.

An example of a Positive Lifestyle Loop
Finishing the day and taking time out for something enjoyable (walk, rock-climb, movie, book) > Evening routine to wind down including limiting screen-time > Quality Sleep> Wake energised with time to plan the day's priorities> Stopping for breaks and taking time out> Feeling accomplished> Finish day with energy to pursue interests and relax.

RESOLUTION TIP: Spend twenty minutes looking at your current Lifestyle Loop. Often just modifying just one or two chinks in the chain, feeds into the changing of other habits. Set up a structure that supports success. 

2. Technology Tune-up.
When was the last time you reviewed the systems and technology in your business? The pace of  change means there are constant updates and new players that improve  and often cheapen the price of technology. Whether it's document storage, email platforms, CRM systems or collaboration tools, taking time out to review business-wide will improve efficiencies and most likely save you money.

RESOLUTION TIP - Spend fifteen minutes looking at the technology in your business and identify any updates or new player worth checking out. 

3. Purge Pain Points.

As anyone who runs their own business knows, it’s easy to get tangled up managing the day to day, lurching from one mini-catastrophe to the next ignoring the bigger vision you have . The new financial year is the perfect time to step back and look at your flows of frustration that waste time and energy and put measures in place to stop them recurring. 

So what were the pain-points this year in your business and what action can you take to purge them from this year? Here's some ideas to get you started.

• Staffing issues? Explore Xero apps that assist with staff management and rostering (click here).
• Late payments from clients? Switch on automatic invoice  reminders (click here) or consider incentives for early payment. 

• Wasting time looking for and managing receipts? Are you missing supplier payments or worse still, overpaying? This is the year to put a system in place and remove the hassle with apps like Receipt Bank (click here).
• Overworking and constantly tired? Running yourself into the ground continually? Embrace the habit hacks of point 1. 

RESOLUTION TIP: Spend thirty minutes identifying pain-points in your business and exploring ways you can avoid these this year. 

4. Engage The Services Of A Trusted Advisor.
Statistics show that small businesses have much higher levels of success when they engage the services of a trusted advisor to help them. Having a qualified BAS Agent/bookkeeper maintaining the day to day and ensuring you're compliant, using programmes efficiently and managing your profitability with a motivated accountant taking care of tax obligations and partnering with you in your vision, it's a no- brainer and a New Financial Year resolution that you must follow through on today.

What's more as trained and tech-savvy professionals,  they'll be able to assist you finding solutions for your pain-points and fine-tuning your technology. And importantly, it allows you to take care of your well-being via good habits for a positive Lifestyle Loop. You can sleep well knowing you have a team that supports you and your business. 

RESOLUTION TIP:  Do this today! For a list of Xero Advisors click here. 

Gabrielle Osborne (BAcc) is a small business specialist who loves to help business owners focus on what they do best. An innovation enthusiast and determined problem-solver, Gabrielle is also fun to work with.

​Xero Certified Advisor. 

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