Your Business New Year Goals

[420xPASSiONx420]

I was inspired by this article titled 10 New Year Resolutions to Boost Your Business that I thought this would be a great topic to discuss goals and resolutions for the business side of our lives.

Since I've recently relocated my practice my goal is to finish decorating the new space. I'm close but there are a few things I want to purchase to complete the project.

Another goal is to personally meet and network with as many local business owners as I can in the New Year. I'm thinking of creating a journal and recording the encounters and my impressions and thoughts. When I return to the journal for a referral I'll have a captured impression of when I met that business owner and it will jog my memory of the meeting. I can be terrible with names so I think this will work very well in my favor - and my poor memory will thank me for the help!

What are some of your goals for your business in 2008?

 

[julie_becu]

I am going to start giving out bottles of water, and bags of epsom salts to all my clients after their treatments.

I am going to work on my client retention, and client reactivation. Send out post cards, birthday cards, reminders on a much more regular basis. The first will be an announcement to everyone who I have a chart on, whether they see me regularly, or I haven't seen them in 2 years. See who I can reactivate.

I am creating advertising to promote gift certificates for birthdays, mothers day, fathers day, valentines day etc to promote in the clinic I work in.

Thank you for this post. It was helpful to actually write things out, few other things percolating, but not solid yet

Myrrha

 

[Alesxandurr]

GREAT interesting topic -- I'll have to give this some thought before I reply.

I wanted to suggest to Dragonflies that you put a number to your goal. The little training I've had on goal-setting always stresses to make your goals as quantifiable/verifiable as possible -- don't make it too easy or you won't stretch yourself (but don't make it so hard that it will seem impossible either!). Maybe set a quarterly "number of new contacts" goal (monthly might be a little too frequent?).

 

[KU_doc]

I am going to work on my client retention, and client reactivation. Send out post cards, birthday cards, reminders on a much more regular basis. The first will be an announcement to everyone who I have a chart on, whether they see me regularly, or I haven't seen them in 2 years. See who I can reactivate.

I need some focus on this area too! I'm picking some "welcome to the practice" cards that I can send out after a new client's session. I've done welcome letters/packets but it is too time intensive for me to keep it up. I think the pre-printed cards will make it easier for me to get them out in a timely manner.

I am also toying with the idea of seasonal cards that say "hey, we haven't seen you in _____" (not exactly those words!). I don't know if that would be more pesky to receive or if I'd be grateful for the reminder if it arrived in my mailbox.

 

[ikenna]

good ideas, good goals.

my goal this year is that everything that the business purchases will be paid for at the time of purchase. no more charging.

also - when g/c season started i opened a savings account for the business and have enough of a stash in there so far to pay a month's rent (which isn't cheap.. at all) and have a little left over.

mostly, i'm hoping that my other MTs are setting goals for themselves - if they could build their businesses that would totally rock. but for some people it's hard to motivate them if their name isn't on the bottom line. so my goal for that is to team build.

 

[Ju-Ju-Be]

Our hotel-based business goals:

Increase prices 10% in NYC and at least one other market

Average 20% volume growth over '07
* half from new properties
* half from improving poorest performing 25% of properties

Win 2 hotel treatment room/ small spa management contracts

Be featured in 3 national publications and 2 trade publications

Corporate business

Increase # of hours sold 4x

Win a national, multi-city contract of at least 1,000 hours annually with a professional services firm (law, accounting, consulting...)

 

[x Fireheart<3 Mackenzie C]

* Beginning in Feb, 2 new clients/week for the next 8 months

* Specific $ amount in the bank at end of each quarter - goal for each quarter, reevaluated quarterly (this year was the first year I really committed to specific cash-flow goals and it REALLY made a difference)

* 2 new 3-hour weekly company-chair clients started by end of March, or 3-4 biweekly chair clients (targeting the large medical groups in our area)

* Set aside $2000 for an electric lift table by end of July

* Replace carpet and repaint by end of year

* Attend state AMTA conference

* Finish the sign-up process with 4 insurance networks by the end of January, and implement our marketing plan to publicize that I am billing for these insurances when approval comes through

* Get website optimized, cleaned up, and "prettier" -- our goal is to bump up our Google page rank one numer by the end of the year, and to be the #1 non-sponsored search for a list of specific terms (bellingham massage, stuff like that) by the end of August.

* Take the 2nd series of Structural Relief Therapy classes when they are offered in my town -- I believe that's this spring

Then here are some goals that need some more specifics to firm them up:

* Learn more about business in general. This might be taking a class, but if there is not time for that I am looking for a good list of books. I've heard that Larry Winget has a list of 12 he recommends -- one a month for a year -- that I am trying to find, so I can check out from the library. Get this together by the end of January

* Lay out my course of technique/condition study for the year. Basically I need to figure out what conditions I want to study more in-depth, and what techniques I want to learn to make my treatments more effective. This goal-setting needs to be done by the end of February

* Implement some retail. Yeah pretty broad I know. I'm giving myself the first half of the year to learn about product sales in a situation like mine, get some good advice, and figure out how to try a line or two (or specific products) in a relatively low-risk way.

As far as implementing practices to help me accomplish these goals, I've committed to a specific schedule of work rather than the as-needed basis I got into after my son was born. And specific hours of that schedule are already set aside especially for marketing and especially for continued study.

I'm a little nervous posting this list -- now I have to go out and accomplish these things!

 

[seahorse02]

this year was the first year I really committed to specific cash-flow goals and it REALLY made a difference

The only effective way to reach a destination is to have a map of how to get there.

 

[Unbreakable]

Yeah, it was interesting setting shorter-term cash goals. I mean it's easy to figure out how many massages per week are needed to generate $X (turnover, I believe it's called?). And separately, I knew how much my expenses were. But for some reason I hadn't taken that specific step of saying "I want the bank balance to be $Y at the end of quarter 1." I didn't always meet the goals but of course that in itself is valuable information, both at the time and for comparison in later years.

 

[Jessica L]

2008 Goals:

~Put together a decent but affordable "new client gift packet".
~Take a yummy CEU (Ashiatsu is way up there on the list I think - or the pregnancy massage cert I've been dying to finish up)
~Gain 10 new clients each quarter
~Maintain my 90% client retention rate (3 month return rate)
~Pay off my "business start up" credit card and get it back to zero balance by June 2008 (that will be 1 year from start of business)
~Teach a minimum of two community education programs in 2008.
~Write a minimum of two massage related articles per month.

That's it for now I think.

Angela

 

[Pompal 09.]

~ bump ~

 

[Janapix14]

Oh this is such a good topic. Been thinking on this for a while and thought I would add some of mine.

1. Write up a quick and easy e-newsletter and get that sucker sent out EVERY month. (emphasis added for my benefit)

2. Make a list of things that need to be added to my practice. (e.g. new face cradle covers, a separate tv cart thing for my towel warmer)

3. Get that list of things done, purchased, or added.

I love this board, thanks guys! One idea I gleaned from the boards is the idea of giving each client a bottle of water with my usual post massage speech about drinking water, etc. rubber banded to the top. I found some colorful bands that will work great at the local office supply store.

Hooray!

 

[max g]

My number one goal is to put a massage table in each senior facility I go to regularly. The first was placed today. Then I'll only have to carry the lightest table (have to figure out which that will be and maybe purchase it, if it isn't the one I just got) to private home clients. The facilities are the hardest to carry it to, as some I end up going quite a distance, and also have to carry a large basket of sheets, the charts, oils, etc. Having the table already there will be such an improvement!!

 

[arcusx]

~ bumpita bump ~

 

[Jenken]

Oh I forgot I had a couple others:

I would like to see writeups about my practice in both of the local business journals. The daily paper would be OK but the biz journals come out once a week (alternating weeks) so the story is around for longer.

I published one article last year in a local magazine; I would like to publish 2 more.

I have started a lecture series, and I would like to present from that at least 6 times this year. I have the first one booked so far!

 

[dews.drops]

mine is not completely set in stone. it's more a stream-of-conciousness based list for right now.

Massage Goals 2008


1. Study muscles every day
2. study massage boards every day & take notes
3. Take & pass the NCTs and FSMTBs by July 1
4. Engage in active marketing by March 15
*select business cards, brochures and fliers and have them in print or in hand
*seek speaking opportunities within the regional community
*schedule at least 1 speaking engagement by July1
*Wear at least 2 massge therapist t's or polos per week, including 1 to church
*design logo and have 3 polos embroidered by April 15
*Donate at least 2 1-hour sessions per month to charity
5. Take at least 1 CEU per quarter starting in July
6. Write at least one business related article per month, submit at least quarterly for publication
7. Join chamber by November 1st
8. Obtain a slot in the community building at the neighboring county fair
9. Give a grand-opening interview to the local papers by April 15th
10. Take part in at least 3 community activities for networking purposes each quarter.
11. Subscribe to MTJ & M&B effective March 1
12. Obtain supplemental business & health insurance effective March 15th