Beginnings of years, the start of the new school term and Easter are all opportunities to take time out to reflect on our businesses.  On how far we have come and where we want to go.

In our fast paced lifestyles, it can be hard to carve out just half an hour, let alone a day to give ourselves space and time to really get to the bare bones of our businesses and where we want to be.

If you’re feeling in a reflective mood, and I am now, then there are some tips below to help you take stock and congratulate yourself on how far you’ve come.

But first I’ll do some reflecting!

When I first started my business, it was all a bit of an accident.  I’d known I wanted to work for myself, but there was no grand plan, no strategy or goals.  I just ended up working freelance for one start-up social enterprise in Camden, got a good reputation, was hired by a small charity in Camden and then thought – ‘Hey I could do this for other businesses as well!’  I wasn’t even specifically working with social media – I was brought in to be part of the management team to start the social enterprise in Camden as I’d done a similar thing in Nottingham. Communication and marketing has always been my bag though and social media seemed a smart way to communicate with lots of people, so I started learning more about it.

Fast forward nearly 4 years and I’m running my own digital marketing agency, lecturing at universities, teaching entrepreneurs how to grow their business online and managing several businesses social media accounts.

It’s only in the past year that I’ve started to get strategic and this is where I’ve seen my business grow the most.

So how can you develop your business and move in the direction you want to go?

First – look back

It’s all too easy to look at where we aren’t, we can forget how far we’ve come.  Measure your success by how far you’ve come.  There will be have been challenges along the way and you may not be quite where you want to be.  But as you’re reading this I assume you are still running your business, so you are successful. Hurrah!  Think about where you were when you started, how much you’ve learnt and the connections you’ve made.

Give yourself a pat on the back.  It’s not easy hustling money out of thin air and convincing people to buy your products and services.  You’re doing grand.

Second – look around

Do an inventory of where you are currently.  How much money are you making each quarter?  How many clients or customers do you have that give you a regular income?  How much money does it cost you to run your business?  Have you got any staff or premises?  Get to know your figures, you need to know your business inside and out.

Know your figures for your digital marketing as well. Do you know how many people are visiting your website each week?  Which pages are popular?  Where people leave your website?  Make a note of your followers and likers on social media, what engagement have you currently got?  What about promotions you may have run.  How successful have they been?

And third – look to the future

This is the blue-sky stuff.  Where do you want to be in 5-10 years?  What can you do now to start moving in that direction?  What steps do you need to take, improvements, things you may need to learn to move your business in the right direction?

Set goals for your business, social media and web traffic.  Make these solid real figures so you have concrete goals to aim for.  And then create a plan to take you there.

In Morocco, they have a saying ‘Slowly, slowly put the camel in the pot’.  Once you’ve chased down a camel and killed it, you simply cannot put the whole camel in your pot and cook it in one go.  You need to break that camel down!  And it’s the same with your aspirations and goals.  Break them down.

Creating goals give you momentum, a forward motion, that drives you to grow and make changes.  We cannot simply stand still in business, there is always competition nipping at our heels!  Be the best you can be!

Why not work with me, we’ll look at your website, content and social media and create actionable steps for you to improve and move your business forward, to where you want to be. Get clarity and confidence promoting your business online!