19 Dec From the Chair: Success in the Year Ahead
The new year is here and now what? I’m not much for New Year’s resolutions.
At the end of every year I take time to reflect. I reflect on what worked and what didn’t work. I look at things I need to stop doing. I do this for both my personal and professional life. I evaluate who do I want to spend more time with and what do I want to spend more time doing.
The evaluation of relationships is important to me. Not all relationships are healthy, productive, or profitable. This is one reason why I work with my executive team do an assessment of our current clients, vendors, and team members.
I choose who I do business with and who I do it for. A purge plan for non-productive and unadvantageous relationships are vital for growth.
This year we are reviewing and upgrading our training for our cleaning technicians. For companies that put employees first, including Richard Branson’s, good training strategy essentially becomes good business strategy. Whether you decide to focus your priorities on employees or not, it should be clear that better training makes better companies and happier customers.
Some of the area of my businesses I evaluate are my marketing, sales, recruitment, and operations strategies. How effective were they? Do they need to be changed or updated?
I do an assessment of our fleet of vehicles, computer, cell phones, tablets, printers, and cleaning equipment to get an idea about what may need to be replaced with new ones. This a replacement plan. Knowing when to expect to replace your vehicles and other equipment helps you survive unexpected breakdowns and emergency replacement expenses.
Every year is a good time to shop your current insurance. Compare you rates for health, auto, liability, and worker’s compensation. You need to make sure you are properly insured, especially if your business has grown.
Marketing is expensive but necessary. You do not want to be paying for something that is outdated and uneffective. Take inventory of your marketing efforts and make sure you are getting a good return on your investment.
I look at automating everything possible in my personal and professional like. One of the best places to start the automation process is with menial tasks that prevent your staff from doing the valuable work you hired them for. Look for automation platforms that do things like store email templates or perform mundane customer service. By eliminating those tasks, your workers can focus more on expansion and increasing revenue. It might present an opportunity to evaluate and possibly replace your current software.
With everything else that is going on right now, don’t forget to make time to evaluate the hits and misses in your business. The new year is a great time to start identifying necessary improvements. As always, keep it simple and be specific.
All the best to you and yours,
Alonzo
Alonzo Adams is the President of Busy Bee Cleaning Company Inc. located in West Chester, PA. He serves on the board of directors and is the chair of the ISSA Residential Cleaning Council, which represents ARCSI, a Division of ISSA, the residential cleaning arm of ISSA.