The end of the year is always a time for some reflection - have I got where I wanted to be, where do I want to be this time next year, what mistakes have I made and how can I learn from them in the future?
In this article, you can have a sneak peak inside my business review for the past twelve months, and find out where I'm going in 2003...and learn how to boost your own business profits at the same time.
Have I got where I wanted to be?
My main aim this time last year was to work towards working full-time on the business at home - by March 2002, I was doing exactly that.
Over the summer, and not before time, I formulated a clearer strategy for the business to enable me to make more money by working less.
This meant much more focus on building my own software - I build it once and can then sell it on auto-pilot many times over for months to come.
This creates a much better profit-effort ratio than for example doing work for a fixed one time fee - I still do this too, but my priority is the more profitable former strategy.
As a result of this strategy, the second half of 2002 saw growth of close to 80% in my software sales, in comparison to the first six months - and my business is due to grow by a truly astonishing 72% or more over the next 12 months.
By using a similar strategy for your own business (it doesn't have to be software), if you're not already, this time next year you could be looking at similarly practically doubling your profits.
Where do I want to be this time next year?
I like to set targets so that I know exactly what I am aiming towards. My main targets for the coming year are as follows.
1. Education, education, education
To continue LEARNING as much as possible from appropriate sources - this not only means READING as much as possible, but also studying other successful web sites and borrowing some of the techniques they use.
I use the Secrets to Success site regularly in order to effectively SPY on big dollar web sites.
2. Double my profits
To achieve a growth in profits of 75% or more - yes, this means I am working towards virtually DOUBLING my profits, without doubling my workload.
I can do this by simply directing my efforts towards long-term gain and by following the strategy outlined above.
For example, at present I am building up my own personal list of ezines that I can submit articles to, which will give me exposure to millions of ezine readers.
This takes a great deal of time for little short term gain (so many 'article submission' type lists are incredibly out of date), and for this reason not many internet marketers bother to do it, but over the long-term this will yield incredible results and give me a strong competitive advantage.
3. Add multiple income streams
To add other income streams much more rapidly than I achieved in 2002 - this means not only adding at least four new high-quality products to my product line over the course of the next 12 months, but also adding other persistent income streams from appropriate products that I am affiliated with.
What mistakes have I made, and how can I learn from them in the future?
All mistakes can be seen as positive - by making a mistake, you learn a great deal, such is the benefit of experience.
I've made too many mistakes over the past 12 months to list them all here, but here are three of them:
1. Lack of focus
It took me far too long to actually focus on what my business was about - once I acknowledged my general lack of direction, I was able to pinpoint my niche and direct my marketing efforts towards it, and with a better direction for the business it has become more successful.
2. Not taking enough VACATION!
No, seriously.
Taking vacations can give you a chance to take a step back from the business and examine where you are heading and where you want to go - it's this gap between ambition and actual destination that can mean the difference between success and failure.
Vacations give you clarity of thought, refresh the body, mind and spirit, and can generate the most amazing profit-spinning ideas, simply because your thought is not clouded by the day to day tasks that get in the way of inspiration.
My vacation last summer, although short, was extremely beneficial to my business over the long-term, even though I wasn't strictly working.
In essence, working every waking hour is not always as advantageous to your business as you may think, especially if the destination you are working towards is in fact the wrong one.
3. Too much focus on work that was NOT beneficial over the long-term
I spent a lot of time in 2002 working on things that had no real long-term benefit. Now, I try to prioritize the work that will have the most advantageous effect, even if that effect is not immediate.
In this vein, it's often in my interests to turn down opportunities that have immediate value, but would mean less time spent on longer-term strategies that would have greater benefit.
The key for long-term business growth is to prioritize the greater long-term benefit.
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