The end of the year always bring a bunch of these types of blog posts around the blogosphere. It’s the old “what I’m going to do next year” post.
I’ve done a couple of these in the past, but this year I thought I’d put a bit of a spin on it and discuss some specific things I want to do better in my business in 2013.
Once all the craziness of the few weeks leading up to Christmas dies down I often find there is a few days just before knocking off for the year that are nice and quiet.
It’s the perfect time for reflection.
The Year That Was 2012
This year has been one hell of a roller coaster for me with the main event being that I quit my job in April to pursue freelance web development on my own.
I ended up starting a web development company and found some really great first clients, all of whom I’m very grateful towards for helping me build my consulting business, but that’s not all.
There is a number of business activities on the boil for me leading into 2013:
- Continuing to expand my web development company, Rymera Web Co
- Improving and building on the success of my most successful premium WordPress plugin, ThirstyAffiliates; and
- A number of other small website ventures
Looking back over the year I’ve discovered that of all my projects I really want to focus on the top two. They are the things that are most important to me.
Rymera Web Co
Rymera Web Co is my baby. I’ve worked really really hard over the last 8 months to build up a business that I’m proud of.
We’ve done some really excellent work for our clients, launched many websites and helped countless people with specialist WordPress support.
Everyday I am amazed at what has happened and how it’s grown in such a short amount of time.
I want to keep growing Rymera Web Co over the next year. 2012 saw me pouring a lot of energy into it and that’s not going to be slowing down anytime soon.
ThirstyAffiliates
Second is the first premium WordPress plugin I ever created, ThirstyAffiliates.
While it’s not the only one in my stable of WordPress plugins, it’s certainly the most successful, probably because it’s the one that I have worked hardest at marketing and improving.
All the hard work over the last two years with this plugin is really starting to pay off.
We had our best ever month in November and if I can keep increasing the feature set, keep scoring favourable reviews, and implementing all my other marketing strategies around this product I think it will certainly become a core part of my overall business.
What I Want To Do Better In 2013
So with this all in mind, I started brainstorming about what I want to do better next year in my business to enable me to achieve my goals for all my projects. Below is the list that I came up with:
1. Build My List
I have a number of email marketing lists. My biggest by far is actually one of my smaller websites, Teach Yourself Websites. It’s a website offering a free eCourse on how to build a website and is something I did looked at expanding in the latter half of this year with mixed success.
One thing I’m really proud of with Teach Yourself Websites is it’s ability to grow it’s list and increase prospects from it.
That’s something I really want to take into all corners of my business, especially with Rymera Web Co and ThirstyAffiliates.
I’m creating content with fervor these days for both of these companies and the next major “to do” is to build my list.
I have a small list going with both of them, but next year I really want to kick this into overdrive.
2. Productize
Creating products is a strategy that I’ve always been fond of because it de-couples your physical hourly constraints from the dollars that you earn.
I’ve seen this strategy working most successfully with ThirstyAffiliates.
Each month I put just a few hours work into this product and it continues to sell by itself because of all the systems I’ve put in place.
Basicaly, every hour that I put in provides me with a lasting return and this is something that I want to carry over to my web development business, Rymera Web Co.
While I don’t believe in productizing web design packages (because every business I work with is different), my immediate thoughts are to make product type offerings that can be purchased online.
This could take the shape of something like a social media setup package where we go ahead and create Facebook and Twitter pages for clients that have a website but no social media presence.
Tasks like that take a finite amount of time which can be averaged and estimated into a packaged price.
3. Design
This is somewhat of a personal goal. I want to keep researching, reading about and implementing what I learn in regards to design.
I’m thinking about taking a course on design and maybe getting more formal qualifications in the area.
Additionally, I’ve also considered going the other way and maybe hiring someone that can help out with putting the “finishing touches” on design work.
Overall it’s just about improving quality. I’m happy with the work I’m producing, but I’m always actively looking for ways to improve which is important to do as an entrepreneur.
4. Systematising
Creating systems is a great way to leverage time and be more efficient.
While I’ve already started creating little systems for myself I’d like to get a bit more formal in my processes.
I need to think a bit more deeply about how I’m going to apply this in my business, but at least the thought and intention is there.
5. Tracking time and scheduling work
I have been tracking time spent using a system of spreadsheets that I setup, but I find that as it gets busier it’s hard to visualise the schedule of work.
Ideally I’d like to find some project management software that would work for both client work as well as project work.
A tall order I know, but there’s plenty of software solutions out there and I just need to trial them and see what works.
I’m currently using a combination of spreadsheets to track quotes, projects and hours and the free version of Wrike which does pretty well for organising my tasks across different projects.
Every morning and afternoon I take 10 minutes to plug in all my new tasks and keep it open during the day to cross things off and add new things that come up.
It’s good because I can schedule tasks into different days so in that way I have some basic management and forecast of my upcoming jobs.
The bad thing is that it’s not sophisticated enough for truly managing projects and things can get lost if I forget to put them in there.
6. Implementing my own marketing advice
Yeah.. I’m sure us bloggers are all a little bit guilty of this one.
I do a lot of writing around marketing and giving advice about strategies online, but I’m also not always the best at implementing them.
I need to fix this and it’s going to be one of my top priorities in the new year for Rymera Web Co.
I have a big list of things I want to get to, and associated tasks that have all fallen behind in my task list. They’re going to get nailed in the new year.
7. Focus
I have been getting the feeling of being spread too thin because of all the various projects I have going on, a common problem with entrepreneurs.
We chase down little ideas, trial things out, test hypothesis, and before you know there’s 10 projects going on simultaneously and it’s unmanageable.
Next year is going to be about focusing my energy on a few key projects and either selling some of my smaller websites that only bring in a few dollars a month or letting them fall by the wayside.
Focus, focus focus. That’s going to be my mantra.
Rounding Out The Year 2012
This year really has been one of those years where I’ve said the phrase “things are never going to be the same from now on” so many times that I’ve lost count.
Calling it a roller coaster is an understatement, but at the same time I’m very grateful for where my life is at right now.
I have a wonderful family and I’m finally following my dreams of working for myself, something that I’ve been talking about for the last 5-10 years.
I know that 2013 is going to be a tough year as far as work goes, but it’s also going to be a year of great things.
Anyway, enough said about me. What about you? Have you written a “goals post” yet for 2013?
If so, leave a comment and a link below!
The post Things I Want To Do Better Next Year In My Business appeared first on Code My Own Road.