The summer’s over. You’ve gone on your vacation, relaxed with family or friends – or not – and it’s back to work. Your clients are asking for additional projects, services or help. Your staff is back on full-day Fridays.

Now, it’s time to collect your thoughts and push yourself to make real progress on your own business by the end of the year.

1. Evaluate.
What did you accomplish this year? What haven’t you accomplished yet, that you really want to do? Perhaps it’s increasing the skill sets of your team. Improving or automating a system or process. Trading your current client base up for those a little easier to work with and more willing to pay.

Whatever it is, don’t let go of the dream. Write it down.

2. Commit.
We all like to dream. But your business won’t improve until you commit to getting it done. Yes, it takes a minute to write – and that’s the only way you’ll get it done.

How we did it: one key initiative per month. August was all about staffing: finding another good, strong marketer and realigning our team. September: improving financial systems and processes. October: hardware upgrades and office refresh. November: evaluate and reassess partnerships. December is a present to ourselves: upgrade our own marketing.

Now, it’s your turn to jot down your goals.

3. Assign a leader.
Designate one person to lead and report in to your team on the monthly initiative. Maybe it’s you, or maybe it’s a team member. Whatever it is, make sure that you give that person the time, attention and support needed throughout the month, so that when they report in at the end of the month, it’s about the success of the initiative and the results achieved.

You may be paring back to fundamentals, reassessing the road chosen, expanding your market, or finally launching that much-anticipated brand, product or service. Whatever it is, set out a simple plan so that you know that you’ll be seeing success at the end of the year.

Step up. We’ll be right there with you.

September 17, 2014