Say hello to a brand-new decade!
It seems like 2020 came “roaring” in… which means, it’s time to start creating your 2020 growth goals for your service business.
When you first started your business, you probably had a “dream goal” in mind for “phase one.”
But then, somewhere along the way, you hit a “growth ceiling” you couldn’t break through.
To grow your business, you’ll need to pinpoint what’s causing your growth ceiling so you can find a solution to fix it.
To surpass your growth ceiling in 2020, you’ll need to create goals based on these key components:
- Getting paid faster
- Knowing your numbers
- Creating “trendy” marketing strategies
- Assessing your equipment
- Streamlining your everyday processes
- Hiring the best in class
- Checking your tunnel vision
If you plan your goal-setting efforts around these concepts, you’ll be on the right track to drastically increasing your profits in 2020.
1. Start Getting Paid as Fast as Possible
By far, THE FASTEST way for you to get paid is as simple as this: automatic credit card processing.
And, it simplifies just about every part of your business.
Many business owners want to charge credit cards, but there are a few things that hold them back:
- They’re afraid their clients won’t give them their credit card information because of security concerns.
- They’re scared of losing their clients that like paying by cash or check.
- They don’t have the right software or credit card processor.
- They think credit card processing fees would be too expensive.
But what if we told you there are answers and solutions to each of these concerns?
Every day you’re not auto-charging cards, is a day you’re losing money.
No one bats an eye when your electric company or subscription service asks for their credit card information, so why would they object to you asking for one?
You may be actually LOSING clients because you DON’T accept credit cards.
Some clients may find it a hassle to write checks or go to the ATM every time they need to pay you.
What’s even better… In Service Autopilot, you can auto-invoice, auto-charge, and auto-update all of your clients’ credit card information.
Gone are the days of manually sending invoices and tracking down your clients to get their new information for an expired card.
Plus, credit card processing essentially pays for itself because you won’t have to track down as many clients to pay their invoices every month.
Think about…
- The hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars you’ve lost while you’ve waited to take invoices to collections
- All of the endless hours you and/or your administrative assistant wasted calling clients for an unpaid invoice
- The countless times you and/or your team made “house calls” to attempt to get your client to pay
- And if all of that isn’t bad enough, it doesn’t even stop there. The list goes on and on and on…
Bottom line: stop wasting your time, money, resources, and man hours trying to get your clients to pay. When you automatically charge your clients’ credit cards, it helps to ensure you’ll get paid the right amount on time, every time.
Click here for more information about SA Payments.
2. Know Your Numbers INSIDE AND OUT!
The key to increasing your profits lies solely in the numbers.
Analyzing your data is like creating a 2019 storybook of your business. Interpreting this data tells you everything you need to know about how you’re going to grow your business in 2020.
You’ll pinpoint which marketing efforts worked or didn’t work, whether you lost or gained money, reveal your most and least profitable clients, uncover which services or upsells gained you the most profits, and so on.
You need to know the numbers for your:
- Most profitable neighborhoods
- Most profitable services
- Densest routes
- Marketing conversions
When you accurately track and analyze your numbers, you can more easily break through the growth ceilings of your business (which coincidentally, are usually due to cashflow issues).
Once you’ve analyzed these numbers, be sure to set hard targets for yourself:
- Number of new clients you want to sell
- Percentage of growth
And if for some reason you didn’t track your numbers in 2019, you need to start tracking RIGHT NOW for 2021 planning.
3. Be a “Trendy” Marketing Strategist
To create effective marketing strategies, you’re going to have to stay up-to-date with the latest consumer trends.
For instance, Inc. just released this statistical prediction for 2020:
“Stories and livestream video will dominate social media.”
This means, even if you’re on social media - you’ll be missing out on huge engagement (and sales) opportunities if you’re not properly utilizing stories and livestreams.
Based on your goals and numbers, find a marketing mix that’s right for you.
Your industry, location, target market segment, as well as a variety of other factors, will help you determine the right marketing mix for you.
And just in case you’re wondering, here’s a quick example of an effective marketing mix…
- A marketing mix can be your combination of:
- Direct mail (or print advertising) campaigns
- Text messaging
- Livestreaming
- Emails
- All of which compliment each other.
- Be sure you’re crafting personal and relevant messages for each channel.
When you create your uniquely perfect marketing mix, you can drastically increase your sales for 2020.
4. Do You Need to Repair or Buy More Equipment (Now or Later) This Year?
Every year, you should assess your equipment to determine if it’s going to help you achieve your goals.
Create an Excel spreadsheet. Document all of the equipment you have, what state they're in, and then compare this equipment against your 2020 goals.
- Do you need different equipment to meet the demands of your goals?
- Do you need to replace old or rundown equipment that’s vital to your success?
- Are there pieces of equipment that you don’t need for 2020 that you could sell?
And while you want to keep your goals in mind, don’t go overboard right away.
Sell the work → then buy more equipment.
Worry about buying more equipment after you reach your goal. For now, you just need to know if your current equipment will be able to help you reach your big, audacious 2020 goals.
5. Streamline Your Everyday Processes to Work Like Magic
You want your business to be as efficient as possible.
Nothing is a bigger cash suck than complicated, convoluted processes that waste time, confuse, and irritate your team.
Analyze your everyday processes and determine if there’s a more efficient way:
- Identify where you and your team are wasting the most time every day.
- Decide how you can simplify the time-wasting process.
- Create opportunities to improve your workflow.
- Set your priorities.
- Automate the process.
- Be prepared for potentially necessary adjustments.
- Refine the process as you discover more things.
While this is a GREAT way to start the new year, you should constantly be re-analyzing your processes. Additionally, you should encourage your team to do the same.
When everyone is looking for more simple solutions to your everyday tasks, you’re better able to make more time and money-saving solutions throughout the year.
6. Hiring the Best in Class
In any business, it’s extremely crucial you know how to properly find, interview, and hire great employees.
The services you’re offering can be incredibly physically demanding, difficult, and time-consuming… which is why you need to hire someone who’s reliable and will stick around.
To find the best in class, you’ll need a “Hire for attitude, train for skill” type of outlook.
Click here to get our full hiring guide.
Determine how many employees you NEED to reach your 2020 goals, and ask yourself:
“If I want to hit my goal, how many employees is it actually going to take to do that?”
Then, start developing a plan for hiring.
Always keep interviewing (even if you’re not hiring) and save their information.
As a result, when you need it, you’ll have a list of potential employees that are:
- Good enough to be employed by you
- And interested in being employed by you.
Expert Tip: Have your new employees start work BEFORE your busy season starts. This takes them off the marketplace, so your competitor doesn’t hire them.
7. Check Your Tunnel Vision!
During your slow season (if your industry has one), while you have a clearer perspective, define your idea of what a proper work-life balance looks like.
Create your goals in advance of your business season. You’ll be more likely to follow through with them.
Just like you set rules for your team, set rules for yourself.
For instance, you might make a rule for yourself that you won’t stay past 6 at the office… or that you won’t work more than 45 hours per week.
Also, (when it seems appropriate) consider instituting some of those same work-life balance rules on your team. This can help increase your employee satisfaction, reliability, and retention. Plus, it helps to avoid burnout too.
Use These Strategies NOW for Strong Business Growth in 2020
These 7 strategies are going to help you set up your business for overwhelming success in 2020.
Each strategy gives you the tools you need to create your own customized growth plan for the year.
These strategies will ensure you have the ability to set sustainable goals to push past those growth ceilings and grow your business beyond your wildest dreams.
