3 New Year’s Business Resolutions

A new year is ahead of us, and new plans and strategies need to be devised and set in gear. The world has been stuck in the global crunch long enough, and economies should – based on history, nothing else – go back to flourishing and making profits.

Even if the time is not due to come out of this depression, businesses need to make a move, hopefully in the right direction. Think of ways to get more customers, generate recurring revenues, go more social with your marketing plans, but any decent business owner knows all those ideas, now let’s get down to speaking about new ways to achieve those new year’s business resolutions.

Diversify your customers:

So your market is saturated and the competition is a cut throat one, but what about new markets? Yesterday, the case was that China is exporting to the West and the whole world. Tomorrow, it will be the other way around. Today, you better start preparing for global changes in trade routes and approach completely new markets and clienteles. The oil-rich Arabian states welcome all businesses, and with Russia and Qatar hosting the next rounds of FIFA world cup tournament, they will be investing billions of dollars on the much-needed infrastructure. Endless opportunities for businesses to benefit from such governmental investments are arising right now.

Develop a recurring revenue stream:

One-time customer is too expensive to get, and more expensive to keep. Look at Apple and its iPhones. Figures showed that 77% of iPhone 4 were upgrades by current customers and clients. Or consider the pay-as-you-grow offering, which many online services implement, to lure customers with low costs, and as they grow, the charges increase as well. For a customer to pay a recurring fee, you must continue to deliver value and innovation. Think of a more advanced version of your current service or product and launch it through a subscription only model. If you are not doing it already, design your product/service with recurring revenue in mind.

Redefine your market to be a first-place product:

Are you just another seller or service provider, or are you on top of your competitors? For your business to survive, you’ll need to narrow down your targeted market, and claim its leadership. From marketing lessons we all know the fact that if you are not the leader of your category, you better set up a brand new category and claim its leadership. Granted, this can be a risky and pricey decision, but you need to try it out anyway. Surviving relies on experiencing with new ideas and strategies, you can never tell if anything would work out for you until you try it. Keep trying!