52 Entrepreneurs Business Resolution / Goals For This Year
The resolution season is here!
For centuries, the start of New Year is considered as an opportunity to make a plan for the future. Today this type of planning is done in the form of New Year’s resolutions.
It is that time of the year where you take a hard look at your company:
How successful was the past year?
What could have been done better?
And most importantly, what you plan to do in the coming 12 months?
We asked entrepreneurs from a wide variety of business to share their business new year’s resolutions for 2018 with us.
Here are some inspirational business new year’s resolutions from budding to super-successful entrepreneurs around the world in no particular order.
Be the “Made in India” brand
- To be among the world’s top 3 robotics companies in the office robotics segment.
- To end the FY 2017-18 in profit and to end December 2018 with a cash surplus business.
- Be the best Indian startup to work for.
- Be a standards driven organization with ISO 9001:2015 certification and getting CE, RoHS
certification for our product. - Sell the product in ASEAN and GCC markets.
Ultimately, we want to be the “Made in India” brand that rest of the world respects.
– Bajaji Vishwanathan, Founder of Invento Robotics, popular on Quora
Improve my online digital presence
My business new year resolution is pay closer attention to my expenses & record keeping for administration purposes, to further improve my online digital presence, gain more email subscribers and to write more of my own articles for my blog.
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Was it achieved?
Yes, I achieved the goals! They were mostly achieved just by having a goal in the first place, by having something tangible to work towards. Challenges were mostly time management and forcing myself to do things – even if I preferred to be watching Netflix or playing PS4!
– Jacob Cass, Founder of Just Creative, popular on Twitter
Branch out to offer niche solutions
My goal is branching out in order to offer niche solutions to three different verticals. Selling broad solutions is totally feasible – but it doesn’t support the marketing and sales goals. Customers relate to their specific problems and being able to provide a complete outline which is custom tailored to their needs is a win for everyone.
Was it achieved?
Definitely, it was a bumpy road to some extent, but I’m truly excited we made it. We grew the business by 60% and hired over a dozen new teammates as a result.
What were the challenges you encountered?
My resolution for 2018 required a change in our business model, leading to new processes and strategies in-house. This involves additional hiring, new onboarding processes, a risky transition that may or may not work. Luckily, we worked hard and delivered.
How did you overcome them?
I’ve been working closely with the team, iterating on a regular basis, tackling challenges as they come, as early as possible. It’s an incremental process that relies on trust and enabling fellow workers to take ownership of their own departments (or divisions). Having hired a solid team of top performers was a crucial prerequisite!
– Mario Peshev, CEO of DevriX, author of Making Money Online with WordPress
Manage human resources effectively
As IT Svit CEO I value efficiency in everything, as only efficient business can be profitable and successful for 12 years in a row. Managing human resources is the task of utmost importance, as the team is what keeps the company afloat, the ultimate asset of any business. Unfortunately, not a single CRM solution delivered all the features the team needed, so I offered the team to build a new one ourselves. Thus said, here is my 2018 business resolution:
Use IT Svit HRM to manage the team more efficiently.
IT Svit HRM Solution streamlines the team management and automates much of the daily work of HR department. It helps tracking the sick leaves, day-offs and vacations with ease, as well as keeping all the HR-related correspondence in centralized storage. The solution is currently in beta-testing but will be in public access on our site soon.
– Volodymyr Fedak, CEO of IT Svit, popular on LinkedIn
Embrace the “worst-case scenarios”
In 2018, I would like to embrace the “worst-case scenarios” for our businesses and face them head-on. It’s better to rehearse poverty (and be in control of when it ends) than to be at the mercy of its almost unavoidable destruction.
Rehearsing poverty by restricting expenses to the bare minimum will help to teach my team and I how to constantly remain lean and agile in the face of competition. Not all problems can be fixed by increasing expenditures and capital, some things will take finesse, and that will be our working theme in 2018.
Seneca (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) said that in our personal lives, “A mindset of scarcity (which breeds jealousy and unethical behavior) is due to a disdain for those things easily obtained.- believe that the very same mindset can have a negative effect on business, which is why it needs to be uprooted.
Was it achieved?
Instead of creating resolutions, I follow this method outlined by Tim Ferris of creating an Annual review. This method has one ask themselves what are the top 80% of activities that were the best and worst things to happen to me for that year. Based on that information I’ll set goals for the year ahead. For 2018 I had a primary goal of publishing my first book, and I successfully achieved this with the recent release of my book, From Foster Care to Millionaire.
What were the challenges you encountered?
On a personal note, I failed to continue practicing Spanish lessons on a daily basis. After finishing the entire Spanish course on Duolingo the year before I found it difficult to motivate myself to continue the habit going forward.
How did you overcome them?
I didn’t. I dropped it entirely as I couldn’t find a strong “Why?” as Simon Sinek would say. WIthout a strong need to speak spanish I decided to drop it. I see it as similar to the 5/25 exercise Warren Buffet is known. The first step in his exercise is to list out 25 things you’d like to do in the foreseeable future, rank them in order of importance, then cross out everything except the top 5. By creating what some might refer to as a “not todo-list” you’re maximizing your focus on the most important things.
– Cody McLain, Founder of SupportNinja, popular on Twitter
Learn from any mistakes and do something different
I try not to look back and have regret over business decisions. I think that however it works out, was how it was supposed to be, and something better or bigger is around the corner. With that being said, I can just learn from any mistakes and do something different for 2018. As my Dad used to say, you have a negative line, if you put a vertical one on top of it, you now have a positive symbol. That’s how I try and look at things in both personal and professional life.
– Stefanie Michaels, Owner of adventuregirl, popular on Twitter
Achieve 500% growth
Our new year’s resolution for 2018 is to continue building on what we’ve achieved in 2017 (500% growth!) and to scale internationally. Scaling up is much more challenging than starting up because it involves figuring out how to replicate what we’ve done 1,000 a million times. We are creating processes and developing a conveyor belt that will allow us to do this.
There is a cultural implication here too: as a startup, we have a very relaxed and bureaucracy-free culture. The more a business grows, the more systems have to be put in place to ensure that all individuals within a company are moving in the same direction. If we are able to overcome all these challenges in 2018, then there is no limit to how fast and big we can grow! Bring it on.
Was it achieved?
Hell yeah! Linkilaw has grown massively this year. It’s been really challenging, but nonetheless really fun!
What were the challenges you encountered?
We had a massive change of staff over the course of this year. We decided to really just work with superstars. That was tough. A lot of commotion. It was also challenging to ensure our current team stayed with us and we all weathered the storm together!
How did you overcome them?
Sheer love, and perseverance. The biggest challenge in business, and in life, is to remain open and loving despite the challenges being thrown at you. To remain honest and loving with our team was the only way to overcome our challenges. Some days are good, others less so. To persevere in the good and the bad times is essential. And now, 1 year on, we’re proud to see our growth and progress.
– Alexandra Isenegger, Founder and CEO of Linkilaw, popular on Quora
Create effective systems and processes
Scale! Create effective systems and processes that will allow for consistent and efficient production of our premium online marketing services.
– Darko Dodig, Co-founder/President Wisevu Inc., active on Facebook
More focused and efficient with time
Get natural energy shot for moms off the ground
My resolution is to get my natural energy shot for moms off the ground. Make it a success. I’m also helping a friend to start a healthcare consulting company. Hopefully that one will be a success too.
– Elena Ledoux, Co-founder of Superb Maids, popular on Quora
Focus on people and make them happy
Focus on people, not on your product. Listen to your colleagues, employees, prospects and customers. Take their feedback in consideration. Make people happy and your business will grow.
– Jonathan Aufray, Co-founder and CEO of Growth Hackers, popular on Twitter
Focus is everything
I don’t really make resolutions, but my theme for 2018 is focus. No matter what your job or industry, there is always a shiny new initiative or project, a distraction disguised as opportunity, to take you away from your priorities. I have three strategic objectives for 2018, and anything that does not support those objectives is a diversion. In the age of distraction, focus is everything.
– Adam Toporek, President of CTS Service Solutions, Author of Be Your Customer’s Hero
Focus entirely on the human services
In 2018, the Crane R&D team will focus entirely on the human services. We’ve been aligning our tools, evaluative processes, and strategic partnerships with causes – like reducing the racial disparity in infant mortality, successful reentry for restored citizens, and engaging opportunity youth in the workforce and post-secondary education. In this way, we’ve marked ourselves as a cause consultancy. We have two overarching causes that we are gearing up for – disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline, and reducing recidivism through workforce. As always, we are refining our Psychosocial Determinants of Health (PDoH), and reducing standard deviations in our statistical models. We doubled in size and quadrupled in business in 2017. Stay tuned for us in 2018.
– Dr. Jordan Argus, Chief Research Officer of Crane R&D, active on LinkedIn
Build an automated funnel
My biggest business resolution for 2018 is to build an automated funnel. I tend to put “too much of myself” into a business, and I’m learning to take a step back and build systems that work whether I’m there or not.
– Sania Khiljee, Owner of Losers To Legends, popular on Instagram
Focus is everything
I don’t really make resolutions, but my theme for 2018 is focus. No matter what your job or industry, there is always a shiny new initiative or project, a distraction disguised as opportunity, to take you away from your priorities. I have three strategic objectives for 2018, and anything that does not support those objectives is a diversion. In the age of distraction, focus is everything.
– Adam Toporek, President of CTS Service Solutions, Author of Be Your Customer’s Hero
Focus entirely on the human services
In 2018, the Crane R&D team will focus entirely on the human services. We’ve been aligning our tools, evaluative processes, and strategic partnerships with causes – like reducing the racial disparity in infant mortality, successful reentry for restored citizens, and engaging opportunity youth in the workforce and post-secondary education. In this way, we’ve marked ourselves as a cause consultancy. We have two overarching causes that we are gearing up for – disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline, and reducing recidivism through workforce. As always, we are refining our Psychosocial Determinants of Health (PDoH), and reducing standard deviations in our statistical models. We doubled in size and quadrupled in business in 2017. Stay tuned for us in 2018.
– Dr. Jordan Argus, Chief Research Officer of Crane R&D, active on LinkedIn
Build an automated funnel
My biggest business resolution for 2018 is to build an automated funnel. I tend to put “too much of myself” into a business, and I’m learning to take a step back and build systems that work whether I’m there or not.
– Sania Khiljee, Owner of Losers To Legends, popular on Instagram
Follow Agile and resolution is taken at each sprint
Make my business beyond me
My business resolution in 2018 is to make my business beyond me. In 2018, 10% of profits will go to charities that help support women and children escape abusive situations and stop human trafficking. I’d like my clients to know we’re working towards something good for them, myself, and others. I’m extremely lucky to be able to do what I do; it’s important to elevate others when you can.
– Sophia Ellis, Owner of sophiaellis.co, popular on Quora
Focus on providing solutions to customers
Focus on providing a solution only to your customers biggest pain and ignore all the other distractions or requests.
– Barry Moltz, Small Business Expert, Speaker, Author of How To Get Unstuck
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Was it achieved?
Yes!
Challenges – staying focused, Prioitization, letting distractions get in the way
Overcame them by:
- Using a sticky note on my monitor that said “Focused”
- Brutal prioritzation every day of what I wanted to accomplish
- Turned off ALL notifications
Educate companies about the importance of good design
Our resolution for 2018 is to help more companies innovate through design and create meaningful products that delight their customers. Our aim is to educate more companies about the importance of good design for their product development, customer experience and business growth. This will be our resolution not only for 2018 but for the years to come.
– Charu Kalia, Co-founder of Outdesign,active on Medium
Fund and launch startups
My business resolution for 2018 is to be more aggressive in funding, launching, and advising early-stage companies. The world is changing dramatically from a technical perspective, with artificial intelligence and quantum computing coming on strong. I believe we will see development, at a faster rate, than we have ever seen in human history. Thus, my resolution is to make sure that I am participating by funding and launching a variety of startups dependent upon the latest technologies.
Post great content
Double-down on content creation and publishing. I’ve increased my blog traffic consistently month over month by doing nothing other than post great content. It works, and it works very well.
– José Gonzalez Riley, CEO of TheyCallMeHoz, active on Quora
Was it achieved?
I did achieve my New Year’s resolution, but of course, there were plenty of hurdles and I needed to refine some of my goals.
What were the challenges you encountered?
The challenge as a SoloPreneur is always working with limited resources (i.e. yourself). There’s only so much you can do and there are only 1440 minutes in a day. The reality however is that when you don’t have team around you, everything needs doing and almost everything is a priority, which makes it very difficult to prioritize.
How did you overcome them?
The way I overcame this challenge was to create a rotation system. This enables me to focus on one thing only, until it’s done. Then I move on to the next project and focus on the highest priority task, until it’s done. Then I repeat, moving from project to project.
In an ideal world, we’d all have just one thing to work on. If you do, then treasure that, because it’s gold. The rest of us however have to balance things (social media, content creation, video creation, website tweaks, branding, marketing etc) and usually more than one project.
I’ve been tweaking my own internal processes to get the best performance, and so far this rotating concept is the best thing I’ve come up with so far. Just remember that you can’t do everything. But that doesn’t mean you have to abandon your other projects and dedicate yourself to only one. Work on as many as you want (although the fewer the better). Come up with a list for each project, then rotate between projects and work on the highest priority task first, focusing on that one task until it’s done.
Focus on my health and become more mindful
My business resolution in 2018 is to focus on my health and become more mindful. As a hard driving entrepreneur building a fast growing company it’s easy to lose focus on these two vital components. Entrepreneurs often sacrifice so much in order to succeed at the expense of their health. In 2018 I’m going to work on still maintaining powerful momentum for my business while taking time to build my mindfulness and health. I have a feeling that by doing so I will see even great growth in all areas! I’m looking forward and excited for 2018!
Was it achieved?
My focus on health and mindfulness was very helpful during a very challenging year. The year started off with a large client going out of business and my brother in law passed a way from a bout with cancer. To help deal with these challenges and still forge ahead, I purchased a meditation tool called Muse and completed 3500 minutes of mediation! It has done wonders to help me get through some rough times. I also elevated my walking and exercise routine to even higher levels. To check on my progress, I took a blood test from a telomere testing company and my cellular age came back 13 years younger than my biological age! During all of this I led our team on a huge marketing and sales push, landed even more clients which grew our company to the highest revenue in history. My focus on mindfulness and health really got me through one of my most difficult years.
– Ernie Bray, CEO of ACD, active on Twitter
Keeping my inbox small
One of mine is keeping my inbox small. That means dealing with emails in a timely manner and unsubscribing from things I’m not reading.
– Diane Helbig, Founder of Seize This Day, Author of Lemonade Stand Selling
Was it achieved?
Yes!!
What were the challenges you encountered?
On very busy days it was challenging to carve out time to deal with email
How did you overcome them?
I made sure I handled a day’s email during that day. I reviewed my email and dealt immediately with important items. Then at the end of the day I reviewed the rest. This has kept my unread emails down to no more than 10. Those that are unread have actually been read. I’m marking them as unread so I can easily find them as they are things I want to remember.
Make sure we do it better than anyone else
For 2018 I’ll be focusing on one thing and making sure as a business we do it better than anyone else. It’s easy to get distracted with projects that seem interesting but don’t directly contribute to getting the business to its next milestone.
– Aled W Davies, Founder of Mediator Academy, active on LinkedIn
Not to let personal tragedies affect social entrepreneurial responsibilities
I will not let my personal tragedies affect my social entrepreneurial responsibilities towards my work and become more productive, sustainable with zero procrastination. I will make our NGO world’s first people centric social model that will benefit individual, Community while influencing national policy.
Was it achieved?
- Yes, we have been able to achieve our goal, to become the only NGO who offer real time business set up support, coaching and mentoring to entrepreneur with our project www.StartupEntrepreneur.in, and we resolves criminal, civil and consumer Complaint online including online FIR and cybercrime Complaint of Citizen through our program www.ChintalessNagrik.com. both are flagship programs of our NGO www.JivanamAsteya.org
- The journey to launch and run ChintalessNagrik.comprogram successful was never easy. Dealing with police department, and building online infrastructure to manage Complaints online to assist citizen to resolve their Complaint, and program designe for http://StartupEntrepreneur.in in such a way that also guarantee success to entrepreneur with 6 month free coaching and mentoring support at no cost or affordable costs was few of the challenges.
- Hundreds of interns and volunteers have participated our building process. Facebook has provided immense support to build online community for free support to consumer and citizen Complaint solutions, and Google for NGO offers great free tools for NGO to build online infrastructures. International NGO like Vitamin Angels has provided necessary resources to run our programs smooth. We follow proper documentation, analysis of our work and beneficiaries feedback to improve our user experiences. We have yet to learn more, however, we makes profits that we use to achive our NGO objectives. With the Facebook and Google like support we have been able to offer free support too our beneficiaries.we are leading NGO in the area of Consumer Rights, Human Rights, Entrepreneurship and Skill Development. Over the time, i have learnt that personal life crisis have build my strengths and passion for community development work.
– Karnav Shah, Founder of ChintalessNagrik, active on Quora
Never procrastinate
At 60 years of age I long ago gave up making resolutions at the turn of the year but of course I do have some fundamental resolutions that keep me going. Never procrastinate, if you see an opportunity go for it.
Always be open to new ideas
What worked yesterday may not work tomorrow, get used to it
When you fail learn from it and do not repeat it.
The World is chock full of opportunity regardless of where you are.
Do not listen to the news, make it.
Was it achieved?
This year my challenges were mainly mathematical and the culmination of a project started many years ago. So I spent 4 hours each day on the project and the good news is it worked fine but it turned out not to be scaleable.
OOPs. Great money making idea but it was knocked back in the end. However it is going to be the subject of an e-book.
Once again I learned that sometimes the best plans can come unstuck and you have to keep moving as the World is on the move big time.
No problem though as am just dipping into my file marked ‘new projects’
– Stephen Morgan, CEO of Copy trader forex, Profitable trading strategy, popular on Quora
What broke and how much that’s going to cost you
Picture this: your car broke down on the way to work, and now you want it fixed. You’re not sure about the exact issue, but you do know that you can’t continue to drive it, in its current state. Smoke is coming out of the engine. That’s why you’ll visit a car mechanic.
After you huff and puff your way to his garage, the mechanic checks your car. Wouldn’t you like to know what broke and how much that’s going to cost you?
In a similar fashion, I’m looking for items in my processes, because there’s no ‘one size fits all’, for most things. After an audit, I’d like to itemize my services, into results.
– Bryn van Nuissenburg, Owner of SEO BRYN, active on Twitter
To be better aware of our customer expectations
2018 & years to come, belong to Customer –
Over the years, Voice of a small business Customer is pre-analysed for being valid and often defined as unreasonable & unclear. The requests are not studied in detail for correct action.
In 2018, we intend to be better aware of our customer expectations. Not understand and serve them from business potential alone but also do a simultaneous check if our products and services are well equipped to meet their needs in the first place.
We like to strengthen before adding more to our kitty
– Roberto Gravin, Co-founder of Mofluid
Make more time for my business
My business resolution for 2018 is to make more time for my business, which is my beauty, lifestyle & chronic illness blog. It can be difficult to put aside the time to invest in my blog, but effort put in certainly does pay off! I will plan ahead more, to make sure I invest enough time and effort into my business
– Katie, Owner of Katie Cupcake – Life With ME, active on Twitter
Continue to produce travel videos
My business resolution for 2018 definitely include to continue to produce travel videos with my Travel Dudes team. With those campaigns we are an industry leader within the field of travel influencer marketing. In partnership with clients they create cost-effective, inspirational and engaging travel content for digital and social platforms, reaching an audience of over four million travelers each month!
We have worked on a new travel video concept, which started very successfully. Now we want to continue its success and also explore new regions in the world, but also dive deeper into destinations where we have been to already.
Was it achieved?
Yes, we did. We just got back from a video campaign in Japan, where we explored & filmed in Kanagawa & Kyushu.
Then we also created 14 videos in Denmark about cycling.
So we have visited two new regions, which we haven’t been to before & where we created new videos.
Then we have been to Tirol (Austria), Bologna (Italy) and Costa Brava (Spain), all regions which we’ve been to before and where we went back to, to create new videos.
So we have achieved our aims for 2018
What were the challenges you encountered?
None really. You need to have a good product and meet the people who see & understand the benefit of it. As it’s a fabulous package we provide, it’s a no-brainer.
How did you overcome them?
We are passioned about our job and work hard every day, always aiming to get better & to evolve further.
– Melvin, Owner of TravelDudes, popular on Twitter
Look for opportunities to monetize and systematize
My business resolution for 2018 is to look for more opportunities to monetize and systematize. When you first start your business, it’s common to give away a lot of advice, content, or service. While it’s always good to help and give to others, you don’t have a business if you aren’t making money. If you have a consulting business or a service business and you’ve been giving a lot away for free – it’s time to look for opportunities to monetize. Even when you’ve been around a while (like DIYMarketers) monetization is an ongoing activity because we always start with FREE!
Was it achieved?
My New Years Resolution was to shift my blog to a magazine I set a goal to do advertising and increase traffic to my site as well as convert the revenue model from consulting to advertising. I’ve made progress on all fronts – the site is now a magazine, I’ve added advertising and increased the numbers of brand sponsorships.
What were the challenges you encountered?
The basic challenges included updating the website – it always takes so much more time and money than you think. Other challenges included cleaning up old content and redirecting traffic from articles that were no longer relevant to more current articles.
How did you overcome them?
The best way to overcome most challenges is to get help. I sought out resources to help me take care of technical issues.
– Ivana S. Taylor, Small Business Marketing Expert, Online Publisher and Influencer, popular on Twitter
Optimize content on my website
My business resolution for 2018 is to optimize all the content on my adventure travel blog, WildJunket. After nine years of blogging, there’s a lot of content that needs to be optimized, updated and refined. I aim to clean up my content, remove old content that don’t receive many views, and make my content more robust, easy to find, and useful for my readers. I also want to run more tours after the success of my first tour. They say the key to a blogger’s success is finding what readers want and giving it to them. And I feel like I finally found that key when I launched WildJunket Tours and started an influx of emails from my followers who want to travel with me. I’m hosting a new Socotra tour in May 2018 and a tour to Tajikistan and Afghanistan for July 2018. This year is going to be an exciting one for my business!
– Nellie Huang, Owner of wildjunket, Author of The Adventure Traveler’s Handbook
Learn something new
My resolution is to get out of my comfort zone and learn a new trick.
We all get so enamored and used to our regular way of doing things. But learning something new opens a lot of new doors. You never know what may result by trying something out of the ordinary. It’s good to be uncomfortable sometimes!
– Steve Strauss USA TODAY, senior small business columnist, author of The Small Business Bible
Drive more leads for my company
My business resolution for 2018 is drive more leads for my company through social media. In the past, my leads have come primarily through email marketing and referrals (all good). This year I want to step up advertising/promotion on both Facebook and Twitter, build a bigger following and attract more potential customers for the CRM products we sell.
– Gene Marks, Owner of The Marks Group, popular on Twitter
Empower youth through ‘value investing’
My new year’s resolution is Empowering youth through ‘value investing’
It sounds a little confusing but it can be a life-changing thought. How?
During the 1940s, a British-born Jewish investor discovered a technique in which he discussed the ‘value of anything’. For example when we buy a pen, way pay its cost say 5 Rs. but this is not the actual cost of the pen but it is just a ‘market price’. To determine its real value we have to go a little deeper into the cost of goods and services used to make that pen, in short SG&A (Selling, General & Administrative Expense) and COGS (Cost Of Goods Sold). There were so many people who followed this principle and among them, there was a guy with reasonable intelligence & terrific passion who found this concept very interesting and started applying it. The concept of ‘value investing’. The guy deciphered all buried concepts and applied it to the stock market. Today he is the richest man in the word and his name is Warren Buffett. In terms of stock market investment, Value investing can be described as ‘Buying undervalued stocks’, These stocks created immense wealth for investors over time that no one can imagine. In Equityboxx when we started applying this concept and tried to find out the intrinsic value (Actual Value) of stocks and ignored the market price ( Current Price). The company has lots of things to observe, See the financials, concentrate on ratios and margins, compare with peers, study about promoters, keep an eye on liquidity, make sure you know the debt, know future plans, forecast the scope, speak up with indicators and press BUY button. That’s how your wisdom will save you from a massive destruction. simply if intrinsic value > market price then we bought the stocks in heavy volume and if intrinsic value < market price, we ignored it. In last two years, these value stocks converted into gems and exceptional profits have been generated for myself and for my esteemed client from all over the world.
The point is ‘anyone can apply this concept’.The question is If It’s an open book then why very fewer people want to read about it? Well because here patience is the key to success and almost everybody wants to make a quick buck in the shortest time span. My new year’s resolution is to make people aware of this concept so that they can also invest their money via value investing and so to protect and grow their wealth.
I managed spread this message to over 2 million people in last 1.5 years and increasing my momentum thru offline workshops, social media etc. My target audience for this year is 10 million and I am already done with my preparations
Was it achieved?
Well, I won’t say completely but Almost. With a vision of empowering youth via value investing, Equityboxx has covered almost all major cities in India like Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune etc. I feel fortunate to present myself in one of the finest and reputed institutions like IIT Delhi and IIT Guwahati by expressing my views on how effectively one can beat the Stock Market and can become a disciplined investor. With a mission to spread financial literacy, We are already in discussion with some major institutions like DTU, Delhi and IIT Madras for conducting more seminars (TradeX, Equityboxx) in near future to bridge the gap between Market and Young Potential Investors.
What were the challenges you encountered?
Two major challenges I have encountered were ‘The Process of Simplification’ and of course ‘Competition’. It is hard to decipher the complex concepts into simpler ones but the hardest part is making it understandable to others, citing the projection from the vision of a common man. We converted these concepts into simple ‘step by step. video lectures about Stock Analysis so that even a beginner can become an expert Stock Market investor in a few days.
‘Competition‘: This obstacle is something every entrepreneur has to pass to wait for another. In the presence of intense competition, Equityboxx is now serving customers from 5 distinct countries and became India’s first SEBI Regd investment Advisory to conduct sessions on ‘Equity Analysis’ in IITs which are considered to be as one of the most reputed Institutions in the world.
How did you overcome them?
Everything can be achived if you have a clear vision and have faith on your ideas and strategies. We overcame some of the major obstacles with hard work and teamwork. The best part is, we learned a lot from our mistakes and we are in no mood to repeat it again.The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.
– Akshay Seth, Co-founder of Equityboxx, popular on Quora
Plan for the unexpected
If something were to happen to you, would your loved ones know who to contact at your business, whether clients or colleagues? Do they have access to get into your email, voicemail, social media accounts and even a key to your place of business? We don’t like to think about these things, but if you had an illness, accident or unexpected life-ending scenario, what would happen? If you fail to plan, plan to fail. Use a system like the one we created with Future File to help you figure out exactly what personal and business information you need to be sure someone has access to and to keep it easily organized and accessible.
– Carol Roth, Creator of Future File, popular on Twitter
Always keep evolving
Build on what works for you, always keep evolving and choose your circle and team carefully.
– Marsha Wright, CEO of Digital Exposure Network, Author of The Secret Collaborative Economy
Doing the best job and surrendering to the outcome
I’ve spent my life trying to focus on goals and outcomes each and every year. It’s been a successful model over the decades, but for 2018, I’m shifting gears. Instead of being hyper-focused on a specific outcome, I’m going to focus on a) doing the best job I can, and then 2) surrendering to the outcome. The concept of surrender isn’t a familiar thing for people here in the West. I know in the East it’s been part of the Vedic tradition for thousands of years, but in the West, we’re just getting the hang of it. Hopefully, I can incorporate it into my life more than ever in 2018.
– Jamie Turner, author, speaker, and CEO of 60SecondMarketer, Author of How to Make Money with Social Media
5 million in sales
We need to Keep Growing!! My business resolution for 2018 is 5 million in sales- double last year! I always want to use automation to do more business processes. The objective is to increase efficiency!
Was it achieved?
Looking back, it was actually a BAD & STUPID GOAL!
We did not achieve our goal of 5 million. We Grew from 2.5 Million to 3.5 Million. But our Profit grew from 0-3% to 30%! We didn’t achieve the revenue goal, but thats okay because I was too obsessed with revenue a year ago. I ran into big trouble in February & March 2018- lack of profits & borrowing to much caught up to me and I had to lay off half of my staff. I’ve became smarter during 2018- I was FORCED to learn to focus on the bottom line. I was too focused on revenue. I’m proud that our company overcame this obstacle- the business very easily could have crumbled in the Spring, but now this Winter’s Black Friday/ Cyber Monday was our Best Sales Of all Time! That’s the life of an entreprenuer.
I would be happy to get into more specifics about how I was losing money through advertising on facebook and the tactic I used to turn it around. But thats the jist of it!
– Sean Lowery, Founder and CEO of Lowery Brands, active on Twitter
Action-packed year
Birth pranks are painful but if you know that you are giving life, You will go through it willingly. A startup is no different. It has to go through emotions, challenges before finding its customers and for some of them who have found customers, it is to grow to the next level.
So, 2018 – should be an action-packed year.
Ratchet up my efforts to help others
I am a big believer that entrepreneurs and upstarts should narrowcast. Yes, there are mainstream success stories like Facebook or LinkedIn, but I’m a fan of striving to be the best in the world in a marketable niche, and serving the heck of that niche. So in 2018, I’m going to focus my efforts viadiginomica- a website I co-founded five years ago – to better serve enterprise readers who are trying to enact change and digital transformation in their organizations. That means I’ll be turning down other opportunities that don’t fit into that focus. In order to say “yes” to one thing you do need to say no to others – not easy. I’m also going to ratchet up my efforts to help others in an earlier stage. I’m a big believer in mentoring. I have a lot of mentors in my life I need to pay back by paying it forward again.
Was it achieved?
“Last year on ColorWhistle, I extolled the virtues of narrowcasting and restated my vows to take my own medicine. I’d like to think my rigor did contribute to a successful year for diginomica. Saying “no” to distractions is not an easy discipline. Where I continue to struggle is finding enough time to give back to others in a mentorship capacity. I make time for volunteer work but I’d like to do more. The central issue of life/work balance persists. I’m always striving to use technology to give my work flexibility, without becoming an “always on” person and burning myself out. I don’t have any genius answers to how to do that, maybe I’ll have more for you next year. Given all the distractions and the constant state of incompletion, the most important business skill now is the ability to prioritize the right things and continually reasssess. To do that effectively, you need good information across many domains, so the push towards better information is always part of this mix.”
– Jon Reed, Co-founder of diginomica, active on Twitter
Empower to impact
My mission overall in the business culture is to EM-PACT (empower to impact), bring genuine back and touch as many lives as possible.I believe that whatever work we do is truly worthwhile if it touches somebody’s life.
– Devika Majumder, Founder and CEO of Youngpreneurs India, active on LinkedIn
Freedom to pursue your passions
Imagine a world where you have the freedom, to pursue your passions, and become the best you can be.
– Lova Kremer, Founder of Why Not 3
Conduct regular reviews with clients
My business resolution for 2018 is to conduct regular reviews with clients to make sure everyone’s on the same page and we’re all headed in the right direction. When you work with clients for long periods of time it can be easy to get off track or lose focus – I want to be more proactive to ensure we’re all onboard with the big picture
– Ria Blagburn, Founder of growbeyond, active on LinkedIn
Find, or create, a stream of income
My first priority for 2018 is to find, or create, a stream of income that will outlast the influencer marketing trend. As a photographer, I know the talent I have will outlast trends but at the moment most of my work depends on my following. Though I am grateful for it, that ultimately isn’t what drives me or is the most rewarding way for me to earn a living.
– Kirsten Alana, NYC-based photographer and traveler, popular on Instagram
Deliver value for my shareholders
Here are mine while working on New Year’s eve and day
- Increase revenue and profit
- Increase employee compensation and job satisfaction
- Deliver value for my shareholders
That’s all that really matters in the end. Yes, customer satisfaction, being a good corporate citizen, etc. all matter too, but that’s part of the day-to-day execution and can all be done even better if the top 3 goals are accomplished.
– Mathew Georghiou, Founder and CEO of MediaSpark, active on LinkedIn
Stand out from the crowd
During 2018, Shola Designs will align marketing strategies and digital enhancements toward sales growth. The goal is to stand out from the crowd in this hyper competitive market. Strategic search engine optimization, influencer collaborations, and social media marketing are critical.
– Shola Yusu, Founder of Shola Designsand The Water Project, Inc
Build an amazing team
This year my plans are to build an amazing team, setup a new office, visit at least 40 cities and transform the world with our revolutionary soundproof paint all while continuing to take big risks, delegating important tasks to my team and continuing to evolve as the founder of a high growth company.
– Jonah Lupton, Founder & CEO of SoundGuard popular on Twitter
Take microbiome-modulating products to market
My business resolution is to take full advantage of the exponentially decreasing price of genetic sequencing to take microbiome-modulating products to market.
– Trevor Steyn, Founder of Esse Probiotic Skincare, active on LinkedIn
Achieving omnipresence
In 2018, it’s a personal goal of mine to push for omnipresence for our brand.
I want us to appear everywhere our target customers are looking, so we become the dominant company in their mind when they think about our industry. In my ideal vision, they won’t go a day without seeing us somewhere out there in the marketplace
All of the great companies we know and love have achieved this in their field. Apple, Coca-Cola, and Walmart are only a few examples – when you think about computers, soda or retail, these companies instantly come to mind. You know what they sell and what they represent. While we’re nowhere close to becoming a globally recognized brand, we want to achieve that same sort of goal, with our name becoming immediately associated with premium baby products in the eyes of our target market.
This means upping our social media game to ensure we’re dominating the networks. More guest posts. More blogger outreach. More influencer marketing. More stores carrying our products. More blog posts. More YouTube videos. It doesn’t matter that some of these may not lead to sales right away. While we certainly want to make more money, building presence has become more of a priority.
In 2017 we focused a lot on marketing channels that led to a direct and immediate ROI, but did not invest so much in building our brand for the long-term. This year, we want to expand our horizon, and show up even when people are not searching for our products. Achieving omnipresence ensures you are at the forefront of your customer’s mind when they are ready to buy, making you the first choice when they decide to do so.
– James McAllister, Co-founder of Starlight Baby, active on Quora
Take bigger and more challenging projects
My Business resolution is to keep the momentum going and take bigger and more challenging projects. To make better financial decisions without compromising the purpose of the company through careful budgeting, market research and better planning.And to pay more attention towards online engagement and keep up with social media trends.”
– Tamanna, Founder & Director at Earthling First, active on LinkedIn
Have a positive impact on the world
Build 100 People team, have fun, do exceptional work, build the best product in the business, experiment, pay attention to the details, treat people right, tell the truth, have a positive impact on the world around us, give back, and keep learning.
– Mayank Pratap, Co-founder of EngineerBabu, active on LinkedIn
Increased sales
Increased SALES (3X of 2017) – A very common resolution that every business owner keeps with, I am not alone. Looking out to connect with as interesting people, understand their businesses and monetize it with our strength – Design (logo design to branding), development (website to custom development) and digital marketing (strategies to lead generation).
- Increased TEAM SIZE (At least +5) – ColorWhistle is growing sustainably with right customers, right partners, right whistlers(we at ColorWhistle) and right skills. We understand that overall if we need to grow, we need to connect with more right people. Looking out more this year in 2018.
- While we see increased product companies, tech startups, ColorWhistle strives to embrace IT services. Every year, our passion, and caring increases more. Able to understand REAL business problems, now we provide IT solutions, will try to build products in coming years that IMPROVES businesses & people. This will be initiated this year.
- Have to read more books, and articles. Would like to try less “in” the business and be more “on” the business.
- Start participating in networking events.
Was it achieved?
Not everything. But I can say, I have achieved little more than 50%. Team expansion, Primary initiative for niche based solution products are happened. I read more online articles than last year, but very less time spent on reading printed books. Missed the sales projection and networking events totally 🙁
What were the challenges you encountered?
Hiring and On-boarding process are really challenging. Finding next leadership talents are far more challenging. Still learning a lot more reality with setting up a sales process and sales team engagement
How did you overcome them?
2018 started with lots of positive to ColorWhistle business and demanded more people to achieve our goals. Hiring & on-boarding process completely failed in the first half of the year. From that learning, I made a small change in the hiring process that helped expanding the team size in the second half of the year lately. Innovation in thinking and making it really working, is the only possible way to overcome challenges in the highly competitive tech business environment. Measure your risks, make decisions quickly, replace your risks and continue again.
– Sankarnarayan, Founder of ColorWhistle, active on LinkedIn
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Winding up
Reading through all of these amazing entrepreneurs new year’s resolutions were highly motivating and getting the year off to a great start.
We’ll keep adding more.
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Thanks for the helpful article!
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Super post. Do you have any other ones you can stick? I love it.