It’s a new year and right after the ball drops, it’s time to go to work. Often entrepreneurs and business owners create their New Year’s Resolutions around their business. It could be more revenue, hiring clients or launching a new product or service, but every new year is an exciting time because it’s ripe with opportunity. We asked 30 entrepreneurs to share their business goals and what they were looking forward to in 2020.
#1- Rededicate myself to my practices
My goals in 2020 are to maintain personal balance and positive attitude even as the business grows over 200% in the year. We have had a great 2019 and aim to improve significantly, but that is a challenge in terms of the amount of work involved. So I will rededicate myself to my practices: yoga, travel, and music: so that I can be at my best every day.
Thanks to Venkates Swaminathan (Swami), Lifelaunchr.com!
#2- Building credibility
I am putting a lot of effort into building the credibility of our brand this year and will be continuing those efforts into 2020. Part of these efforts include working on the SEO of our website. We are working with one of the best SEO consultants for real estate investors in the country. Our goal for 2020 is to have our main seller website ranking #1 on Google for top keywords in our target market so that we can reach more clients in order to fund and grow our mission in 2020 (and beyond).
Thanks to Melanie Hartmann, Creo Home Solutions!
#3-Work on my personal development
This has been my main goal for 2020. Recently, I have been getting a lot of time where I am not committed to a bunch of tasks. In 2020, I would like to make sure I use that time to work on my personal development. In turn, this would help me discover different talents that I can use them to make extra money. Besides, personal development would help me reduce stress.
Thanks to Stella Samuel, Brandnic.com!
#4- To spark joy
It sounds very Mari Kondo, but I think it's a great principle that every business leader can apply to their life and their company. Be the reason for someone else's happiness! I hope our products at Tipsy Elves do that for people every day, but in 2020 I'm making a more intentional effort to bring joy daily for the people around me and for my employees. More conscious effort to remember the power of showing gratitude, especially to our employees. I think sometimes we forget how powerful a few words of gratitude can be and I'm going to make a more conscious effort to say thank you and let the people around me know what I appreciate about them.
Thanks to Evan Mendelsohn, Tipsy Elves!
#5- Celebrate the small moments
My goal for 2020 as a founder is to celebrate the small moments more. As a startup team, my employees work so hard every day and have to wear many hats. I appreciate them so much and we always celebrate the big wins together, so in 2020 I want to incorporate more day-to-day recognition to start off the new decade of growth on a positive note.
Thanks to Danh Tran, Buttercloth!
#6- Creating a deeper sense of community
In 2019, we focused on expanding our product line at BestSelf Co. to extend beyond just journals and planners. In 2020, we're looking forward to now expanding our relationship with each customer by creating a deeper sense of community. Our resolution as a company is to help customers keep their resolutions by being a consistent source of motivation, inspiration and accountability. As a founder, our community will be my biggest focus in the new year.
Thanks to Cathryn Lavery, BestSelf Co.!
#7-Make travel accessible for everyone
Make travel accessible for everyone – whether it is race or creed, more females, or people from lower economically developed countries; travel has traditionally only been accessible to the privileged few. With our money-saving hacks, best referrals on prices for travel and accommodation we hope to spread our target demographic and help them discover the globe.
Thanks to Jeremy Scott Foster, Travel Freak!
#8-Consolidation
We have done quite well as a company over the last few years and have increased our turnover and staff numbers considerably. This year, instead of scaling the business we want to batten down the hatches and make sure that we are servicing our employees and customers properly. Sometimes scaling too quickly can cause holes in other departments that you may miss, due to the balance sheet going up. Our staff are the reason for our new customers, and they look after them, so my mission is to make sure I look after my staff. Paying it forward.
Thanks to Michael Lowe, CarPassionate!
#9-Pick on the Poor
The website boom is back, but many people can't afford it, or don't think they have the expertise. My plan is to provide them with the tools for both. Instead of selling them a website build and letting them try to work it forever onwards is an outdated idea. I will now be renting personalised sites to customers, where all they have to worry about is their product, I manage site changes the initial design and upkeep. As long as they want the site they can keep renting it, assured that a professional is looking after it.
Thanks to Scott Krieger, Studio 64!
#10- Make my company more inclusive
It's so important to be inclusive to everyone in 2020 no matter what! I want all of my work and products to be inclusive to all community and make sure no one feels exiled. I would also like to learn more about my field and become an expert in 2020. I want to do a lot of learning in 2020 about business, my craft, and algorithms! I know we will all have a great 2020!!
Thanks to CAROLINE
#11- Work-life balance plus more connection
The major goal that I'm planning to work on in 2020 is to connect more with my remote teams. Although I'm in continuous digital connection with them but it's not enough to untape their full potential. We're expanding in 2020 so it's my first priority to connect with the new people for smooth launch of the new projects and new office in Dubai. Personally I plan to work on my work-life balance and get more me time in 2020. It'll help me detox my brain and come with fresh ideas to further expand my company.
Thanks to Damien Martin, Shufti Pro!
#12- Establish an effective content marketing strategy
Our company is still in its infancy so much of 2019 has been about perfecting the site and establishing ourselves as a brand. Next year, it’s going to be about establishing ourselves as a real authority within our industry, and content marketing is an effective and organic method of getting our message out there. From creating frequent blog posts to upping our SEO game, this will be the year we start to spread the word.
Thanks to Steve Pritchard, Checklate!
#13- Meaningful innovation
Being in software development for many years, I have worked on a wide range of projects. I have to be honest and say that most of them didn’t really make the world a better place. That’s why we are shifting our focus on projects that have positive social, health and educational impacts. We want to work on projects that genuinely help the end-users and that we can be proud of.
Thanks to Filip Hasa, Pixelfield!
#14- Continue to grow
A big part of this growth is with video marketing and pruning my email list to focus only on my most engaged subscribers. Showing my face and connecting with my audience is key to gaining their trust. My Facebook community of over 12,000 mom bosses need help with their growth and my videos and emails help them succeed. And my personalized emails helps build an emotional bond with my audience so that I can serve them better. I hope to continue this in 2020 and beyond.
Thanks to Elna Cain
#15- Optimise for voice search
Smart speakers and voice search are growing in importance so being able to optimize for voice search will be key to maximize the marketing and advertising opportunities on Siri, Alexa, Google Home, etc. I predict that the brands that perfect the branded skill with more customer-friendly, less invasive ads are going to win big. I want to be better prepared when customers ask for specific brands or categories for help like Alexa ask Nestle for an oatmeal cookie recipe or Who is the best branding firm in Boston? so that I am not missing a big opportunity!
Thanks to Paige Arnof-Fenn, Mavens & Moguls!
#16- Two goals
Being an entrepreneur, I'm always focused on achieving goals. One of the ways I keep work/life balance is by creating holistic goals that address various aspects of my life. I try to keep the most important things top of mind. I weigh 215 pounds by September 2020. Yeah, transparency on this stretch goal is important. 65% of Arrington Coaching revenue is driven from online courses by December 2020. I have read 30 books by December 2020. My family and I have enjoyed 3 epic vacations by December 2020. My second book is completed by December 2020. The real trick is finding time for everything. One of the ways I squeeze more out of my day is by habit stacking. Let's take my goal of reading 30 books in 2020, for instance. I leverage my workout and travel time to listen to audiobooks and I rarely listen to them at normal speed. By doing this I'm working on two of my 2020 goals (weighing 215 by September and reading 30 books) simultaneously.
Thanks to Dr. David M. Arrington, Sr., Arrington Coaching!
#17- Growing relationships with my clients
In 2020 my focus is really on growing relationships with my clients. Working as the lead of a business quickly leads to getting stuck in the trenches of business operations, and high-level decisions. Although this has been a place I enjoy and excel at, it isn’t why I started this business. I want to connect with my clients on a personal level and personally help them through their experience.
Thanks to Jared Weitz, United Capital Source Inc.!
#18- Make my name a brand
To make my name a brand in the world of digital marketing & technology (AI/Blockchain). As a start I will be speaking in AI summit held in Dubai (Feb 2020). I plan to use the platform for building up valuable connections. Going forward I plan to raise 50000 followers on my brand name by delivering valuable content on multiple platforms by the end of 2020. So far i have done valuable contribution in the world of digital marketing and technology so I aim to use it to make my name a brand.
Thanks to Salman Saleem, Cloudways!
#19- Developing a more established morning routine
Being a self-employed entrepreneur means that it's easy to let things slide – I've been sleeping late, working from my bed – not great productivity habits! For 2020 I'll be getting up earlier, getting dressed immediately (no more Pjs until noon) and going to a co-working space to ensure I'm productive. I also plan on establishing set working hours and set stopping times for my work/life balance. I've also begun using habit-building apps like Fabulous that will help me slowly incorporate good habits into my routine (such as drinking water immediately when I wake up). My plan is to start small and build on these habits to make large goals more attainable.
Thanks to Meg Marrs, K9 of Mine!
#20- Creating original content
I plan on conducting a boatload of surveys in 2020 and creating content that is 100% original. I am tired of everything being rehashed and similar. As a personal finance website owner, backlinks are super important and what better way to get them than a completely original statistics post with survey results to back it up. Creating content that is original and backlink worthy is what 2020 is going to be all about for me.
Thanks to Freya Kuka, Collectingcents!
#21- Empowering each member of the team
In 2020, my goal is to push my company forward faster than ever by empowering each member of the team to do their best work and be proud of their contributions. As a fast-growing startup, the collective work of each individual on our team is what drives the success of the business. Ensuring each person is motivated by our vision, clear objectives, and the support of their peers is key to maximizing what we can accomplish together. As we expect to double the size of our team over the next twelve months, I see it as more important than ever to make sure my leadership team and I are effectively empowering our staff to meet this goal.
Thanks to George Deglin, OneSignal!
#22- Encourage Reading & Writing using Blockchain Tech
Stirling Corp is a digital publishing company which owns/operates a number of websites aimed at promoting new writers and sharing free and low-cost reading materials with readers around the globe. This year, we aim to revolutionize our own established platforms (and hopefully the industry somewhat) by deploying blockchain technology in a unique proprietary manner that will reward authors for writing books as well as readers for reading them in cryptocurrencies. Which can then be converted in cash. A beta version should be out in Q1 with a full release scheduled for Q3. This innovative technology will be easily applicable to similar industries as well such as comics, plays, music and so forth. But applying it there will be next year's goals!
Thanks to Nicolas Gremion, Stirling Corp!
#23- Diversify
In 2020, my goal is to diversify my commercial construction business by taking care of clients in several different industry segments. Since 1904, we've always served as a general contractor or construction manager for clients, and over different periods of time we've focused on specific industries. For example, there were decades where the majority of our work came from medical, or financial, or retail or restaurants. This year I'd like to ensure we focus on 4-6 distinct industries, so our revenue stream is varied.
Thanks to Tim Spiegelglass, Spiegelglass Construction Company!
#24- Several goals
For 2020, electrIQ is really looking to expand in all aspects of the word. For the first part of the year I will be focusing on increasing our staff and hiring new members to work alongside our team of digital marketing experts. I also plan on opening a new location for our agency in San Diego, by April 2020. Apart from this internal expansion, our overarching goal for the new year is to double our efforts and create a very synchronized community for our current and future clients so that they may see all their suggestions are taken into consideration and being carried out by our entire team.
Thanks to Brandon Amoroso, electrIQ marketing!
#25- Start a gratitude journal
I have a habit of reading books on a regular basis. In 2019 I listened to the well-known businessmen and also read a lot of books on the business including, The Magic of Thinking Big, Think And Grow Rich, and The Power of Positive Thinking, just to name a few. While skimming through pages of tens of business books, I found the 1 most common point – authors want people to start value all the blessings we have at the current moment, aka gratitude. While practicing it, I noticed the gratitude habit takes our focus away from problems and helps us to be more productive. Now, I am a firm believer in this, “energy flows where attention goes.” So, in 2020 I will start a gratitude journal by at least writing one thing I am grateful for that day.
Thanks to CJ Xia, Boster Biological Technology!
#26- Complete NLP training
In 2019 I came to know NLP – Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Its introduction fascinated me, and I got enrolled in a two day NLP workshop. It was one of the best experiences of my life. It made me realize my true potential, wrong beliefs, and destructive thinking patterns. Before going for upper-level training, I paused to practice these strategies. Now, after seeing unusual changes in my behavior because of applying NLP principles, I want to do NLP practitioner training in 2020. It will be of 7 days, so I have planned to manage things already. I am very excited to unlock more powers that exist within!
Thanks to Daniel DeMoss, Dumbbell Reviews!
#27- Become more PROACTIVE
My New Year’s resolution for 2020 (and the entire decade, really) is to become more PROACTIVE, rather than reactive. As a COO, my job requires me to wear many different hats and sometimes that includes putting out fires. While I’ve always been predisposed to reacting to a problem and seeking out a solution, my goal is to pay more attention to the details in hopes that I can anticipate when I will be needed and resolve an issue before it even starts. I am also resolving to be more emotional and thinking more with my heart and intuition, rather than viewing everything logical as black-and-white; this will help me to be more empathetic when seeking out solutions in both my professional and personal life.
Thanks to Zubin Teherani, LeagueSide!
#28- To conduct 12 free talks for the local community
I guess 2020 is the time to contribute to society. Scaling up the business and earning an excellent stable income put the very soul out of me! Now, I think that maybe I had reached my targets earlier if I got proper guidance or mentorship at that time. So, I want to become a person I needed at an early age or in the initial days of my business. I have a goal to conduct 12 free-of-cost business-related workshops in 2020. I want to help individuals in my society to recognize the correct business track as early as possible.
Thanks to Jacob Seiter, MybestWallets!
#29- Acquire the latest Equipment
My 2020 goal is to upgrade and improve my business by adopting new tools and equipment based on the latest technologies. Although it will require extra cost and pieces of training for the employees, if I introduce the most modern instruments and upgraded software, it will help my workflow to become more efficient and increase in yield to fulfill customer's demands. More output will lead to business expansion, and we will be able to cater to multiple market segments.
Thanks to Tim Uittenbroek, VPNMash!
#30- Increase outsourcing and hire more contractors
I already use contractors for some of the work, but I still do the majority of it. After going through rapid growth this year, I discovered that I was the bottleneck. This year my goal is to give up more control, better define processes, and bring in remote talent to scale with demand. This will allow me more time to spend on marketing, lead generation, and process improvement.
Thanks to Shane Griffiths, Clarity Online!