With a new year approaching, it’s a great time to refocus yourself on finding new tech and tools to elevate your business in 2022. If you can get started with new tools in your belt, you can squeeze more from the next twelve months.
Here are the top things that you can do in 2021 to help prepare your business for the new year. Whether you’re planning on downtime over the holidays, or it’s you’re businesses busiest time, here are some things to add to the list to hit the ground running in 2022.
Take some time to sit down by yourself, or with your business consultant or advisor, to think about what you want to accomplish in the new year. What do you want to improve on, what’s gone well this year and what are some things you think could be changed to help you meet the challenges you’re expecting in 2022.
See Xero’s latest predictions for the new year to get some insights
Setting SMART goals can be a great way to focus your efforts and stop yourself from feeling like you’re wasting time. Setting goals can also help you to narrow down what tech and tools you might need to source to help you.
For example, if you spend a lot of the last year struggling with fluctuating and unpredictable stock prices and delivery times, your focus might be on a new stock system that gives you better visibility on what you have and how much it costs.
Set aside time in your day to look into options that solve your identified problems or might help you reach your goals. Search online for the best option, or ask people in your industry for the best tools. Take a look at reviews and testimonials when you find options to see whether other users have been able to solve the same problem with that tool.
You might even want to chat with your team to see if there are any additional features that they would like to see in the new software.
Once you’ve got the top picks, pick your top one or two to try. Naturally, if your business closes over the holidays, you may need to put this off. However, if you have some quieter times in the lead up to the break, then it’s a good opportunity to test new software without overburdening your team.
We cover a few more tips on how to get more from your free trial in a recent blog. You can use these tips to narrow down your options and find your best software option before the year is out.
Read more: Get More From Your Free Trial Period With These 4 Secrets
If you’ve set your goals and picked out the best job costing software option, then it’s time to get your team up to speed with the changes before you get too busy next year.
Whether you have time to do it this year, or just plan out how you will train your team in the new year, having a roadmap will help you get started with the new tech sooner. Choosing quieter periods will help you to set time aside to train and teach your team, and it will give them the opportunity to learn without feeling their work is suffering.
Read more: Prepare your team for change with 4 brilliant tips