Gearing up for Q1

You glance down the track a final time and head back to your mark. It’s a perfect morning. You can hear the crowd eagerly waiting for the race to begin. You do a brief stretch to make sure your calves and hamstrings haven’t tightened up and then settle in behind your mark. To your left and right, your competitors are crouched beside you. Their eyes are fixed forward, their faces taut with concentration

They’re ready. Are you?

Whether or not you’re much of a runner, you’re getting ready to begin a new race. 2017 is winding its way into the history books, and the starting gun for a new business year is about to be fired. If you’re going to win, you’ll want to get off to a fast start. Here are some ways to do just that:

Contemplate. The best time to plan for something is when it’s not staring you in the face. Set your Q1 plans up early so you can hit the ground running. If you haven’t already, now is the time to start scheduling planning sessions, designing marketing initiatives, completing your annual budgets and drafting your financial forecasts.

Update. A new year often brings updates for your most critical software and new offerings for the latest and greatest tech. If you’ve been pushing the ‘Remind Me Later’ button, now is the time to get those updates done, and if there’s something new in the market, take an opportunity to find out about it.

Renegotiate. A new calendar year is also a time for changes, so along with those New Year’s resolutions, it might be just the right time to re-negotiate rates with your vendors and to consider ordering office or product supplies in bulk. It could be time to review your affiliate arrangements too.

Innovate. Why not try introducing a new product or an enhancement to an existing one? Early in the year you’re not competing with a million and one holiday ads and sales. Also, a new year is just that: new. As customers contemplate what changes they want to make in their own lives, why not give them a new idea to think about? Your product or service might be just the thing for them, especially if they’ve responded to that topic in the recent past.

To get off to that fast start in the 2018 race you should be preparing for Q1 while everyone else is basking in the holiday glow of Q4. A fast start will make the rest of your year far easier, and proper planning will ensure you have the stamina to see the race through to the finish line.