How about a Spring business clean-up ?

Spring’s here! The birds are chirping, the frogs are croaking, the garden is sprouting and we, as business owners are - doing our thing, as usual! Are we missing an opportunity to shake things up and put a bit of spring fever into our work? Housework phobics everywhere look at the spring season as a time to clean our homes, swooshing out the dust and staleness of the long winter season. Even those grimy windows get a shine – so why don’t we apply this to our business? We could use the spring as a time to Regroup, Recycle, Renew and Remodel our business.

We can Regroup by deciding what is important to our business and what we can do without. If we look at areas such as marketing and networking, we can decide what works and change what doesn’t. There are hundreds of networking groups out there and not all are going to work for your business. Some will be long term and will evolve with you and others may be useful for a little while and then no longer. Be ruthless – if it isn’t working change it! Review your marketing plan in the spring, looking at last year as a comparison. For new business owners, at first you may have to work on instinct, advice and other peoples’ experiences. Don’t be afraid to ask advice – most business owners are happy to share what works for them. We’ve all been newbies!

Recycling is a big green issue and you can apply this to your business by repeating what works for your business. We know that if we are diligent in our accounting, consistently go over the odds with our customer service and regularly return messages, our business will probably continue to prosper and grow. Look for other areas where you can improve and then maintain that improvement.

We all deserve a little pampering and can use this to Renew. It may be something as simple as coffee with a friend during the working day or a pedicure on Friday afternoon. Whatever works for you, if it helps you to relax and take some quality time off, it will Renew your energy and commitment to your business. At the end of the working week try sitting down in a quiet place with a notepad and recording what you accomplished that week and what your plans are for the next week. Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of the Virgin Group, does this with his key staff every week and if it works for him – well, he seems to be doing okay!

Remodeling is an ongoing thing. A business is an evolving organism and change is a constant, but change without focus and a clear route is not necessarily a good thing. Planning, organization and clear goals are needed to make sure that we stay on the right track

So how about it? Is it time for a clean up?

Submitted by Christine Raynor, President of Home or Away Property Services, taking care of empty residential properties. Christine can be contacted at 905-448-0808, craynor@homeoraway.ca