2023 is upon us, and the year is ripe with new possibilities and fresh space for growth and improvement. App Inlet is a small, ever-growing business, and this is the perfect time for the company to review its vision and set goals for the upcoming year. Having a new year’s resolution sounds excellent, but it’s essential to stick to it. A well-known saying is, “A goal without a plan is just a wish”. Studies report that 80% of resolutions made yearly are not kept, and most are abandoned by February. Very few achieve what they set out to do. One reason so many fail is a need for more strategy. We aim to take advantage of all the tools and resources available to maximise potential and stick to a solid plan. Here is App Inlet’s New Year’s Resolution 2023.
1. Connect and Engage with Clients
For our first New Year’s resolution for 2023, we wish to focus on our clients. By creating feedback forms, sending surveys and responding quickly to clients. This can make a solid first impression when someone reaches out to us. We will endeavour not only to hear but also understand our clients and work with them to achieve their big picture as we collaborate and build something great.
2. Maintain a Positive Work Environment
After such a challenging year (for many reasons, especially in South Africa), we should focus on maintaining a more positive work environment. Unlike other industries, App Inlet finds itself in an advantageous space where a positive work culture generates fantastic ideas and results. We will listen and respond to employees’ and coworkers’ needs. Ultimately a happy team is a productive team. Productivity can be cultivated from positive motivation. The aim is to help our staff members feel like their job is something to be proud of rather than something they have to endure. If our employees are happy, we will build a trustworthy relationship. There is a symbiotic relationship between a happy workforce and the solutions we come up with to achieve success with our client projects. Interested in learning more about this all-important culture? Take a look at our article on Our Company Culture.
3. Build a Better Growth Mindset
Now that we have touched on maintaining a positive work environment. The next step is building and instilling a better growth mindset. Every business should have the continuous goal to grow and expand. Each year at App Inlet, we focus on how to grow and sustain the business. Even this text piece reflects how we would like to project our growth. We look to tackle the significant challenges that are preventing further development. At any given time, no matter the stage of our business, there are plenty of processes that can be improved to streamline the business further and capitalise on its prospects. The key here is to work smart, not hard! If we can create a clearer sense of direction, this can only make an upward trajectory. As most of us were asked when we were young, “What would you like to be when you grow up?” we should be asking ourselves now, “Where would we like to see the company in several years?”. As App Inlet grows, we must not forget that we are like a family of hard workers who share the same unmistakable sense of direction and growth mindset.
4. Focus on Networking
To build a growth mindset, we must look at the different ways of achieving this. One way is to focus on networking with others. The old saying can be true, “it’s not about what you know, but whom you know”. And yes, of course, it’s essential to know “what” you are doing, but the point is that we all come from different walks of life. If we build up our network and connections, we may come across someone whose vision aligns with our own. That can be mutually beneficial to both parties and could be the catalyst that propels our business towards great success. We may never know how significant an individual or company could be to our own. As cliche as it sounds, “never judge a book by its cover” because we might create something unique through a simple introduction and connection. App inlet is looking to expand its network this year and hopes to build and sustain strong relationships with clients and stakeholders.
5. Prioritise a Work, and Personal Life Balance
App Inlet is a family-owned business, and we feel like family within our workplace too. This bodes well, as we are all here for each other. However, it can still be challenging to maintain a balance between work-life and what is going on in our personal lives. Trying to balance mentally and physically whilst performing our office functions is challenging when we go through something personal. We aim to keep our family ethos by understanding if an employee feels down. We share the load and support and uplift our teammates by working together. As business owners, we value our team and want the best for them. Our objective is to have a strong team that likes whom they work for and our company’s values versus feeling like a workhorse in a factory.
6. Update Our Business Plan
Change is good, especially if it has been a long time since something has been changed. In a business sense, it is imperative because we want our plans and processes to stay fresh. Updating our business plan each year is a way of adapting to the current times. Otherwise, we could take one step forward and two steps back without changing. Our whole model can be based on a dated business plan. App Inlet must evolve with the times. Our method provides a roadmap for our company to stay on track to reach long-term and short-term goals. We revisit our plan periodically and consider it a living document continuously being revised and updated. The beginning of each year is always a good time to look at our current strategy and ascertain if any changes should be made. We must treat our business plan like a pair of shoes. Over time our shoes become worn, faded and out of fashion until we buy a new pair. Then our feet go through a short adjustment period. But it’s all worth it when we look good and feel comfortable in those new shoes.
7. Apply Technology to Streamline Processes
One crucial New Year’s resolution of ours for 2023 is about technology. We strive to keep up with current tech trends because we believe that technology will change the world and, similarly, our business in a massive way. There are many ways to make our company more efficient. At App Inlet, we already have multiple systems and processes in place which are controlled and tracked through technology such as cloud-based apps and task management software. These aspects of our company can be automated to make things run much smoother and keep better track of our daily tasks. Automating processes can save time and money. Because App Inlet is primarily an app development company, it is only in our best interest to stay updated with the latest useful online tools and apps. A wise man once said, “Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.”
8. Continuously Build Our Brand
Our brand is our identity. It’s what people see from the outside looking in. First impressions are everything in the business and social world. We want our company to resonate in the minds of the people we cross paths with. That’s why we must understand our target audience and who we are as a company. This understanding is an excellent way of building our brand. We consider App Inlet tech-savvy, and many other companies are the same. App Inlet continuously uses social media to build our brand, including LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube. We want to portray our core and identity to put ourselves on the map. Each year we intend to be one of the most visible beacons on the map. Our logo depicts a lighthouse for a reason. To help you navigate and build on your ideas.
We are optimistic for 2023 and hope it’s easier than 2022. Let’s leave that year behind us. We are grateful for you taking the time to read App Inlet’s New Year’s Resolution for 2023. If you feel this is a hard thing to do, look at the positives of it all. We have written a piece previously titled Turn South Africa’s Year Into a Positive if you are interested in what those positives are. We hope our goals give you some inspiration to achieve your own goals. It’s onwards and upwards from here. We wish you all the very best of luck in trying to achieve your new year’s resolution in 2023 as we look to achieve ours as well.
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