Love it or hate it, the holiday of hearts is nearly here, and even if you don’t plan on spending it with a special someone, there’s a special something in your life that deserves some TLC: your business.
It’s easy to get lost in the day-to-day minutia that fills the work week, but if you don’t take the time to show your business some love, then you run the risk of missing valuable opportunities to nurture and grow your business.
This Valentine’s Day, make it a point to show your business some love. Not sure how to romance your professional pursuit? Here are a few tips.
How to Show Your Business Some Love
Touch Base with Your Goals
By now, we’re about halfway through the first quarter, and though the new year has only just begun, the resolutions that were once so bright have had time to dim over the last five or six weeks, not to mention the goals you created when you first started your business.
Those goals and resolutions, however, often play an important role in maintaining growth and achieving success. Dusting them off now can help you continue to plan and avoid veering too far off your path in the future. Similarly, you may also find that you need to adjust and tweak your goals now that you’re a few months, a year, or several years into your business adventure.
Polish & Pamper
I don’t know about you, but by the end of the week, my workspace needs some TLC; a testament to another five days of hard work. Unfortunately, while it’s easy to tidy up a single space, it’s also easy to forget about the bigger picture.
Office space, storefronts, and customer-facing areas can start to show signs of wear and tear, but if you’re there every day, you may not notice the decline. And, even though you may not notice, it can have a negative impact on the way your customer’s see your business or the way your employees feel about their workspace.
Take a few minutes to step back and take in your surroundings. Does the entryway displace need a revamp? Can the windows or awnings use a solid scrub down? Are the office walls getting a bit drab?
A little polishing and pampering can go a long way in helping you and your employees feel a renewed sense of workplace pride while signaling to your customers that they can rely on your brand for quality products or services.
Declutter & Organize
The outward appearance of your business isn’t the only thing that can suffer from unintentional neglect. The inner workings can also collect their own form of dust. Are you holding on to unnecessary documents? Do you have an inbox brimming with unsorted, unimportant, or unopened emails?
These things can take up unnecessary space, whether it be in physically, mentally, or digitally. And while they may not prevent you from doing your job, they can make it harder, bogging down your computer, making it hard to find important information, or simply taking up space that could serve a better purpose.
Similarly, you may find that your company policies and procedures have also become a bit cluttered or out-dated — no longer meeting the needs of a growing business, industry trends, or a changing workforce. Organizing and decluttering can increase efficiency and help everyone, employees included, get the most from their work day.
Appreciate Your Employees
Without the right employees, your business can and likely will suffer. And even though they collect a paycheck for services rendered, some additional positive reinforcement can go a long way. If you want to show your business some love, sometimes the best place to start is by appreciating those that make day-to-day operations possible.
Showing appreciation doesn’t have to be difficult. It could be as simple as a catered lunch or a call out during an all-hands meeting. Of course, you can also go big with employee outings, long-running reward programs, or other incentives, like extra days off.
Working as a party of one? If so, then you also should take time to appreciate yourself this holiday. Running a business is hard work, and if you don’t stop to practice some self-care, then you, your loved ones, and your business will suffer.
Show Your Customers Some Love
Your customers, just like your employees, play a pivotal role in growth and success and therefore also deserve some love. When was the last time you ran a customer appreciation promotion or reached out to loyal customer’s to thank them in some way?
There’s no one-size fits all approach to customer appreciation, but it should make your loyal customers feel special. VIP discounts and sales, giveaways, swag, or even a handwritten note can all send the signal that you recognize and appreciate the role that they play.
Your business gives to you 365 days a year, so this Valentine’s Day, make it a point to show it some solid TLC so you can continue to reap the benefits of a job well done and a business well managed.
This article was originally written on February 14, 2019.
Have at it! We'd love to hear from you and encourage a lively discussion among our users. Please help us keep our site clean and protect yourself. Refrain from posting overtly promotional content, and avoid disclosing personal information such as bank account or phone numbers.
Reviews Disclosure: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the credit card, financing and service companies that appear on this site. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card, financing and service companies and it is not their responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.