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New Year's Resolutions for Pond Success in 2011

By Trevor Cole

Happy New Year! What are your plans for 2011?

I plan for 2011 to be more profitable and productive than last year. This probably is a common goal among us.

Wisdom says that if you are working towards a goal then you should share it with others. By publishing your objectives, it holds you accountable. Some statistics indicate that 80 percent of New Year’s Resolutions are broken by the end of January. I intend to be one of the 20 percent who follow through.

My New Year's Resolutions are:

1. Grow my pond and garden business by at least 10 percent. In spite of the troubled economy, last year was a modest growth year for our pond and garden business. Sales were not stellar, but they were not flat either. Our pond and garden business achieved double-digit growth, and there is no reason we cannot carry that momentum into the New Year. To accomplish this, we must stay positive and focused.
2. Focus without becoming obsessed. My family puts up with a lot. Over the years we have sacrificed financially as well as time spent concentrating on my pond and garden business. The old adage, “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy,” probably rings true. I intend to stop working more than 80 hours each week and tend to my family as lovingly and attentively as I have tended to my pond and garden business. Does that sound familiar to some of you pond and garden business owners?
3. Be on time. I intend to schedule activities with more realistic expectations of what can be accomplished within the time-frame given. At the top of my list is to get my blog posts written on time!
4. Provide more employee training. We often overlook the benefits of investing in training. If an employee is going to have some longevity with us, I want him or her to be as knowledgeable and confident in the field as possible.
5. Improve customer service. Speaking of longevity, I want my customers to be around as long as my employees. The future success of our pond and garden business is about relationships.
6. Introduce more customers to our pond and garden business. With our average sale hovering near $100 per transaction, it’s a no-brainer that more customers translate into more profit. A solid advertising and marketing plan, including word-of-mouth, is important for us to reach new customers.
7. Ice the cake by fine-tuning all those half-finished projects around the store. Growth sometimes happens so quickly that things get left on the backburner to be completed later. Winter is the perfect time to tidy up and finish off those backburner projects. Everyone has a ‘punch list’ that needs to be completed.
8. Come up with new ideas to add excitement to my pond and garden business, for customers and employees. Develop ideas that motivate and make everyone smile.

Bring it on!

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Man does "Focus without becoming obsessed." ring true with me! I started up a pond supplies website: www.diywatergardening.com and like yourself have been working 80+ hour weeks trying to build it up. I have really gained allot of respect for successful business owners. Its hard work and it never stops! Hope you reach your goals this year! Davin Davin, Antioch, IL Posted: 7/24/2011 3:36:59 PM