Spring represents renewal, rebirth, and the start of new life, and spring cleaning your business means injecting this fresh feeling to your own operation.
Part One: Start with yourself – Have a Self-upgrade
In 5 simple steps:
a) Upgrade your thinking
b) Upgrade the way you act
c) Upgrade the way you speak
d) Upgrade the way you look
e) Upgrade your environment
You are your shop window.
Is your suit up to scratch? Are your shoes, briefcase, diary, pen, tie, belt, watch supporting your brand?
Is your posture correct? Are you exuding confidence with every stride? A purposeful poise will generate confidence in yourself and in your clients and in your colleagues and team members.
Have a declutter of your environment… your desk, office, reception area, car, home.
Part Two: Have a Business upgrade
a) Think 6-3-1:
6: What are the 6 key areas of your business?
(example: marketing, sales, ops, service delivery, client-care, finances)
3: What 3 things do you want to change and improve in each area?
1: Which 1 of these changes are you going to work on, immediately?
b) Think Team:
Is the Vision clear and communicated in an inspiring, engaging, compelling way?
Are the goals clear?
Is the collaboration what it could be?
Apply the same 5 steps as you did when having a self-upgrade:
The way the team thinks
The way the team acts
The way the team communicates
The way the team looks
The team environment
c) Get into the corners:
What are the little things getting in the way of the smooth operation of the business?
Make a hit list and make it part of your spring clean.
Maybe it does mean getting all those niggly little jobs done and finally sorted, clearing out those “dark cupboards” where nobody goes, but where who knows what lurks!
Just as a body finds it difficult to function with clogged arteries, and just as we feel re-energized when we spring clean, so too in our business and professional lives a “spring clean” will yield immediate results.