Joseph Chukwube — December 8, 2017 — December 8, 2017
The year is finally rolling to an end. Everybody is feeling the onrush of the festivities. Individuals are doing end of the year checks trying to find out what opportunities were justifiably utilized and which ones were outrightly missed.
For businesses, however, it is time to take stock. It is time to go through the books. It is time to find out how resources were utilized or underutilized.
It is time to start planning for the next year, how to corner the market, what new innovations that should be introduced, what old plans that should be jettisoned.
Some CEOs are always fidgety at about this time of the year. The audit department is expected to furnish the result of their work. Some CEOs find the outcome a pill too difficult to swallow while others see it as an opportunity to tighten the belt.
For CEOs whose decisions resulted in boiling the ocean, they may have to be given the boot for better hands to pilot the affairs of the organization. The buck this time cannot be passed around and investors don’t cherish excuses.
Whichever side of the divide your business may have fallen into, you need buy-in to the following ideas in order to leapfrog your business to the next level in 2018.
- Capitalize on 2017 social media statistics
Statista in the chart below gives a comprehensive analysis of leading social network worldwide as of September 2017, ranked by the number of active users.
For any business, capitalizing on the statistics is a surefire way of gaining traction in the world market. You don’t need to waste money on unnecessary ads. You know which network to focus on in order to gain the much-needed momentum in the market.
The only thing left for businesses is to find out which of the social networks will best suit their products or services, depending on the nature of people that visit the network regularly.
As a case in point, a survey carried out by Statista in January 2017, showed that people between the ages of 16 and 24 are more active on Instagram and YouTube, while people between the ages of 25 and 34 are more active on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
- Harp up your data security
One thing that can destroy your business overnight is a lax online security. Hackers are on the prowl seeking for a soft underbelly to hook their jaws onto.
It will be very unfortunate if all your effort over the years is made away in a jiffy, it will actually be a case of egg on the face. For this not to happen, the CIO and the whole team must be up and be doing.
The company’s data must be protected with all the latest innovation in the cybersecurity world. Since hackers have become tech-savvy, every member of the corporation must be data security conscious. An aggressive awareness campaign will be in order.
One thing we fail to understand is that the most basic security measures may be enough to ward away these baddies. The wrong line of action is failing to do anything about the situation.
- Constantly update your company website
The gateway to your business is your website. The more you drive traffic to your website, the more you get customers.
The sure ticket of generating visitors is the content that appears on the site. If on the other hand, your organization doesn’t have a website, then you have to fast track the whole stuff.
“Content is the key. Websites must be updated regularly or built timeless in the first place,” said Aigars Silkalns of Colorlib, “No news section at all if you are not 200 percent sure that you will update it.”
Your company website can make or mar your business and the brand image. And one of the ways to ensure it serves a good purpose is by keeping well-optimized and updated.
- Outsource for the best hands
The internet has made the world a global village. You can easily reach anybody in any part of the world within seconds.
This factor is another angle you can capitalize on to move your business up in 2018. Get the best hands wherever they may be in any part of the world since we live in a global economy.
- Boss/Employee relationship
The type of relationship that exists between the CEO and the employees speaks volumes about the overall output of the organization.
If for any reason the employees are treated like hired hands and no opportunity is given to them to contribute meaningfully to the overall growth of the firm, it will be harmful. They need to be carried along in all processes of decision making. The CEO must rally the troops to make them push the envelope.
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