Broken resolutions

by | Jan 22, 2025 | Ripe News

2025 is now well underway and I am sure many of you began the year with clear resolutions about how you were going to reduce the amount you drink, start a new diet or go to the gym more often.

I know it is cliché, but every year many of us start the new year with a vision of what we want to achieve by the end of it, but along the way promises to ourselves become broken or change.

While you may have some personal goals for the 12 months ahead, have you sat down and thought about the plans for your business?

I know many of us do this as the financial year end draws around, as we set new budgets and consider what each quarter of the new period will hold – creating roadmaps, activity calendars or however you plan out your year.

I bet if you look back – perhaps even over the last few months – things will have fallen by the wayside – just like many of the personal resolutions we set for ourselves.

First of all, it’s OK for some things to take longer or have to change. Adaptability is a key skill for every business owner, especially in the uncertain world in which we live.

Don’t beat yourself up. It sometimes isn’t within your power to create the change or growth you want.

However, when things change, the rest of your plans, objectives and KPIs must pivot at the same time.

Using the start of the calendar year to do this makes sense. Everything else from the last year is put behind us and – depending on your outlook – most of us will think about what the year ahead holds.

If you haven’t recently, sit down with your team and consider what your business resolutions for 2025 might look like – how do they align with your plans for year-end or your wider three to five-year business plan?

If you are reading this and thinking I don’t have any plans or you don’t know where to turn next, well this is your impetus to sit down with us and create one.

Our favourite tools for thinking about the year ahead include a strategic SWOT analysis from which we help you generate actions that feed into a one-page plan, that sets out where you are now, where you want to be and how you’ll get there, using SMART objectives. And we act as your accountability partner to ensure plans are actioned.

A lot is changing in the year ahead, which will affect businesses and their owners, including higher rates of national insurance, a rise in the National Minimum Wage rates and additional financial burdens that you need to account for.

If you are starting the year without a clear path ahead of you, just know that our team at Ripe are here and ready to guide you as your circumstances and plans change.