It's almost the New Financial Year - did you set yourself any New Year's business resolutions? Making new resolutions and goals always makes me feel excited about the possibilities for the coming year.

Everyone knows a New Year’s Resolution is a commitment you make to improve a facet of your life. So why not apply this to your business? It is a great opportunity to think about what you want to achieve in business for the next 12 months and set new targets. What a perfect time to reset budgets, plan your marketing strategy and formulate better ways of doing things.

Recent research shows that men achieved their goals 22% more often when they engage in goal setting and women succeeded 10% more when they made their goals public and got support from their friends.
This research shows that to help achieve your goals you need to do the following:

• Set S.M.A.R.T Goals – Focus on goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time based (SMART). For example, instead of thinking ‘I want to increase my turnover', focus on creating bite-sized, measurable goals for each week. You may decide that you want to increase your turnover initially by 10% and set a new marketing initiative each month to achieve this.

• Be specific – Think exactly what you are going to do, when you are going to do it and by when. If you are vague about the plan – it will fail. If you say that you are going to visit your best clients to help increase sales, tell yourself you are going to do it on a Wednesday at 9am.

• Plan ahead – Take some time out to reflect upon what you really want to achieve. Quick decisions won't have the right planning and mindset attached.

• Go public – Write down your resolutions on paper and place it somewhere prominent where you will always see it. Tell your staff about the resolutions and ask them to provide you with any assistance to help you all achieve the goals. Do not keep your resolution to yourself.

• Be persistent – New habits take time to learn and once in a while you may forget or slip up. Remember that everyone may lose focus from time to time. Just let the experience inspire you and don't look back.