New Year’s Resolutions of a Sydney entrepreneur

Most people are guilty of it – declaring a list of unachievable resolutions for the year ahead. As an entrepreneur, yes, I dream big, but I temper that with a dose of realism when it comes to goal-setting. Here are my ambitious but achievable resolutions for 2018.

Give a voice to charities

The wake-up call happened last month - two people I knew personally and professionally died of cancer. As a business owner with a large network, I realised there’s more I could and should be doing to give a voice to the many incredible not-for-profits, who work so hard to improve our lives. This year I plan to promote the work of up to 10 charities, via my own 12,000 LinkedIn followers, as well as our thousands of website visitors, newsletter subscribers, event attendees and clients. Even cash-poor, database-rich startups can contribute in this way!

Share!

Sharing is caring, but sharing also makes business sense to the point that we have a thriving "sharing economy". In the case of Matchboard, I plan to share our matching platform source code with other non-competing businesses, as I realise so many others looking to connect two sides of a market could benefit from it. Yes, I’ll charge a fee, but it will be cheaper, faster and less risky than a company trying to reinvent the wheel to build something similar.

Power up with partnerships

I’ve always been a believer in marketing partnerships as a way to cost-effectively grow a business. From conference companies and industry associations to synergistic corporates and individual movers and shakers, Matchboard partners with many to tap into new opportunities within our target market. But I want 2018 to be the year we seal one BIG partnership, to access a customer-base of hundreds of thousands or millions – maybe a media company, maybe a big corporate, whose customers can benefit from our free, time-saving business matching platform.

Hack stress before it hacks you

We live in an age of high stress. It’s no secret that exercise helps, and I vouch to swim more. Not only do some of my best moments of business clarity come when I’m in the water, I feel physically better after a swim. And I know a healthy me is key to a healthy business.

There are also little stress diffusers, like keeping your inbox under control to avoid a feeling of overwhelm – I hereby vouch never to let my inbox exceed 100 unactioned emails. Microsoft Outlook has a handy feature called Quick Parts, where you can store templates of common email responses and just insert them, saving a lot of time.

Spread knowledge

I will write more, and amplify my knowledge of the market. Guest blogs are a great way to do this, as they build the association of your brand with thought leadership, and provide some helpful SEO juice to boot!

Go mobile

Similar to doctors not looking after their own health, I’m one of those online entrepreneurs that has committed the ultimate sin of not having a mobile or responsive website. Matchboard has been working so well, we were loath to change anything. But 5 years later, it’s time for an overhaul!

Enter an awards program

I used to be sceptical of awards programs, but was encouraged to enter Westpac’s “200 Businesses of Tomorrow” program in 2017. Matchboard was lucky to win and the experience changed my perspective completely. A good awards program will provide you an opportunity to look at the big picture of your business from so many angles, some of which you may never have considered. And if you win, the PR exposure and ongoing credibility factor are significant. In 2018, I’ll be carefully selecting another meaningful awards program to participate in.

Keep it human

At Matchboard, we have thousands of clients, but I haven’t met 90% of them. It seems like there’s never enough time, but I resolve to make the time to have a couple of extra meetings every week. Relationships matter. And nothing beats knowing your customer, and building human connections.