Do you have New Year’s Resolutions? The start of a new year is the ideal time to pause and reflect on what is and isn’t going so well for your Network Marketing business. Whether you’re new to Network Marketing or are an established distributor, it’s always worth considering what you would like to achieve in the coming year, and how to run your business more efficiently.
Set some SMART goals
Setting out goals is an important step for any business owner – after all, if you don’t know what your goals are, how do you know when you’ve reached them? It is proven that once we identify and write down goals, they become more achievable. Goals help motivate us to develop strategies that will enable us to take the actions needed to achieve them.
We recommend following the SMART framework, so that any goals you set are:
- Specific – an example would be to attend one business networking event each month
- Measurable – by adding a specific number or amount to your goal, e.g. to grow the current team by 20%
- Achievable – there’s no point setting a goal that is unattainable as this will only result in frustration so pick an ambitious but achievable goal
- Relevant – choose a goal that is directly related to your business and within your control e.g. to grow email subscribers by 100 contacts
- Time bound – decide on a time period in which you will work to achieve your goal
Once you have set your goals, consider what steps you need to take to achieve them, and break them down into weekly/monthly/quarterly actions. This will help you from feeling overwhelmed and give you a plan to follow.
Keep good records
Keeping good business records is business 101 and can prevent headaches further down the line. This doesn’t have to be complicated, the essentials we recommend are:
- Keeping a spreadsheet with monthly income and outgoings. This can be a simple Excel spreadsheet or via a software such as our own software PRBookkeeping. This is especially important if you have set a financial goal so you can access the relevant information.
- Keeping receipts, either the physical receipts in a dedicated place, or in a digital format. There are now plenty of apps or software providers to choose from to help you manage this.
Get your tax return in as early as possible
You are likely familiar with the self-assessment tax return deadline of 31st January. This deadline has in the past two years been extended to the end of February to help taxpayers in light of the pandemic, but this doesn’t mean it should be left to the last minute. You can submit your tax return at any point during the year, just bear in mind that if it’s your first one you will need to allow for time to receive your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR).
You can read more about what information is needed for your tax return in this blog, alternatively you can contact a specialist accountant such as us here at PRB Accountants, to complete the process for you.
Have an accountability buddy
You are likely to have an upline from within your organisation who should be available for support and advice on how to manage and grow your Network Marketing business, and they can be a source of great advice. You could also consider setting up an informal arrangement with a peer, or even friend outside of the industry, to catch up with on a regular basis. The aim is to agree a few priorities or actions each month, and then hold each other accountable.
Nurture relationships
The Network Marketing industry is driven by relationships, so make a concerted effort to build and nurture those relationships. Engage with existing contacts to see how they’re doing and put in place a system to follow up in regular intervals. Make a note of conversations had so you can refer back to them.
Let us know how you’re getting on with your New Year’s Resolutions on our socials. Good luck!
If you would like to find out how we can help you run your Network Marketing business more efficiently, simply get in touch with our team on 01444 458252 or info@prbmp.com.