Most people think the year ends on 31st December but, as every accountant knows, it is actually 31st January and today is really New Year’s Day!
Although we, and most of our client’s, are very organised, January still turns out to be a busier month than usual and it is a great relief when the last tax return flies off to HMRC and we can get back to business as usual – which means weekly emails and our
Sunday Supplement.
So as it’s the start of a new year I am officially declaring 2016 the year of focus.
In 2015, I was grateful that I've built my life around learning new skills. As a business founder, one of the challenges you face is that your role will change frequently. You may be a marketer one moment and a product strategist the next. The kind of high-priority work you need to be doing in your business will
probably shift from boots-on-the-ground work to management and leadership as you scale.
If you don't have the ability to learn new things, every role change will represent a huge hurdle and possibly even end your business entirely.
But learning new skills is about more than that. The skill of building skills is possibly the single most useful asset you can have if you want to be successful.
And 2016
is the year to get serious about developing and honing your skills. Make sure you live every day in such a way that you are significantly better in at least one area, by the end of the year.
And to do that you need consistency. Consistent effort every day is the key to almost everything you will accomplish in 2016.
Unfortunately, this goes against human nature. We generally tend to pick up a new thing, ride a short wave of
enthusiasm and then drop it again. We underestimate the effectiveness of small, consistent effort and vastly overestimate the effectiveness of a short burst of action.
No matter how hard you work during those short bursts, it isn't only a waste of time, it's also incredibly frustrating. While all the while, some small but meaningful changes will make a world of difference.
Too many entrepreneurs keep changing strategies, keep chasing after the
latest traffic generation secret, keep falling for the next shiny new thing….. and end up getting nowhere.
If you haven't already, make 2016 the year in which you get out of this vicious cycle. Set your sights on your goals and pursue them consistently, relentlessly and with a clear focus.
To your success.
Noel Guilford
Noel Guilford is the principal of
Guilford Accounting a small business accountancy practice specialising in advising owner-managed businesses on current accounting, finance, and tax matters. You can reach him via email at noel@guilfordaccounting.co.uk or by phone at 01244 660866. He is the author of the best selling book 'Figure it out - an entrepreneurs guide to understanding
your business numbers' which you can obtain by visiting http://guilfordaccounting.co.uk/figureit out.