New Year’s Eve is but a memory. The hangover has faded, the balloons and confetti have been swept into the trash, and the echoes of “Happy New Year!” have died out. All that remains for many businesspeople is the hard work of turning their business resolutions into reality.
Many businesspeople use the new year to set a slate of priorities for the year ahead, from better engaging employees to helping their community to exploring new opportunities. A good number of execs already have begun working to make their goals happen.
Here’s a look at a few companies’ resolutions and how owners plan to put them into action.
SET GOALS
A good resolution for a small business to make — and a dependable way to see that resolutions are kept — is getting organized with a thorough, top-to-bottom operations review. This can benefit new or established companies.
“Nobody is perfect, no matter how detailed and extensive the operations management is,” said John Andrews-Anagnostaras, principal of Landmark Design Inc., a food service facilities planning, interior design and project management firm in Las Vegas. “Evolutionary development is a given.”
The review should include records of events, suggestions from staffers “and more importantly, customer complaints with details of how they were handled,” Andrews-Anagnostaras said. “Nothing is sacred, however triviality tends to bend interest.”
Restaurateur Terrie Boley starts every new year by cleaning out paperwork from the previous year.
“That’s the start for taxes, 1099s, tip reporting, sales tax audits and workman’s comp audits,” Boley said. “Then, we pick at least one new thing to focus on and make better.”
This year, Boley and her staff decided to update payroll and human resources functions because the company has grown.
“We started at the end of last year by arranging to switch payroll companies to one with an HR function,” Boley said. “Now that that is on the way, we’re going to focus on regular staff meetings, performance reviews, employee incentives and enrichment.”
Marilyn Schlossbach, who owns and operates hospitality venues, plans to focus on two resolutions this year: “authentic communication and organized planning.”
“We have to nurture our relationships with our team on all levels so we may work on the bigger picture, not the distractions,” Schlossbach said.
Organized planning has been one of the company’s weaknesses.
“We are creative people with ideas galore, but the planning is not what we gravitate to,” she said.
GIVE BACK
Some Las Vegas businesses are intent on giving back more to the community than in years past.
“As a company, we consistently support local organizations that I feel strongly about,” said Stephanie Wilson, president of Wicked Creative, a public relations firm. “Together with my senior managers, Lauren Cahlan and Tyler Krochmal, it is our resolution in 2016 to expand our community support to take on pro bono projects for causes any employee is passionate about.”
Wilson and her colleagues encourage anyone at Wicked Creative to create a three-person committee within the company to support an organization of their choosing. In the first week of 2016 alone, employees took on three new projects, including helping rescue animals and children with special needs.
“We hope with this resolution that we can make everyone at Wicked Creative feel a stronger tie to the Las Vegas community,” Wilson said.
HIRE RIGHT
Many company leaders recognize that their greatest asset is people. So they are focused on hiring the best talent possible and giving their employees the tools they need to be successful.
“Our one single business resolution is very simple for 2016,” said Cory Harwell of Carson Kitchen and the Simon Harwell Group. “We resolve to continue adding more people who are passionate, motivated, dedicated and possess an overwhelming desire to be great — not good — to our already awesome team.”
Harwell said he and his team would continue to celebrate great behavior and performance, and “hope that every individual team member will contribute to our business’ success as much as we contribute to their personal success.”
LEVEL UP
For some companies, moving forward means taking business to a new level.
Angela Pettit, co-owner of Azzurre Spirits, said her resolution is to expand the brand from the local level to the national level.
“We have begun this process by reaching out to contacts and companies in major cities throughout the United States, as well as by using social media as a vital tool to differentiate our brand, as well as to increase interest virally,” Pettit said.
For local businessman Wayne Allyn Root, each New Year brings the same resolution: to continue to reinvent himself.
“I’m the only person in all of America – guaranteed — who made the transition from Las Vegas sports handicapper to national politician,” said Root, the Libertarian Party’s vice presidential nominee in 2008. “As a political author and syndicated conservative columnist, my life is 90 percent politics. So guess what? I’m changing again. I need to reinvent myself every few years. Life gets boring.”
Root’s next project is developing and producing television programs, which he previously did part-time. He has produced episodes of “Ghost Adventures,” “King of Vegas” and “Las Vegas D.A.,” starring Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson and set to premier in May on Investigation Discovery Channel. Root also is working on two new Las Vegas-based reality shows.
CUSTOMERS FIRST
Consumers have come to expect more from businesses, and many people insist on getting the customer service they expect. Business owners have responded by enacting customer-first policies.
“Consumers have higher expectations of real fairness and responsiveness to complaints,” said Mark Deuitch, CEO of PeopleClaim, a dispute-resolution company. “It’s less and less easy to get rid of people with legitimate complaints by ignoring them or handing out a coupon. In a nutshell, business owners will have to run their businesses as if their mother were looking over their shoulder, because she likely will be.”