Resolve to get your work in shape for 2001, the real first year of the new millennium. Here are some areas which need attention in most small businesses:
1. Your contact information
If you're like most workers, you have names, addresses and business cards scattered around in pockets, drawers and on your desk. Put them all in a database. First, collect them all, go through them and only keep the ones which are still current. Then, enter all the information in MS Access which has several pre-configured databases for different types of businesses.
If you don't have MS Access, use your spreadsheet or a table in your word processor and use the search function to find stuff. Remember to have a "Notes" column where you can enter all the miscellaneous information you've collected about various contacts.
You'll spend a lot of time doing this now but you'll save much more time all year when you don't have to search everywhere for that telephone number.
2. Back up all your information
Some of my small business customers back up data weekly and some don't back up at all. Whichever category you're in, do a complete back up of your data now, make a copy and put one back up set in a safety deposit box.
We don't generally back up complete hard drives anymore - we just back up the data. You can always get your programs re-installed on a new machine, add the data and you're back in business.
Today, floppies are too small so you should be using a Zip drive or burning your own CD's. The big advantage of burning your own CD's is that you can take the CD to any other computer and your data is instantly accessible. With Zip drives, you need the drive and you have to install it before you can read your data.
Get a CD burner, put your data on a CD, put it in a safety deposit box and there's your business data, safe for this millennium.
3. Resolve to keep in touch with your customers more
You may think your customers know what you do and will contact you if they need your products. Wrong. Unless you're constantly reminding them, they forget what you do, lose your name and phone number and think you've gone out of business. Instead, they'll deal with whoever is handy when they need something.
Send out cards, newsletters, special offers etc. to keep your name in front of them.
