Looking to Grow in 2011?

As with most small businesses, the beginning of a new year marks the realignment of a company's priorities.  Yes, of course, we have to start gathering all of our tax information, and what a joy that is.  But, and more importantly, we should be using that past years' data to forecast what the following year can bring.  What worked last year?  What didn't?  What can we do different or better to increase: sales, exposure, market position, search engine rankings, client satisfaction, employee retention, efficiency... and conversely, how can we decrease: budget overages, employee turnover, customer complaints, overall spending, labor/training costs, benefits costs (w/o decreasing benefits), etc.

While so many small businesses run on shoestring budgets, a good many others, amazingly, turned profits in 2010 and added to their workforce!  Was it a fluke?  In this economy, most of us are shocked that this could really happen, when so many companies were laying off workers by the hundreds.  But, back up a bit, perhaps those company's are the ones that paid attention to what their numbers were telling them. Perhaps they had an angel on their shoulder advising them of trends and economic changes that would influence their industries; or perhaps they were just so savvy, or lucky, or....or What?  How did they do it?

January is barely over, and already statisticians are making wild predictions about 2011's economic future, and specifically where small business and local economies are affected.  Some of the prevalent topics of discussion include:  the effect of Healthcare reform on small business owners; the banking bailout; the current political climate; the unemployment rate and statistics; the real estate market; big box chain stores; the stock market...the list continues.  As a business owner, these are relevant concerns, each in and of themselves representing either a valid business point as it concerns CEO and CFO's AND to each of us as consumers and employees.  EACH issue is deeply personal and relative to how we conduct ourselves and make important decisions on a daily basis.

As our first blog post of the year, it is my goal to set a tone - to create an atmosphere that encourages feedback from our readers and intellectual discussions on posted topics.  While eCom posts will primarily be about the Credit Card Processing industry, the aforementioned issues and concerns can and will be directly related to what we do on many levels.  I feel these should be touched on from time to time, if for no other reason, to attempt to draw a line between what we do, how small business and consumers behave, and how our industry reacts. Everything is connected.  It all matters.  We look forward to your 'follows' and please let us know how we are doing or if there is something in particular you would like us to expound on for you regarding our areas of expertise.
Thank you!