Happy Business Birthday to Me – and to You?
LinkedIn informed me that my business is six years old this week.
Thank you to those who took this opportunity to send me congratulations messages.
And thank you to all those who have supported me along the journey so far.
Reaching this milestone got me thinking about the experiences I have had on the way and about business birthdays more generally.
One of the things I’ve enjoyed most has been working with a very wide variety of different businesses.
From start-ups and sole traders to larger and more long-established companies, from a range of industry sectors, both charities and private businesses, I’ve consciously chosen to serve a broad mixture of clients.
One thing that a number of them have had in common however, is that many have been approaching a significant ‘business birthday’.
Off the top of my head, I can think of three organisations celebrating 21st anniversaries, one company who’d been around for 25 years, another approaching their 10th year and another marking their 15th year in business.
Reaching these ‘milestone moments’ can give us pause for thought and often prompts some big questions and actions. These might include:
– a refresh of your visual branding – is your brand identity is starting to look and feel a bit dated?
– a new direction – have you taken the business on a different course since you first started out and now need to update your marketing to reflect this?
– a renewed commitment to stepping up – do you feel it’s ‘now or never’ to push yourself to the next level and realise some long-standing dreams and goals?
– a plan for the future and your legacy – how and when do you want to exit your business? Do you want to ensure the business continues somehow beyond your personal day-to-day involvement?
– revisiting your original ambitions – how far have you achieved your original aims and objectives, hopes and dreams?
– a feeling of gratitude and appreciation for all you have achieved so far, which may lead you to wonder, how can you continue to serve your customers even better in the future? How can you extend your thanks and recognise the support and contributions you have received from your networks and community?
– reviewing your success and learnings to date – how can you share your insights and experience with others?
– celebrating – is it time to plan a party or special event to mark this occasion and invite along your team, clients, family, friends and supporters to share in your joy and success?
Whatever you decide to do as another year passes, I hope you make the time to reflect and review, be grateful and celebrate.
If you’d welcome some fresh insight to map out your marketing for the year(/s) ahead, feel free to get in touch.
