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PDT
#132 -- Ring in the New Year Right
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Your December To-Do
List
December 3, 2008
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Private Duty Today
Welcome to Private Duty Today,
the bi-weekly electronic newsletter for Private Duty Home Care Leaders
from Leading Home Care ...a Tweed Jeffries company.
I'm Jason Tweed, Director of Business Development for
Leading Home Care, and Editor of Private
Duty Today.
Private Duty Today is published every
other Wednesday, and currently goes to over 7000 subscribers.
Private Duty Today is
a permission-based newsletter.
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If you're like me, you've just finished digesting a turkey
dinner. You're making a list of holiday cards and trying to
figure out which people on your list get "Merry Christmas"
and which get "Happy Hanukkah". St. Nicholas will be
visiting in about 20 days and you're feeling ill prepared. You're
trying to get invited to some holiday parties, and figure out ways to
avoid others. And in a few more weeks you will be ... eating
another turkey dinner!
Unfortunately, this is also a very important time of year for Home Care
CEOs. In the midst of distraction here are some things that you
should add to your December to-do list to be well-prepared for 2009.
Create Your
Marketing Calendar -- Plan five to seven marketing
strategies that you will implement in 2009. Mix some of the tried
and true techniques that brought you success in 2008 with a few new
campaigns for next year. Marking a wall calendar with the date
that each strategy will launch is the first step to growing your
business next year.
Create a
Retention Calendar -- Make increasing caregiver
retention a priority next year. By planning three or four events
that show your caregivers you care and recognize their work, you keep
happier employees. Happy employees = happy customers = happy
CEOs! Make sure that some of these events recognize the entire
body of caregivers, while others reward exceptional work and behavior
standards.
Plan for
Operational Growth -- If your company grows revenue by
10%, what additional supports will you need? What if your company
grows by 25%? 50%? 100%? Targeting growth numbers and planning
operational growth will make your company more profitable, and create
more restful nights for the CEO.
Plan Your
Vacation -- Our definition of an entrepreneur is
"Someone who work 60 hours a week for themselves to afford working
40 hours a week for someone else." If this describes you
don't forget to plan some rest and relaxation time. By having
appropriate opportunities for rejuvenation your performance will
improve, and your company will thank you for it. Additionally, it's
critical that your company be able to survive for short periods of time
without you.
Right, or
Rewrite, Your Exit Strategy -- Stephen Covey says
"Begin with the end in mind." All of us will retire,
one way or another, at some point. Some of us will be buried in
the dirt with lilies planted above us, others prefer to be buried in
beach sand with a margarita planted on us. Regardless of your
personal goals, you should plan for your business's survival beyond
your work there. Re-examine your exit strategy, and make sure that
the progress you're making for your company is working toward your
personal goals.
Invest in
Technology -- Your single biggest overhead expense will
be people. They are simultaneously your biggest drain on profits
while being a most important asset. Think about the big picture
as you move forward. What technology will make them most
effective? How can you make scheduling, billing, payroll and
supervisory staff more efficient? What tools do your salespeople
need to generate more revenue? It's almost always less expensive
to acquire productivity technology than it is to acquire additional
staff.
Update Your
Brand -- Take all of the materials in your office that
have your logo on them. Try to determine which ones are out of
date or simply stale. Get rid of any materials that no longer
truly represent your brand. Identify holes in your marketing and
other branding materials, and plan to fill them.
Update Your
Website -- Today every company needs a website, it
grants legitimacy the way a fax number did two decades ago. But
is your website working for you, or just another out-of-date brochure?
Clean out the
Office -- You and your employees probably spend in
excess of 2000 hours a year in your office. That's probably more
time than you spend with your spouse, unless your spouse works there
too. (Sleeping doesn't count.) Refreshing the office by
clearing out clutter, rearranging the spaces and furniture, and adding
a few decorations will dramatically change the way you and your employees
feel about coming to work.
Spending an hour or two on each of these projects this December will
have significant impact on your growth, profitability, happiness and
success in 2009.
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Today's issue of Private Duty Today offered some
suggestions for December projects to make your 2009 better. We
want to hear from you. Tell us some of the things you're doing
this month to move forward in 2009.
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