How do you envisage 2018 will shape up for your business? Is it a year in which you hope to reach goals, make progress and increase that all-important bottom line?

Many business owners start the year with a bevy of fresh resolves, determined to wipe the slate clean and start with renewed vigour after a well-earned rest. If that description fits your state of mind, here are five ways a coach can help get you there in a faster, more efficient fashion.

The year ahead

Goals and achievements are probably at the forefront of your mind as you start 2018, but the key will be enacting them swiftly and effectively. That involves setting targets and implementing the plans to reach them, and there’s nothing like having a coach in your corner to help you go above and beyond the standard list of things to do.

A coach is that little voice in your ear compelling you to think big, shoot for the moon and then build the right strategies to reach your trajectory – whether that’s new equipment, better systems and procedures or a honed and workable business plan.

Fresh perspective

A business owner knows their enterprise like no other person can, but months and years of working within the confines of the same operation can see you set in your ways and unable to identify areas that could be changed for the better.

There’s no time like the present to bring in a fresh perspective with a coach you can trust to take a look at how you operate and identify areas of growth, refinement and improvement.

Your customer

Just as your business operation will evolve over the years, so too does your customer. What does your customer look like in 2018? What piques their interest, what income do they have and what does their life look like?

Over the years you may have written vision statements, business plans, customer profiles and marketing strategies, but what worked in previous years may not apply now.

The New Year provides an opportunity to view your customer afresh, with some welcome outside assistance to identify and reach them this year and beyond.

Your bottom line

Business is all about the bottom line, but how well do you know yours and the potential it may have? With the end of the financial year months away and the last BAS of 2017 safely filed, now is the opportunity to seek expert assistance to look at your figures and the hidden secrets they could reveal.

It’s the chance to look at what they mean and where they could be in 12 month’s time.

Your impetus

Like those beautifully ruled pages and the neat handwriting that heralds the beginning of the school year, the business New Year often starts with the best intentions. However, maintaining the constant impetus to drive your business forward while juggling the day-to-day intricacies of leading a team and enterprise is a challenge for many a proprietor.

Having a mentor in your corner to help you establish goals and meet them is possibly the most valuable investment you could make this year, driving you forward whatever outcome you desire.

The last word

In truth any time of year is a valuable opportunity to take a critical view of your business, but with a New Year and new opportunities awaiting, why not make it now?