According to USA Today, New Mexico will lead the way for “jobs rebound”  in 2011. What does this mean for business owners and entrepreneurs? It means that you should begin your planning and goal setting for 2011 with more research than ever before - when you revise your business plan.

Why research? Or a better question may be, what do I research? Consider this:

If business is slow and you are considering penetrating new target markets with your existing products and services, you may want to check out the industries in New Mexico that are ranked highest in job security. The high ranking is an indication that business is good for these companies, which means they may be more open to purchasing your product or service.

Or consider this:

If you are considering introducing a new product to your existing client base, it is still a good idea to do the research. WHY? If your client, or their industry is listed as one that is forecast for growth in 2011, this would be a great topic for a lead in discussion about your new product and/or service.

Either way, begin your planning by researching those companies that are forecast for growth in 2011. For many non-retail business owners, this is the time of year for recuperating, rejuvenating, and reexamining your goals and priorities. In that vein, here is more about setting goals and revising your business plan.

Based on the clients I see, it seems that writing goals is viewed as very important, but because of the lack of urgency, relative to other business activity, setting goals falls on the “get it done later” list of to do’s.  Goals do not get stored in your voice message or email bin. They are not going to reach out from the world wide web and remind you they exist. As a result, our goals do not get the respect they deserve.

How can you keep important goals in the forefront of your mind and continue to manage your business?

Below are 5 simple tips that will help:

1. Read over your existing business plan, like you read the menu at your favorite restaurant.
2. Jot down, on the actual business plan, what changes you want to make in 2011. This turns your business plan into a living document.
3. Integrate those new ideas/goals in to the existing plan.
4. Set specific, measurable, realistic, and results oriented goals for each of your new ideas.
5. Don’t have a business plan? Then make sure you create one now. This way, next year this time you will be able to do steps 1 – 4 above. (smile).

If you like the above tips then great! If you only like them, and do not apply them, then you just wasted five minutes of your time. THEREFORE, I challenge you immediately begin applying what you just read. Set your goals and do your research now.

All the best...