Start the New Year off right by taking care of a few important items that can make a
                      difference in your business and have a positive impact on the bottom line. Start with the
                      following suggestions and add your own. 

                    PLANNING. Review your strategic plan (You do have one, don't you?). Are you on course to
                      your objectives and goals? Update your plan as may be necessary and make any additions
                      and/or deletions based on any changes in your desired goals. Remember the importance of
                      planning - without a plan in place, effective decision making is difficult if not impossible. 

                    CUSTOMERS. Make a point to contact all your existing customers - remember, they are most
                      likely to purchase your product or service. Have a "preferred" sale, send them all an
                      announcement of some kind, ask for suggestions. Make them feel how important they are to
                      your business. Make personal individual contact with your larger customers. 

                    TELEPHONE. Review your telephone charges. It may be possible to do a lot better. Shop
                      around for your long distance and 800/888 service. 

                    SUPPLIERS. Contact all your current suppliers and attempt to negotiate lower prices. Review
                      your previous year's usage and consider a larger bulk buys in order to obtain additional
                      discounts. 

                    ACCOUNTS. Contact all overdue accounts. Offer to negotiate payment terms, if necessary.
                      Decide if you want to continue to work with these customers. 

                     EMPLOYEES. Do you have employees? If so, make a point to sit down with each of them and
                      ask for suggestions that might improve your product or service. Ask if they need anything that
                      might make them more efficient. Be sure to give feedback at a later date as to how you used any
                      of these suggestions. 

                     GUARANTEES. Review your product or service guarantee - it is as generous as it can be? Is a
                       "life time" warranty in order? Exceptional warranties sell products! 

                     TECHNOLOGY. Are you using technology to the fullest extent possible? Remember that
                       technology is one of the great equalizers between small and large companies. 

                           a. Should you have an Internet site? b. Is your telephone system adequate? (Do you keep
                           customers waiting?) c. Would a fax-back system help get information into your customers
                           hands at a lower cost to you? d. Do you need a fax machine? 

                     CUSTOMER SERVICE. Improve it this year! Review your customer service policies. Do you
                       need additional telephone lines? Can you ship product faster? Provide better prices? Discounts?
                       Personalized service? Should you be accepting credit cards? Would a toll-free number be
                       useful? 

                     MARKETING. Plan your year's marketing budget. Either define a budget amount or have it vary
                      with total sales. 

                     INSURANCE. Review your insurance program. Are you double insuring? Shop your policies
                      for better prices. Are any changes required? 

                     ORGANIZATION. Okay THIS is the year you are going to get organized. Do it - the time
                      savings are amazing. If nothing else, get yourself a good personal information manager (PIM)
                      and use it. I like ECCO. 

                      Remember, the continued success of your business is dependent on many factors, some of
                      which are not under your control. It is up to you to take advantage of those you can do
                      something about.

                      Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your
                      source of FREEWare Content online. 

                      Robert Sullivan is the author of The Small Business Start-Up Guide, and United States
                      Government - New Customer!. He frequently lectures on starting small businesses and appears
                      on CNBC's "Minding Your Business" as a small business expert. His books may be ordered
                      toll-free by calling 1 800 375 8439. 

                      Robert also developed and maintains an extensive award-winning Internet website, "The
                      Small Business Advisor," at http://www.isquare.com.

                      Reprinted from Zongoo! Business