2023: A year of trepidation unless you take control

Is it strange how many companies and people have more trepidation about 2023 than they had around Covid the past two years?

The Reserve Bank is obviously hell-bent on bringing us into a recession. My personal view is they have already raised interest rates enough and consumers and business owners understand that they are going to need to be more careful with their spending compared to recent times. I am no economist but raising interest rates surely increases wage pressure which pressures prices which means ongoing (high) inflation. Nobody asked me but if I was the Reserve Bank Governor, I’d stop raising rates so fast and high as an economy bite is 100% coming based on the word on the street.

There are some industries who are still going to have boom times in 2023 (tourism, for example) but the majority are likely to find declining demand biting their cashflow by the end of the year or sooner.

I am going to be running a special session at our Nurture Business Retreat in Fiji in June (I’m so excited!) about how to succeed in business when the times get a lot harder. I’m happy to share the odd thought now at a super high level (but come to Fiji for my proper, never-to-be-repeated, detailed, money-can’t-buy thoughts on how to succeed in harder times)…

To succeed in 2023, you are going to need to:

1. Work harder on delivering a good to great customer experience
2. Have a cashflow forecast that shows you the reality of how things are looking for you
3. Make the most of every sales lead that you get (they are gold so don’t be half-hearted with following them up)
4. Be a strong leader who is brave, great at accountability and can make hard decisions (let us help you)
5. Have proactivity oozing through your business at all levels
6. Be supportive of your team and improve your culture
7. Ensure your company is working to a well-considered business plan (Business Changing would love to help you here)
8. Look after yourself — physically, mentally and emotionally.

Over the New Year’s break, I believe everybody needs to chill like never before. So many business owners and leaders I speak to say that 2022 has been the most taxing year they can remember, ever. So more stressful and tiring than the Covid times of 2020 and 2021. Given 2023 will be more financially challenging for most than in 2022, you need to have your ‘wellness well’ at a lot higher level than at any time since the GFC.

My wife Sip challenged me to read a fiction book, rather than my standard fare of business books. Challenge accepted and I will be reading The Testaments (related to Handmaids Tale) and for once I’m incredibly excited to switch off business mode for a few weeks.

I know you all have plans to chill this January but my challenge to each of you is to take another step back and think harder on how can you relax and rejuvenate more than you had planned. It’s important because the more you grow the bank of your energy levels, the more successful a year you will have in 2023 and the better you will be able to overcome challenges and to be as proactive as possible.

With Business Changing, we will be getting even closer to our clients. We are lucky to have a very high retention rate and I believe this comes down to two things. We try incredibly hard to meet our purpose which is all about helping business owners and leaders to be more successful. We also try to build a very good relationship with our clients. Our clients become like family and friends as we work together over many years. We are excited to be considering ways that we can add even more value to our clients and how we can get even closer to them. My question to you: how can you connect with your customers that little bit better?

I am personally excited about 2023 for several reasons:

• Our business retreats in Fiji are returning! We ran 8 of them over almost four years and now, after a forced hiatus of 3 years and 9 months, we will be running our first one again June 7 to 11, 2023. The enforced break is crazy when I think about it — I know almost all of you can relate to something that was a super big part of your life and purpose being taken away from you due to outside circumstances…
• We cannot wait to try our absolute best to help our clients first and foremost across NZ, Australia, Canada and England.
• I’ll continue to grow my own leadership capabilities. In the kind of work I do, I feel like clients look to me as a kind of leader and boss (and I mean that humbly) and I love the challenge of personally needing to become a better and better leader (and manager) every year, every month, every week, every day to meet the needs of all these clever people. I am so lucky for the challenge that my clients bring which mean I have to keep getting better so I can continue to add value to them. Who is challenging you to get that little bit better, always?
• I’m planning to have even more control over my personal stress levels by walking the talk even more. I’ll be focused on knowing my top priorities, getting enough downtime to rejuvenate as well as learn new things so we can do greater good for the business community.
• I know I will getting more time with my family and I’ll be trying even harder to be a great husband and father.
• I have some physical fitness goals that I’ll be gunning towards (thanks to the fabulous Matt PT). I’ll be trying to reduce my sugar vice also.

Wishing you all a great holiday time, quality family and friends time, the best chill time with a decent amount of low-stress, and a dose of thinking time thrown in for good measure.

Special thanks to the great people who are part of the extended Business Changing team: Sip, Malyna, Niki, Jayda, Carlee, Debbie, Cam, Sam & Josh. You guys are awesome and make me look good — thank you!

Catch you in 2023. Bring it on.