As we approach the new year, I feel like a lot of us take some time to reflect on where we’ve been, and where we are going.

What are your business goals this year? What are your long-term business goals?

This set of questions is just so important: it should be used to inform all of your decisions, from business processes to your marketing strategies.

Before I start work with any clients, I need the answers to these questions (well, along with quite a few others!):

• What do you do? (It’s almost always helpful to return to this in a few sentences!)

• What are the top goals of your business?

• What are your short-term goals?

• What is your mission statement?

• What values drive your business?

• What do you want to be known for?

I then use all of this information to drive the way I design and how I build strategies.

While it’s tempting (especially if you’re a sole proprietor!) to keep these answers floating around it your head, it can be so helpful for your decision-making to actually write these down to reference. Perhaps you are trying to decide what is a worthwhile use of your limited marketing time. You can pull up your answers to the questions to review, and let your brain have a good overview of everything at once.

I’d love to hear your answers in the comments!