January Is Too Late to Start Winning Next Year

Corey Flores here, tuning in from the North Pole, Alaska, and if there's one place that understands December, it's this one.

Christmas lights everywhere.

Snow on the ground.

Families traveling in.

Kids thinking about what's coming on Christmas morning.

And business owners everywhere beginning to say the same thing:

“We'll get serious about it after the holidays.”

That's exactly what I want to talk about.

Because December is one of the most underestimated months in business.

People mentally check out.

Projects get pushed.

Meetings disappear.

Marketing slows down.

Decisions get postponed.

Everyone starts talking about what they're going to do “next year.”

But here's the problem:

January isn't when next year begins.

For great businesses, next year starts before this year ends.

January Reveals What You Did in December

Business has a delay built into it.

The marketing you start today may create a customer weeks from now.

The salesperson you hire today may take months to become productive.

The partnership you establish today may create opportunities next quarter.

The relationship you develop today may produce business years from now.

The systems you improve today determine how much growth you can handle tomorrow.

That's why waiting until January to think about January is already late.

January often doesn't create momentum.

It reveals whether you created momentum beforehand.

Don't Enter January With a Blank Calendar

One of the simplest ways to evaluate your business going into a new year is to look at what's already scheduled.

Sales calls.

Proposals.

Campaigns.

Partnership meetings.

Content.

Events.

Customer renewals.

Recruiting.

Product launches.

Strategic initiatives.

If January 1 arrives and your company is staring at a blank calendar wondering what to do next, you're starting from zero.

I don't want Flores Marketing Firm starting any year from zero.

I want conversations already happening.

Campaigns already being built.

Partnerships already developing.

Systems already improving.

Opportunities already in the pipeline.

The new year should accelerate your momentum—not create it.

Build Your January Pipeline in December

Here's something practical.

Before the year ends, look at your pipeline.

Not your revenue.

Your pipeline.

How many qualified opportunities are currently active?

What's their potential value?

What stage are they in?

What is the next action?

Who owns that action?

When will it happen?

How long does your average opportunity take to close?

If your average sales cycle is 45 days and you want a strong January and February, the work cannot begin in January.

That's simple math.

Yet companies repeatedly set aggressive first-quarter revenue goals without creating the pipeline required to support them.

Goals without pipeline are wishes.

Don't Make a Revenue Goal Without Reverse-Engineering It

Suppose you want $5 million in new revenue next year.

Great.

Now let's make that number useful.

If your average customer is worth $50,000, you need 100 new customers.

If you close 25% of qualified opportunities, you need roughly 400 qualified opportunities.

If 20% of your leads become qualified opportunities, you need roughly 2,000 leads.

Now we have something to discuss.

How will you generate them?

Advertising?

Referrals?

Partnerships?

Content?

Outbound sales?

Events?

Email?

Search?

Existing customers?

Suddenly $5 million isn't simply a motivational number on a whiteboard.

It's a system.

Big goals become considerably less intimidating when you turn them into math.

Your Marketing Plan Should Exist Before the Year Begins

One mistake I see companies make is treating marketing like an emergency response.

Revenue slows down.

Then they advertise.

Pipeline gets weak.

Then they create content.

Salespeople need leads.

Then everyone starts asking marketing what happened.

That's backwards.

Marketing should be operating before the emergency.

At Flores Marketing Firm, we've learned that the strongest growth systems aren't built around random campaigns.

They're coordinated.

What are we promoting?

Who are we targeting?

What's the message?

Where will customers discover it?

Where do leads go?

Who follows up?

How quickly?

What happens if they don't buy?

What happens after they do?

How do we measure success?

That's a growth system.

Not:

“Let's run some ads and see what happens.”

Do a Year-End Customer Audit

December is also the perfect time to ask something businesses don't ask enough:

Who actually made us money this year?

Not who generated the most revenue.

Who generated the best business?

Look at:

Profitability.

Payment history.

Repeat purchases.

Referrals.

Operational difficulty.

Growth potential.

Customer satisfaction.

Strategic value.

Then identify the customers you wish you had 100 more of.

Study them.

Where did they come from?

Why did they choose you?

What problem were they solving?

What do they have in common?

What services did they buy?

Then make one of next year's marketing objectives very simple:

Find more people like them.

Call the Customers You've Forgotten

December is also an incredible relationship month.

People are reflecting.

Planning.

Thanking people.

Reconnecting.

Use that.

Go through your customer database.

Find people you haven't spoken with recently.

Don't immediately sell them something.

Check in.

Thank them.

Ask how they're doing.

Congratulate them on something.

Send a useful resource.

Make an introduction.

Wish them a Merry Christmas.

You'd be surprised what comes from simply staying connected.

Some of the most valuable opportunities we've experienced at Flores Marketing Firm have come from relationships that developed over time rather than transactions that happened overnight.

Relationships compound when you maintain them.

Thank the People Who Helped You Win

This is something I think entrepreneurs should do more often.

Before you start making a list of everything you want next year, make a list of everyone who helped you this year.

Employees.

Customers.

Partners.

Vendors.

Mentors.

Friends.

Family.

People who made introductions.

People who took your call.

People who trusted you.

People who gave you another chance.

People who told you the truth.

People who stayed when things were difficult.

Success can make us forget how many fingerprints are on it.

Send the text.

Make the call.

Write the note.

Send the gift.

Say thank you.

Not because it's a business tactic.

Because it's the right thing to do.

Give Your Team a Clear Scoreboard

Here's another year-end exercise.

Ask five employees:

“What are the three most important goals for our company next year?”

If you receive five completely different answers, you have a leadership problem.

Your people can't execute a strategy they don't understand.

Next year's goals should be clear enough that people know:

Where we're going.

What matters most.

What we're measuring.

What their role is.

What we're not doing.

That last one matters.

Strategy isn't simply choosing what you'll pursue.

Strategy is deciding what you're willing to ignore.

Pick Three Mountains

Companies destroy focus by having 27 priorities.

If everything is important, nothing is important.

Instead, ask:

If we could accomplish only three major things next year, which three would change the company the most?

Maybe it's:

Build a predictable customer-acquisition engine.

Increase customer retention.

Launch a new market.

Improve gross margin.

Hire leadership.

Implement automation.

Build recurring revenue.

Develop strategic partnerships.

Whatever they are, identify them.

Then put resources behind them.

Money.

People.

Time.

Leadership attention.

A priority without resources isn't a priority.

It's a suggestion.

Make a “Stop Doing” List

Everyone creates goals for what they'll start doing.

Create another list:

What are we going to stop doing?

Which meetings accomplish nothing?

Which software do we barely use?

Which customers don't fit anymore?

Which reports does nobody read?

Which services aren't profitable?

Which processes exist because “that's how we've always done it”?

Which tasks can AI or automation handle now?

Which decisions are waiting unnecessarily for the owner?

Growth creates clutter.

Every year your company adds things.

Eventually you have to subtract.

Sometimes the fastest way forward is removing what keeps slowing you down.

Automate Before You Hire

Before adding another person next year, ask:

Can technology handle part of this?

Can AI handle part of this?

Can we automate the handoff?

Can we eliminate the task entirely?

Can we improve the process first?

I'm extremely bullish on the opportunity businesses have right now to use AI intelligently.

Not because humans are unnecessary.

Because human time is expensive and incredibly valuable.

Your best employees shouldn't spend their days copying information between systems, manually sending repetitive emails or doing work technology can perform instantly.

Let technology handle repetition.

Let people handle judgment, creativity, relationships and difficult decisions.

Don't automate people out of your business.

Automate wasted time out of their day.

Build the Company for the Revenue You Want

Suppose your company reaches every revenue goal next year.

Could you handle it?

Really?

If leads double, can sales handle them?

If sales double, can fulfillment handle them?

If customers double, can support handle them?

If payroll increases, can cash flow handle it?

If your team doubles, can your managers lead it?

If opportunities get larger, can your systems support them?

This is a question I've been thinking about constantly as Flores Marketing Firm continues entering bigger opportunities and establishing new partnerships.

Growth requires infrastructure.

I don't want us simply capable of generating more business.

I want us capable of delivering at a higher level when that business arrives.

That's a very different objective.

Decide What You Want to Be Known For

Here's one of the most valuable questions you can ask before a new year:

Twelve months from now, what do I want the market saying about us that they aren't saying today?

“They're everywhere.”

“They're the best at ___.”

“They've grown tremendously.”

“They have incredible service.”

“They're the company everybody is talking about.”

“They're impossible to compete with.”

“They're the people you call for ___.”

Now work backward.

What would need to happen for the market to genuinely say that?

That's your brand strategy.

Your brand isn't what you put in your Instagram bio.

It's what people say when you're not there.

Put Something on the Calendar That Scares You

Every year should contain at least one move that makes you slightly uncomfortable.

Enter the market.

Launch the product.

Host the event.

Make the investment.

Hire the executive.

Call the person.

Pitch the partnership.

Open the location.

Raise the price.

Build the technology.

Make the acquisition.

Do something that forces the company to grow into a larger version of itself.

Not reckless.

Calculated.

There's a difference.

But if your entire plan for next year can be accomplished without becoming better than you are today, the plan probably isn't ambitious enough.

Don't Forget Why You're Building It

And then there's the part we don't put into spreadsheets.

It's December.

I'm at the North Pole.

Families are here.

Kids are excited.

Christmas is coming.

And it reminds me that business isn't the entire point of life.

We build businesses to create something.

To provide.

To employ people.

To create freedom.

To help customers.

To support families.

To fund generosity.

To experience things.

To leave something behind.

Don't become so obsessed with building a successful company that you forget to build a successful life.

Revenue matters.

So does being present when your kids are opening presents.

Build something big enough to create freedom—not something so demanding that it takes freedom away.

January Is Too Late

Soon the calendar will turn.

Everyone will announce their resolutions.

New budgets.

New targets.

New diets.

New plans.

And within a few weeks, much of that enthusiasm will disappear.

Don't depend on enthusiasm.

Build momentum now.

Fill the pipeline.

Make the calls.

Thank the people.

Set the targets.

Build the systems.

Fix the leaks.

Create the marketing plan.

Strengthen the partnerships.

Clean up the expenses.

Automate the repetitive work.

Get your team aligned.

And decide what you're going to become.

Because when January 1 arrives, I don't want you standing at the starting line.

I want you already moving.

That's the advantage December gives you.

While everyone else is winding down—

you can quietly wind up.

And when the new year begins, don't tell the market what you're going to do.

Let them spend the next twelve months watching you do it.

Make Next Year Your Breakout Year.

If you're serious about growing next year and need a stronger marketing, customer-acquisition or growth strategy behind that ambition, apply to work with Flores Marketing Firm.

Let's build the momentum before everyone else starts making resolutions.

— Corey Flores
Founder, Flores Marketing Firm